The founders of DefendThis are practising barristers with a combined thirty-five years at the Bar. They built Jesmond on the back of their accumulated employment law experience, attacking and defending grievances, both winning and losing.

Jesmond’s design reflects what the founders learned in those claims. First, many cases that reach a Tribunal could have been resolved with a better grievance process or outcome. Secondly, many employees are aggrieved at least as much by a poorly handled grievance, and the focus of any future litigation is often on failings (real or perceived) in process.

Jesmond is the tool the founders wish their clients had all along.

For more about DefendThis, visit defendthis.co.uk.

There are (nearly) as many grievance policies and procedures as there are employers. Some are simple. Some are highly developed. Your local corner shop has a different process to your local large supermarket.

When you sign up to Jesmond, the system moulds itself to your organisation’s policies and processes. Before you start a single grievance, Jesmond will be configured with your in-house way of doing things: the procedure, the equality and diversity framework, the bullying and harassment definitions, and the protected disclosure process.

Your instance of Jesmond is then unique to your organisation, configured just for you. When you hear your first grievance, it does not guide you through Jesmond’s process. It guides you through your processes, using your definitions, your procedures, and your rules.

As part of the configuration, Jesmond trains on a corpus of past grievance materials, including anonymised decisions, so the drafting will match yours. The tone, voice and register will be the same, by design.

Once Jesmond is set up, it becomes an indispensable part of your team.

To start a conversation about a setup, write to gus@defendthis.co.uk.

There are (nearly) as many disciplinary policies and procedures as there are employers. Some are simple. Some are highly developed. Your local corner shop has a different process to your local large supermarket.

When you sign up to Jesmond, the system moulds itself to your organisation’s policies and processes. Before you start a single disciplinary, Jesmond will be configured with your in-house way of doing things: the procedure, the equality and diversity framework, the bullying and harassment definitions, your list of acts that may amount to gross misconduct, and the sanctions available at each stage of your warning structure.

Your instance of Jesmond is then unique to your organisation, configured just for you. When you open your first disciplinary, it does not guide you through Jesmond’s process. It guides you through your processes, using your definitions, your procedures, and your rules.

As part of the configuration, Jesmond trains on a corpus of past disciplinary materials, including anonymised decisions, so the drafting will match yours. The tone, voice and register will be the same, by design.

Once Jesmond is set up, it becomes an indispensable part of your team.

To start a conversation about a setup, write to gus@defendthis.co.uk.

There are (nearly) as many appeal policies and procedures as there are employers. Some are simple. Some are highly developed. Your local corner shop has a different appeal process to your local large supermarket.

When you sign up to Jesmond, the system moulds itself to your organisation’s policies and processes. Before you hear a single appeal, Jesmond will be configured with your in-house way of doing things: the appeal procedure, the rules on who can hear an appeal, the equality and diversity framework, and whether your appeals are conducted by way of rehearing or review.

Your instance of Jesmond is then unique to your organisation, configured just for you. When you open your first appeal, it does not guide you through Jesmond’s process. It guides you through your processes, using your definitions, your procedures, and your rules.

As part of the configuration, Jesmond trains on a corpus of past appeal materials, including anonymised decisions, so the drafting will match yours. The tone, voice and register will be the same, by design.

Once Jesmond is set up, it becomes an indispensable part of your team.

To start a conversation about a setup, write to gus@defendthis.co.uk.

A grievance turns on facts. An employee sets out a complaint, and the employer has to investigate it, reach a decision, and explain that decision. Employers must have a procedure for this. The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures sets the framework, and an employment tribunal can adjust compensation by up to 25 per cent where it is not followed.

What you do, and what Jesmond does

Jesmond does not decide anything. It does the reading, the structure and the admin, and leaves the judgment to you. The findings, the reasons and the words in every document are yours.

You begin by putting the documents for the case into the case file. That means the grievance itself, the notes and transcripts of meetings, the emails, the policies and the records. You upload each file once, and every tool then offers those documents wherever it needs evidence, so you never upload the same thing twice. You can add more evidence inside any tool at any point.

Inside a tool, Jesmond reads what you have given it and asks short questions, one or two at a time. Most are multiple choice. Anything you do not know can be left, and anything you leave blank appears in the document marked TO BE CONFIRMED rather than guessed. Where there is a list to work through, the issues raised, the points to check or the people to interview, Jesmond puts them to you one at a time and you record your decision on each in your own words.

Jesmond then assembles your decisions into a formal document with numbered paragraphs, which you download as a Word file. A separate session record, also a Word file, sets out what was provided and what you decided at each step. Every document is marked draft, your progress is saved on the device as you go, and you remain responsible for checking the result before it is used.

Make an investigation plan

You give the tool the grievance. It reads it and proposes the issues to investigate, the people named in the material, and the documents worth gathering. You edit that list until the plan is yours.

For each person you decide to interview, it drafts a question script tailored to their role. You reword, add or remove questions, and the plan reproduces them exactly as you leave them. The result is a written investigation plan, in around fifteen minutes.

Review the investigation

Once the investigation has been carried out, this tool checks whether the record is complete before anyone decides anything. It raises points for you to consider, for example a person named but not spoken to, or a document referred to but never produced. It raises each point, it does not judge it.

You decide what to do about each one, and the further steps you choose are gathered into a short supplementary plan. The gaps are closed before a decision is taken rather than after.

Write the outcome

This tool sets out the evidence issue by issue, drawn from the grievance and the investigation material. For each issue you record your finding and your reasons, in your own words. It assembles those findings into a formal grievance outcome, in numbered paragraphs, ready to check and issue.

Review the outcome

Before the outcome is sent, this tool reads it against the grievance it decides and the investigation behind it. It checks coverage, completeness, reasons, the stated standard of proof, process, consistency and whether a right of appeal is given. It checks process and coverage, and says nothing about whether any finding was right.

It puts each point to you one at a time. You decide whether the point needs attention, is acceptable as it stands, or cannot be resolved on the material, and your decisions are gathered into a short review with the points needing attention listed at the end.

A word on what it is

Jesmond is assistive, and the document it produces is a draft. Your material is read by an AI service to build that draft, so check every name, date and reference against the underlying documents before anything is relied on or sent.

A disciplinary turns on facts. The employer sets out an allegation, investigates it, puts it to the employee at a hearing, and decides. Employers must have a procedure for this. The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures sets the framework, and an employment tribunal can adjust compensation by up to 25 per cent where it is not followed.

What you do, and what Jesmond does

Jesmond does not decide anything. It does the reading, the structure and the admin, and leaves the judgment to you. The findings, the words and the decisions in every document are yours.

You begin by putting the documents for the case into the case file. That means the complaint or referral, the audit findings, the emails, the notes of meetings, the policies and the records. You upload each file once, and every tool then offers those documents wherever it needs evidence. You can add more evidence inside any tool at any point.

Inside a tool, Jesmond reads the material and asks short questions, one or two at a time, most of them multiple choice. Anything you leave blank appears marked TO BE CONFIRMED rather than guessed. Where there is a list to work through, the allegations, the points to check or the people to interview, Jesmond puts them to you one at a time and you decide each in your own words.

Jesmond then assembles your decisions into a formal document with numbered paragraphs, which you download as a Word file, alongside a session record of what was provided and what you decided. Every document is marked draft, your progress is saved on the device as you go, and you remain responsible for checking it before it is used.

Invitation letters

This tool writes the letter inviting an employee to a meeting, either an investigation meeting or a disciplinary meeting. You tell it which, upload what exists, and describe the matter in a few sentences. It draws out the allegations or matters, and you edit each one until it is exact.

The allegations you confirm appear in the letter word for word. The letter states the possible outcomes exactly as you set them and no more severely, includes the right to be accompanied where it applies, and prejudges nothing. An investigation letter says plainly that the meeting is investigatory and that no decision is taken at it. About ten minutes.

Make an investigation plan

Used where a matter needs investigating before anything is alleged. The tool reads the material and proposes the matters to look into, phrased provisionally because nothing has been alleged yet, with the people to interview and the documents to gather.

You choose the interviews and the documents, and for each interview the tool drafts a neutral question script that you edit. The result is a disciplinary investigation plan that does not pretend the question has already been answered.

Review the investigation

Once the investigation is done, this tool checks whether the record is complete before the matter moves to a hearing, including whether the employee has had a fair chance to give an account. It raises each point for you to consider, and you decide what to do about it.

Scripts for the meeting

This tool produces the chair’s script for the disciplinary meeting. Each allegation is put exactly as you confirmed it, the evidence is summarised neutrally, and the employee is given a fair opportunity to respond. It is assembled from your lines, with nothing rewritten.

Write the outcome

This tool records your findings on each allegation, with any prior warnings, the mitigation advanced and the sanction, in your words. It produces two documents, the decision and the outcome letter the employee receives. About twenty-five minutes.

A word on what it is

Jesmond is assistive, and what it produces is a draft. Your material is read by an AI service to build that draft, so check every name, date and allegation against the underlying documents before anything is sent.

An appeal is the last chance to put a flawed outcome right inside the organisation. The employee says what they are appealing and why, and the appeal manager has to engage with each ground against the original record. The appeal manager must be more senior than the original decision maker and must not have been involved in the original decision. Every grievance and disciplinary procedure must allow an appeal. The Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures requires it, and an employment tribunal can adjust compensation by up to 25 per cent where it is not followed.

What you do, and what Jesmond does

Jesmond does not decide anything. It does the reading, the cross-referencing and the structure, and leaves the judgment to you. The findings and the words in every document are yours.

You begin by putting the documents into the case file. That means the original outcome, the grievance or allegations behind it, the investigation material, and the appeal itself. You upload each file once, and every tool then offers those documents wherever it needs evidence, and lets you add more at any point.

Inside a tool, Jesmond reads the material and asks short questions, one or two at a time. It then puts the grounds of appeal to you one at a time, and you record your decision on each in your own words. Anything you leave blank appears marked TO BE CONFIRMED rather than guessed.

Jesmond assembles your decisions into a formal document with numbered paragraphs, which you download as a Word file, alongside a session record. Every document is marked draft, your progress is saved on the device as you go, and you remain responsible for checking it before it is used.

Review an appeal

This tool reads the appeal against the outcome it challenges and the record behind it. The employee’s grounds are kept faithful and set out as written. Each ground is placed against the outcome and the material, and you record your decision on what to do with it. The result is a review you can use to prepare for the appeal meeting, in around fifteen minutes.

Coming next

Two further tools are in preparation. A script for the appeal meeting will put each ground faithfully and build a fair hearing around it. An appeal outcome tool will record your findings on each ground and the disposal, in your words, as a decision and a letter.

A word on what it is

Jesmond is assistive, and what it produces is a draft. Your material is read by an AI service to build that draft, so check every name, date and reference against the original file before anything is relied on or sent.

Grievances do not only have to be fair. They have to be seen to be fair. The test of a good grievance is whether it withstands scrutiny in the Employment Tribunal.

Jesmond is built by employment barristers who litigate grievances week on week. The founders have used their experience of attacking and defending grievance processes and decisions to produce a system that withstands scrutiny.

When a grievance is completed, Jesmond produces on request a complete report on all of the materials considered, the questions asked of each witness and decision maker, and the answers given.

The “show your working” approach means complete transparency if a grievance is ever challenged. The client can show clearly not only what decision was reached, but how it got there.

Disciplinary outcomes do not only have to be fair. They have to be seen to be fair. The test of a good disciplinary is whether it withstands scrutiny in the Employment Tribunal, on an unfair dismissal claim or a discrimination claim arising from the process.

Jesmond is built by employment barristers who litigate disciplinary cases week on week. The founders have used their experience of attacking and defending disciplinary processes and decisions to produce a system that withstands scrutiny.

When a disciplinary is completed, Jesmond produces on request a complete report on all of the materials considered, the questions asked of each witness and decision maker, and the answers given.

The “show your working” approach means complete transparency if a dismissal or sanction is ever challenged. The client can show clearly not only what decision was reached, but how it got there.

Appeals do not only have to be fair. They have to be seen to be fair. The test of a good appeal is whether it withstands scrutiny in the Employment Tribunal, where the appeal will often be the focus of the procedural attack.

Jesmond is built by employment barristers who litigate appeal outcomes week on week. The founders have used their experience of attacking and defending appeal decisions to produce a system that withstands scrutiny.

When an appeal is completed, Jesmond produces on request a complete report on the materials considered on appeal, the grounds engaged with, the questions asked of the appeal manager, and the answers given.

The “show your working” approach means complete transparency if the appeal outcome is ever challenged. The client can show clearly not only what decision was reached, but how it got there, ground by ground.