4-5 November 2026, CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition
Manchester Central Conference Centre

Watch a live mock tribunal hearing

On both days of the conference, I’m presenting two live, audience participation mock employment tribunal hearings. They are the quickest way to see how the failures I found across 50 Tribunal judgments play out when a dismissal is actually challenged.

Both hearings are built around a fictional case, Meadowbrook Care Home, and are performed by professional actors alongside legal practitioners. You vote on key questions by scanning a QR code as each hearing unfolds, and a short discussion after each of the four scenarios unpacks what happened and why it matters. Each slot includes 30 minutes of audience Q&A. No knowledge of employment law is needed, and you can watch either hearing on its own or both as a pair.

Hearing One: Claire Matthews v Meadowbrook Care Home (10:30 to 12:00)

Claire Matthews was dismissed following the workplace investigation at the centre of the series, and brings a claim for unfair dismissal. She is represented by a direct access barrister, instructed by her directly rather than through a solicitor.

• Setting the scope. Before the hearing can properly begin, the judge and both sides must work out exactly what claim is, and isn’t, before the tribunal.
• Cross-examining the witness. Claire’s barrister tests whether a flawed first investigation was genuinely put right by the second one that replaced it.
• Under cross-examination. Meadowbrook’s lawyer questions Claire about her own actions that night and the evidence she has given.
• Closing arguments. Both sides address the tribunal on whether the dismissal was fair.

Hearing Two: Miguel Santos v Meadowbrook Care Home (14:00 to 15:30)

Miguel Santos was also dismissed following the investigation. His claim combines an ordinary unfair dismissal argument with a separate allegation: that the real reason for his dismissal was retaliation for a safeguarding disclosure he made. He too is represented by a direct access barrister.

• Two claims, one hearing. The judge separates the unfair dismissal claim from the whistleblowing claim and explains why that distinction changes what has to be proved.
• Cross-examining the witness. Miguel’s barrister questions the manager who heard his internal appeal, testing whether it ever grappled with his argument that retaliation was the real reason.
• Testing the evidence. Meadowbrook’s lawyer challenges Miguel’s own contemporaneous records, probing whether his account has stayed consistent over time.
• Closing arguments. Miguel’s closing returns to the same investigation report at the centre of the first hearing, this time from his own perspective.

Both hearings are drawn from the same case, seen through the two different disciplinary decisions it produced. No verdicts are given away here, because you get to decide first.

Book a 10-minute slot at Stand E35

The most useful thing you can do for your own organisation is pre-book a 10-minute conversation at the stand. It means you walk straight to the front, skip the queue, and get focused time on whatever it is you came to discuss.

Slots are available across both days of the event. Send me a message and I’ll find a time that works.

What is the conversation about?

Whatever is on your desk. Most of the people who book a slot want to talk about one of three things:

• A specific investigation that is either about to start, already running, or already gone wrong. I’ll work through the seven decision points framework on your facts and tell you, candidly, what I’d do differently.
• A policy or process review. Investigation policies, grievance procedures, disciplinary frameworks. The patterns I’ve extracted from 50 Tribunal judgments give a clear view of what good looks like in practice, not on paper.
• Training for your HR or ER team. I run workplace investigation training and witness familiarisation training, both designed for the realities of how investigations actually go wrong. Find out more about training.

If you want a sense of the substance before you book, the work behind the conversation is laid out in detail in The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook.

What you walk away with

If you are in a position to instruct an external investigator, choose one, or influence that choice for your organisation, you’ll leave Stand E35 with a complimentary copy of The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook. The book launched on 14 May 2026 and runs to over 550 pages, including the seven decision points framework, worked examples, the full case analysis behind the framework, and templates you can adapt for your own organisation.

The book is a serious piece of work, written for the people who make or shape these appointments. I’d rather it reached the desks where it can be used than ended up on a swag table.

I have a limited number of copies at the stand. Pre-booking is the only way to guarantee yours.

Why this matters

Most flawed workplace investigations are over before they start. The decision was already made. After fifty Tribunal judgments, the pattern is undeniable: get the early decisions right and the rest follows; get them wrong, and no investigator, internal or external, can save the process from itself.

The cases bear it out. Settlement of approximately £1.4 million in Gilby v Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Awards of approximately £700,000 in Aplin v Tywyn Primary School, £370,563 in Wood-Hope v Salford City Council, and more than £255,000 in Ahmed v United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. These figures are now what flawed investigations cost when the underlying claim involves discrimination, whistleblowing or a senior role.

The good news is that the failures are avoidable, and the framework for avoiding them is straightforward. That is what the mock hearings and the Festival conversations are for.

Who you’ll meet

I’m Robin Somerville. I’m a practising barrister, CEDR-accredited commercial mediator, independent workplace investigator, grievance and disciplinary chair, and fee-paid judge. I run The Chambers of Robin Somerville Ltd. I’ve been involved in over 1,000 cases across more than 20 years and conduct investigations and chair hearings for organisations dealing with complex and sensitive matters, often involving senior executives and board members.

More about me | What clients say

Four ways to get in touch

• Come to a mock hearing. 10:30 or 14:00 on Wednesday 4 or Thursday 5 November.
• Pre-book a 10-minute Festival slot. Walk to the front of the queue at Stand E35.
• Send a message. If you can’t make the Exhibition, or you want to start a conversation now, use the contact form or chat with me via the widget at the bottom right of any page.
• Call directly. 0207 550 6288. WhatsApp on the same number.

Coming to the Conference and Exhibition anyway?

Drop by Stand E35 even without a booking. Booked slots take priority, but I’ll always make time for someone who has walked over to find me.

Robin Somerville LLM
Barrister, Mediator, Investigator
The Chambers of Robin Somerville Ltd, 330 High Holborn, London, WC2A 1HL
robinsomerville.co.uk