Employer never gave me a contract of any kind

The person who had the 'advantage' in any kind of dispute would depend very much on what the dispute was about. Your employer can agree contractual terms with you orally and/or by conduct, but it does become a lot more difficult to prove that they exist if they're not written down. Realistically, if your employer tried to assert a particular right without having it agreed in writing they may well find themselves in difficulty.

In terms of your other queries, if you haven't signed a restrictive covenant there would likely be nothing to stop you stealing clients or working for a direct competitor. You do have some duties to your employer as an employee so you shouldn't think that you can just do anything, but they would again be in some difficulty restricting you in what you could or couldn't do after leaving the job if they hadn't got something signed in writing.

As regards the warning, that is a different matter, because disciplinary procedures can be a matter of policy if they are not contractual. You could argue that a procedure for giving you a warning was unfair because you hadn't been told about it in advance, and that may be more relevant if you were to bring an unfair dismissal claim, but you can't physically stop them from giving you a warning, and it would be unwise to just declare that you're not accepting it.

Two further points you should be aware of, though. The first is that they are legally obliged to provide you with written particulars of your employment. It is something that you can request if you're so minded. The second is that you need to be working for them for two years before you have a right to bring an unfair dismissal claim. I only mention that because doing something such as declaring that you're not accepting a warning could simply result in your dismissal, and you would likely have no recourse in that respect, at least as far as unfair dismissal is concerned, without two years' service. Just something to bear in mind.

Have you asked them about it? You might not be bothered by it, but it's a useful thing to have. Yes, you probably could as a result get away with doing x, y, or z, but it could easily lead to you being dragged into an employment tribunal, and would you really want that hassle? I'd say it'd be best to just bring it up with your employer and sort out a written contract.

It could be a privately owned partnership (some law firms still are - although these days most are now LLPs or Ltd companies).


May be using a trading name - but presumably you've looked - if there are any other live interests in their name(s), when you found them via Duedil etc.