Bates Wells

Bates Wells is a City firm with a difference.

The firm believes in making a positive impact, whether that’s achieving legislative and regulatory change around sustainability, or working on a landmark case with wide-ranging implications. It is not afraid to challenge the status-quo. As a values-driven firm, Bates Wells shows commitment to its clients, people, the environment and society. It was the first UK firm to achieve B Corporation certification.

The firm’s clients are diverse – from global household names, to public bodies, to start-ups. It is also the firm of choice for thousands of charities and social enterprises.

Bates Wells has excellent strength in corporate and commercial law, as well as employment, real estate, arts and media, immigration, litigation and public and regulatory law. The firm is based in London, but it has a significant international practice across all specialisations, reflecting the international scope of many of its clients.

Principal areas of practice
Charity and social enterprise: The charity and social enterprise department is recognised as one of the leading practices in the country. It acts for numerous household names, international charities and NGOs. It has particular expertise in obtaining charitable status for innovative organisations and for developing new initiatives within the sector. The firm, as well as having initiated the idea of the 'Community Interest Company', has been responsible through the years for many books and other publications. Particularly noted has been the department's cutting-edge advice on social enterprise; its close liaison with the Cabinet Office on social impact bonds; its ground-breaking work in the Butler-Sloss case, which clarified the law on investment powers for the benefit of charities generally, particularly in relation to climate change mitigation; and its win in the High Court ruling against the Official Receiver in his bid to disqualify the former trustees and CEO of Kids Company from acting as company directors. 

 

Corporate and commercial: The corporate/commercial team has developed considerable expertise in M&A, company take-overs, joint ventures, management buyouts, commercial contracts and partnership advice. This team has a particular focus on the technology sector and specialises in the small to mid-cap market, acting on many AIM listings.

Purpose and impact: A key area of focus for the firm is businesses who are dedicated to achieving profit alongside purpose. Bates Wells’ own values-driven ethos underpins its advice in this sector.

Culture and creative: The culture and creative team advises a wide range of arts organisations and venues across the creative industries, from theatre, dance and opera, to artists and companies in the digital sphere.

Employment: The employment team advises both employers and employees on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law, including dismissals and redundancies, restrictive covenants, TUPE, service agreements and injunctions. The team has particular interest and expertise in all areas of discrimination. The team undertakes most representative work in-house, both in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. It also offers a full range of employment training services, including mock tribunal training. The team is well known for its successful, ground-breaking worker status case against Uber in the Supreme Court.

Immigration: The immigration department handles all aspects of immigration and nationality law, including work permits, highly-skilled migrant applications, residency, asylum work and human rights.

Dispute resolution and litigation: The litigation department is broad-based, with particular specialisations in commercial litigation, real estate litigation, administrative law, civil liberty law, social work law, intellectual property law, insolvency and defamation. The media disputes team’s notable matters include representing The Times in a ground-breaking Supreme Court appeal, in which the judge established a common law right to information from public authorities, where it is in the public interest for such information to be released.

Politics, elections and campaigning law: The team has advised on some of the biggest political issues of our time, including advising Britain Stronger in Europe on their role as the designated lead campaigner on the ‘Remain’ side of the EU referendum debate; advising the largest non-party campaigners and the Green Party in the run-up to the 2015 General Election and the 2016 devolved national elections in Scotland and Wales; and advising one of the prospective Labour Party candidates in relation to the 2016 London Mayoral campaign.

Public and regulatory: This team acts for regulators, charities, not-for-profit and private sector organisations. The team has a particular focus on work with educational establishments and central and local government (including audit). It also acts for businesses, campaign groups and individuals who wish to challenge the decisions of public authorities.

Real estate: The real estate team handles all types of commercial property work with related specialist expertise in financing and borrowing, planning and construction, and insolvency work, both for property companies, and also a wide range of businesses and individuals, both as landlords and tenants.

International: Bates Wells has a significant international practice across all specialisations, reflecting the international scope of many of its clients. Bates Wells is a founder member of the esela – The legal network for social impact, as well as the Parlex Group, an extensive network of European firms bringing together practices specialising in commercial law, with affiliates in the US, China and Israel.

Partners: 37
Other Fee-earners: 116