Originally, he established distinct reputations in the fields of employment law and commercial law; his first published book concerned legal aspects of business computer acquisition, and in 1985 he acted as legal adviser to the makers of the feature film "Letter to Brezhnev". Since 1990, he has specialised solely in employment law. He was a founder member of the Law Society's Standing Committee on Employment Law and he was also a member of the Law Society's Working Party on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Edwards regularly receives high rankings in independent legal directories such as "The Legal 500" and "Chambers Directory UK". He was described in 2007, for instance, in the former as 'one of the leading employment lawyers in the country', and in the latter as 'Mr. Employment'. In 2011, "Chambers and Partners]]" stated that he is "admired for his legendary technical ability", and added in 2012 that he has been "roundly praise" for his "undoubted expertise, wealth of experience, interpersonal skills and calm approach at difficult times." The 2013 editions of the directories rated him as "highly recommended" and a "top drawer" employment lawyer respectively. In 2014, "Chambers" noted that he "is renowned for his expertise in the field and technical proficiency" and ranked him as Liverpool's only Band I specialist employment lawyer, a ranking he retained in 2015, when he was again recommended by Chambers In 2016, "The Legal 500" described him as “first class”. He was again recognised as one of the leading lawyers in his field in the 2017 and 2018 directories of "Chambers"; the former described him as "a fantastic employment lawyer". He has acted for many high-profile clients, including the Football Association, Wembley Stadium, Alder Hey Hospital, Health and Safety Executive, Liverpool Football Club, Shell UK Ltd, North West Development Agency, North West Regional Assembly, Littlewoods Pools Ltd, Littlewoods PLC, the Forum of Private Business, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, Merseyside Police Authority and National Museums Liverpool. In 2008, he was included in EN Magazine's list of the top 50 professional advisers in the North West and was also short-listed for the Insider Professional Liverpool Lawyer of the Year award, while in 2011 he was shortlisted by thebusinessdesk.com for an award for the leading North West professional adviser. In 2007 and 2011 his team won the bi-annual Liverpool Law Society Employment Team of the Year Award, and the team has also twice been short-listed for the national employment law team of the year award by "The Lawyer" magazine.