Carl graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a degree in history. He was articled to the firm and qualified as a solicitor in 1995. On qualification he moved to London and joined Fleet Street practice Royds Treadwell, where he became a partner in 1998. In the following year he joined the highly rated employment team at Dechert LLP, an international law firm with headquarters in Philadelphia, where he remained until he rejoined Girlings as a partner and Head of the Employment Unit in May 2007.

While practising in the City Carl specialised in employment law and advised a client base of listed and private companies including insurers, banks and other financial services businesses, charities, newspapers and magazines, hedge funds, media and advertising companies, manufacturers, retailers, construction and property companies, IT businesses, recruitment consultants, tour operators and airlines as well as directors and senior employees on a broad range of employment-related areas. These included providing hands on, day to day surgery advice to businesses; drafting documentation such as service agreements, bonus schemes, handbooks and policies; handling senior executive terminations and collective redundancies; providing transactional support on corporate transactions; offering bespoke client training; conducting and advising on all aspects of employment tribunal claims (including appearing as advocate) and representing employers in High Court proceedings.

In addition to this, Carl has considerable general litigation experience in both the High Court and the County Court.