When searching ‘employment law’ on Google, among the first pages alone you will find solicitors, employment law specialists, lawyers, information sites, charities, claims companies, employee bodies, employer bodies and a whole host of directories. Although the web is a useful resource, with 48 million search results, it can be difficult to find what you are looking for. There are a number of things you can do to get the best out of your search:

• Be explicit about who you are contacting and what level of protection you will have if you are not happy with the service they offer. Many of the websites you will come across on the internet will not be solicitors, but employment law advisers. They are not regulated in the same way as solicitors, are not bound by the same professional rules of conduct, may not have any qualifications or have to engage in any compulsory regular education and probably won’t carry anywhere near the same level of professional indemnity insurance as solicitors.

• Employment law is a highly specialist area of law. Therefore if you are looking for professional advice regarding employment law or someone to represent you in the Employment Tribunal, look for genuine specialists in this field. So check out the website and see whether they specialize in employment law.

• Be clear on what you are looking for. If you are specifically looking for information, try the websites of reputable solicitors or reliable public information sources. Start with the government website www.direct.gov.uk  or ACAS www.acas.org.uk. You can be sure that the information on these sites is correct and kept fully up to date.

• Do not restrict your internet search to your immediate geographic area. A lot of employment law matters can be dealt with remotely on the telephone or by email and going a little further afield could provide you with someone more specialist and knowledgeable than the firms in your local area.