Phil advises across all aspects of our employment and incentives practice.
Phil’s employment work focuses on matters related to senior executives of listed and non-listed companies, including sensitive issues involving whistleblowing, investigations and terminations.
His incentives work involves advising on the corporate governance aspects of executive remuneration, as well as the drafting, implementation and operation of equity and cash incentives plans for listed and non-listed companies.
Phil also specialises in the employment and incentives aspects of corporate transactions including public and private mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, demergers, restructurings, outsourcings and insolvency matters.
Phil is ranked as a Notable Practitioner in both the Employment: Employer and Employee Share Schemes & Incentives sections of Chambers UK (2025), and as a Next Generation Partner in the Employee Share Schemes section of The Legal 500 (2025). Phil is also a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group and the Employment Lawyers Association.
Phil’s recent work highlights include advising:
- Direct Line Insurance Group plc on the employment and incentives aspects of the recommended cash and share offer by Aviva plc.
- DS Smith plc on the employment and incentives aspects of the all-share offer by International Paper Company.
- Redrow plc on the employment and incentives aspects of its combination with Barratt Developments plc.
- Reckitt Benckiser Group plc on a wide-ranging review of its business, which included a highly complex separation process affecting employees in multiple overseas jurisdictions.
- Whitbread plc on the employment aspects of a business reorganisation impacting hundreds of sites and requiring extensive consultation with employees and their representatives.
"Phil Linnard knows perfectly how to handle complex and sensitive issues, always in a very constructive way and with a solution driven approach." (Chambers 2025)