Experience

Introduction

I qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and spent the first four years of private practice giving tax advice to corporate clients, private clients and charities.  I developed expertise in advising charities on the powers and duties of trustees and other aspects of charity law and good governance.  I became wholly engaged in advising on charity law on which I have focussed exclusively since that time. Tax is not now my principal area of expertise although I can often spot the tax issues which are relevant to a charity’s activities.

It was unnecessary for me to continue to hold a practising certificate or for my company to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority because I do not conduct reserved activities such as will drafting or conveyancing and the company does not hold money in a client account. My clients are mainly charities, donors to charities and other professional practices such as law firms, accountants, IFAs and investment managers which require charity law expertise to enable them to deliver a comprehensive service to their own charity clients.  I can also advise public bodies and commercial companies which frequently interact with charities to enable them to comply with charity law and regulation and to gain a better understanding of what charities can and cannot do.

My approach has always been to provide a full, empathetic and holistic service to charities which goes far beyond simply being at the end of a phone line or email address. I have always tried to identify ways to improve the service and the relationships I have with clients. This helped me to understand their objectives and, by building stronger and closer working relationships, has helped my clients to achieve those objectives more effectively and efficiently. Below is a short resume of my experience in professional practice before April 2016.

September 2008 – April 2016

Partner and Head of the Charities Team
Wilsons Solicitors LLP
4 Lincolns Inn Fields
London WC2A 3AA

I advised trustees and senior staff of charities operating locally, nationally and internationally across a broad range of sectors including independent schools, academies and other educational bodies, armed forces charities, care providers, recreational, benevolence, housing and animal charities.  My clients have been grant-making foundations, social enterprises and operating charities.

I have advised entrepreneurial clients and businesses on compliance with the law when engaging with charities in order to raise their profile through corporate social responsibility programs. I also provided a support role to lawyers working in other parts of the firm engaged in providing employment, property, litigation and commercial law advice in order to enable them to deliver legal services having regard to the special status as charities and, therefore, to certain restrictions on their operating practices.

My advice focussed on the powers and duties of trustees, good governance processes (including amendments and updates to a charity’s governing documents), mergers, incorporations and charity establishments.  A key part of the role was to deal effectively with boards of trustees and senior staff and to interface with the Charity Commission on their behalf whether in an advisory or regulatory capacity.

As the head of the charity team and a partner I was responsible for securing new clients for the firm and engaged in a number of initiatives to develop new business including organising, hosting and speaking at seminars and workshops for charities, being a guest speaker at events hosted by others, developing contacts with other professional service providers, e.g. accountants, investment managers and IFAs, promotional work on the firm’s website and networking at numerous social events.

September 2000 – August 2008

Partner and Head of the Charities Team
Berwin Leighton Paisner
Adelaide House
London Bridge EC4

I was a member of the tax department and the head of the charity practice where my role was to provide support to numerous charities as well as national lottery distributors and local authorities who are responsible as trustees for significant charitable assets and property.  I also advised large corporate businesses and entrepreneurs which were actively involved with charities through their corporate social responsibility programs.

I was also responsible for securing a significant number of charity clients for the firm - the type of charities which required the firm’s sophisticated legal services, eg. banking and asset finance, institutional real estate, corporate and venture capital, but where a detailed knowledge of charity law was also necessary to provide a full service to a charity or as part of a project being undertaken by a charity.

September  1988 - August 2000

SJ Berwin & Co (King & Wood Mallesons)
10 Queen Street Place
London EC4R 1BE

I began my legal career at this firm spending two years as a trainee solicitor and where I qualified into the tax department in 1990.  I specialised in advising private clients and corporate businesses on a range of taxes.

There were no charity law specialists in the firm but a large number of charities instructed the firm which often acted on a pro bono basis.  The work was passed to the tax department where I developed an understanding of the legal framework underpinning charitable status and involved advising high profile business entrepreneurs on their charitable interests.   I also took the opportunity to persuade charity clients to pay a proper fee for the service I provided. By 1994, I had a well-established charity practice and, notwithstanding that the firm’s main focus was on advising corporate clients, I was made a partner in 1998.

From an early stage I have been recognised as a specialist charity lawyer by Legal 500 and Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession.