A Profile of Nic Johnson

By student reporter, Jiya Bhatia

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Nic Johnston, the Chief People Officer here at Durham University, as well as an employment lawyer, having previously worked at Pinsent Masons. This interview focused greatly on Nic’s journey studying law, her career in private practice and her time at Durham, from student to being a member of the University Executive team. The conversation culminated in her experience dealing with several university-wide issues she led the response on and her advice for Durham students and alumni looking for a career in employment law and human resources. The structure will be reflected in the article.

Studying Law

Nic began with an undergraduate degree in business and management but found herself more engaged by the law modules. This enthusiasm convinced Nic to switch to a law degree in her first year. She also described enjoying the problem-solving aspects of legal study, as well as the way law directly connects with the real world. Looking back, Nic agrees with the proposition that when you complete your law degree, you think differently. She values the analytical habit of mind that it instilled in her going into private practice, as well as the ability to stand back from a problem, identify the risks and find the most sensible path forward (which isn’t always the easiest path).

During her undergraduate degree, Nic’s favourite module was employment law. With this in mind, Nic pursued her postgraduate qualification at Durham in International and European Law, choosing modules that were most aligned with employment issues.

Career in Private Practice

Nic completed her training contract at Hempsons, a firm specialising in NHS and charity clients, based in their Harrogate office. As a trainee, Nic completed seats with employment, property and clinical negligence teams. Clinical negligence, in particular, gave her early courtroom experience attending hearings alone, an experience she recalls as being “terrifying, but valuable”. Nic did her final seat in employment, where she ultimately qualified.

She stayed at Hempsons for around a year and a half after qualification before moving to Pinsent Masons in Leeds, where she would spend a decade in the employment team. During this time, Nic advised a wide range of clients including universities, banks, and major retailers. The breadth of employment practice is what she loved most. She reflected on how the practice combines contentious litigation which for Nic has included; employment tribunals (too many to count), injunctions in the High Court, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal. However, unlike many practice areas, employment also offers a balance of non-contentious advisory work and drafting, for example restructuring, redundancy and TUPE advice, drafting contracts and settlements and other employment documents. Few areas of law, she observes, offer all three dimensions at once. It is also the case that no area of law can throw up as many curve balls as dealing with people and what they get up to at work.

Moving In-House

While at Pinsent Masons, Nic had the opportunity to undertake in-house secondments. She frequently worked in the Legal Team at Asda in their Leeds headquarters and spent time with the HR team at the London School of Economics. She credits these experiences with getting to know an organisation as part of that organisation, rather than being an arm’s length adviser. Nic notes that the biggest difference between private practice and working within an organisation is the degree of ownership. While lawyers advise clients on risks and options, in-house professionals help shape and deliver decisions. As she put it, "You've got more skin in the game" and you often get involved in every aspect of an issue, from supporting with the drafting of relevant communications, to ensuring that outcomes are operationally proportionate and manageable.

That being said, she regards the brilliant thing about private practice to be the breadth of clients, as well as the experience of working with similarly minded colleagues, who form a legally focused expertise.

Career at Durham University

Having progressed through a variety of roles across the University, Nic became Chief People Officer in October 2025. She now leads Durham's People Strategy at a time when the University remains focused on its key strategic aims of education, research and the student experience, while facing challenges around financial sustainability, staff wellbeing, and evolving employment legislation.

When she first joined Durham, Nic was part of the Legal Team, but as much of her work involved employment issues, she was seconded into HR. Initially, Nic’s core role was to provide legal advice and support across HR and people issues, but over time she assumed responsibility for a number of the teams in HR including Recruitment, Occupational Health and the HR Business Partner teams. This gave her an opportunity to get underneath the operational side of HR and understand how the University worked.

Nic has been a core part of many of Durham’s recent institutional transitions. Just before the pandemic, she oversaw a major collaboration with the then-Provost to completely overhaul how the University engaged casual workers. This significant project ensured that the University’s default position would be to offer employment contracts to those working, save for a limited set of circumstances where casual engagements would be more appropriate. It also led to standardised pay, recruitment, and job descriptions for casual workers, including our students. Launched in agreement with our campus trade unions, the initiative was widely regarded as ‘ahead of its time’ for the higher education sector.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nic joined the University’s response group to navigate the crisis, taking the lead from a people perspective. This intense period of change naturally led to her involvement in developing Durham’s hybrid working strategy, which initially was put in place to support staff back to work and to ensure a safe environment and now forms one of the bedrocks of the University’s flexible working practices. While Nic views flexibility as an important recruitment tool, noting that many candidates now prioritise hybrid arrangements over salary, Nic maintains that physical connection remains essential. "In-person collaboration is vital," she stresses, "You learn an immense amount just by sitting in a room with experienced colleagues, listening to how they engage and handle problems. It is important we don’t lose that."

Today, Nic reflects on having viewed the University from nearly every angle, whether that be as a student, an external legal advisor, or a staff member. "I’ve seen this institution from many different viewpoints, and I’m deeply proud to be leading its People Strategy and to support the institution to attract, retain and support the wellbeing of our world leading workforce." Nic says.

Nic is now working on embedding talent development into the People Strategy, mindful that the University is currently considering the overall University Strategy with a new Strategy set to launch in September 2027. One of her priorities is staff well-being, targeting sector-wide challenges like workplace stress and colleague workloads. At the same time, Nic continues to work on her legal bread-and-butter, actively leading her team to navigate the implementation of the new Employment Rights Act.

A Few Words of Advice to students

A legal career can take you in many different directions, think outside of the box for opportunities as to where you might complete your training and the opportunities that it affords you. Follow a path that you enjoy, grasp every opportunity, and try to get involved in issues from multiple angles, beyond being a legal adviser, so that you can truly build your skills set.

Acknowledgements

I would like to conclude by extending my warm thanks to Nic Johnston for giving up her time for such an engaging and inspiring interview.