Senior Associate in BPE's Employment team, Chris assist clients from sole traders to PLCs with their employment matters. He advises on Employment Tribunal claims, complex disciplinary and grievance issues (including whistleblowing and discrimination) capability and sickness absence management, redundancies and restructures, TUPE consultation, corporate support and senior level exists including settlement agreements.
Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: Town and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) Compulsory Purchase The law of Highways and Rights of Way The law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: Town and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) Compulsory Purchase The law of Highways and Rights of Way The law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
Jonny is a real estate lawyer with a focus on transactional work and property finance, acting for property entrepreneurs, portfolio owners and funds. With 20 years of experience, Jonny has established himself as the go-to lawyer in Bristol for HMO landlords and property investors. Working in a non-traditional challenger law firm gives Jonny the flexibility to work at times and in ways that suit the client and transaction. Expertise: Property investment Property finance Pensions SIPP/SSAS Commercial landlord and tenant High-net-worth residential
Mike is an experienced commercial litigator specialising in shareholder disputes, as well as having expertise in construction, property, general contractual, and fraud disputes. He is also experienced in breaches of director’s duties, breaches of warranties, and professional negligence. Expertise: Director and shareholder disputes Commercial contract disputes Fraud Professional negligence Property disputes All types of injunction proceedings
Nigel is a consultant in our Corporate team. He has extensive experience in private and public company M&A and corporate finance transactions, with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related matters. After training with Simmons & Simmons, Nigel moved to the firm’s Hong Kong office in the early 2000s, working in the Asian market until 2017. He teaches company law, corporate governance and finance at the University of Bristol and the University of Hong Kong. Expertise: Private and public company M&A Corporate finance transactions (with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related transactions) Company law Corporate governance and finance
Richard is a partner specialist in Risk and Regulation, with longstanding experience in environmental law defence work, which he has practiced for 20 years. Richard’s clients appreciate his tactical and pragmatic approach, augmented by time spent in industry and his environmental science background. Richard has a Master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology and, prior to qualifying as a lawyer, spent a number of years with the HSE as a specialist in environmental major hazard legislation in the Hazardous Installations Division, where he prosecuted his own cases. He also spent two years as a risk management consultant, most notably leading a World Bank project on environmental catastrophe prevention in West Africa, and developing environmental and health and safety protocols for energy companies in the Sahara. Richard advises and defends organisations in their dealings with the Environment Agency, HSE, Local Authorities and other government regulators. Expertise: Interpretation and advice on regulatory legislation (environment, health and safety, food, fire, security, planning, trading standards, bribery etc) Specific major hazard industry regulatory representation in UK (COMAH and abroad) Regulatory litigation – defending criminal cases brought by HSE/EA/EHOs, etc Directors, senior officer and shareholder risk/liability management from threats such as corporate manslaughter, bribery and environmental law Inquest representation for organisations and individuals Liability on internal and external security issues Contractor control and risk limitation Environmental, health and safety accident/incident investigation leadership Regulatory risk and liability management systems such as ISO 14001, 18001/45001, etc Mediation of commercial disputes
Stephen has been a qualified as a solicitor for over 35 years. He has been a partner in a variety of transactional property roles based in Bristol and Somerset with Clarke Willmott, Davies and Partners and Michelmores. Stephen’s passion and expertise are in advising landowners, developers and investors in residential-led and mixed-use schemes. He has worked with several of the top 10 PLC housebuilders, including on significant town extensions with multimillion-pound land assemblies. He has advised design-led SME housebuilding entrepreneurs to realise their projects, and has also acted for landowners, particularly those unfamiliar with the development process, to help them understand transactions with developers and investors, to add value leading to sales of development land. Expertise: Promotion of land, disposal, acquisition, preparation for development through the planning process and arranging the infrastructure and utilities agreements Site set-up preparations for disposal, as both serviced sites or individual plot sales Secured acquisition and development finance from UK and foreign banks and investors Advising SME housebuilders in securing finance from Homes England