Collyer Bristow LLP

The firm: Collyer Bristow LLP is a long-established central London law firm. We provide high quality, individually tailored legal advice, often with a cross-border aspect, to a portfolio of international and domestic clients including commercial businesses, wealthy individuals and families, and ambitious entrepreneurs.

Clients choose Collyer Bristow because they appreciate individuality, creativity and collaboration. They recognise that their needs may be unique and more complex, or that in progressing with their legal issue they value a more engaged and personalised service from their lawyers. They recognise that the Collyer Bristow approach is one of building understanding, trust and relationships with clients; the firm takes time to build relationships and to understand the commercial objectives behind every transaction or dispute. This allows the firm to operate more strategically on behalf of its clients and to best support the achievement of the outcomes they desire.

The firm has a particular reputation for its business, dispute resolution, private wealth, and real estate services.

Types of work undertaken
Tax and estate planning: The private wealth department includes a strong tax and estate planning team which advises on wills, tax planning and structuring, trusts, probate, and charities. It has particular expertise in residence, non-domicile and offshore matters, powers of attorney and Court of Protection work, and trust and probate litigation.

Family: The firm’s family team handles the full range of issues including divorce, separation, civil partnership and cohabitation, the preparation of pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and complex disputes involving financial issues or those concerning children. The nature of their work is cross jurisdictional as well as UK based.

Media and privacy: The team is a leader in the media and privacy field having been involved in high-profile defamation and privacy claims, including acting for over 200 victims of the phonehacking scandal. The team has represented prominent figures including David Tennant, Colin Jackson, Meg Mathews as well as many sports personalities. It also handles harassment and cyber-stalking disputes.

Commercial dispute resolution: The innovative commercial dispute resolution team has substantial experience advising organisations on issues regarding breach of contract, partnership and shareholder disputes, professional negligence claims, civil fraud, and trade disputes. It is known for its strategic excellence. Clients include FIAMM Energy Technology S.p.A., Musst Holdings, and Pramod Mittal.

Banking and financial disputes: The team brings years of experience to dealing with complex disputes relating to financial instruments. Clients are often referred by domestic and foreign law firms with conflicts of interest. The work of the team includes benchmark manipulation, structured finance, FOREX, securitisation, and cryptocurrency as well as disputes over bank lending. Clients include Napier Park Global Capital and Salzgitter Mannessman GmbH.

Real estate: The real estate team acts for property owners, investors, developers, funders, landlords, and tenants dealing with all real estate transactions, from multimillion-pound portfolio acquisitions to individual sales, commercial lettings, property management, and real estate disputes. Clients include GMS Estates and EcoWorld London.

Intellectual property and data protection: The firm has a strong reputation for intellectual property with work covering protection of brands, negotiating commercial agreements, resolving disputes as well as litigation concerning patents, design rights, trade marks, copyright and confidential information. The team is also experienced in advising businesses on data protection and compliance with UK GDPR, as well as assisting with responses to subject access rights and data breaches. Clients include Sanrio UK, Stannah Stairlifts and Wirth Research.

Employment: The employment team provides commercial advice to companies in managing their everyday HR issues and dealing with disputes, which can involve Employment Tribunal and High court litigation. The team deals with matters involving unfair dismissal, discrimination, TUPE, breach of contract, whistleblowing, flexible working, equal pay, and business immigration. Clients include Perrett Laver, Total Media, Asos.com, Cashplus Bank and Mercuri Urval.

Corporate and commercial: The corporate and commercial team has expertise in commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and shareholder agreements, funding, regulatory matters, company reconstructions, insolvency and corporate recovery. Clients cover a wide range of sectors and include Manolete Partners and the Moulton family office. The team’s work also includes activities related to art and culture.

Other offices: London, Geneva