Bates Wells‘ ’thorough, diligent and responsive’ team acts for a range of representative bodies, such as Royal Colleges and Institutes, as well as membership organisations with professional discipline functions, including the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists. The multidisciplinary group also represents leading health and social care bodies, including Social Work England. The practice is led by public and regulatory law specialist Matthew Smith, an April 2023 recruit from BDB Pitmans. Amrita Hurst departed in July 2023.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The team is thorough, diligent and responsive, and provides the legal reassurances clients require.’

  • ‘Alistair Williams is always available when clients need to speak to him, and provides the advice that they need.’

Key clients

  • Council of the Inns of Court
  • Social Work England

Work highlights

  • Assisting Social Work England with a number of statutory appeals in both the High Court and County Court, as well as appeals to the Court of Appeal.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Matthew Smith

Other key lawyers

Alistair Williams