Brachers offers clients a full service of support in the charity sector. It has experience in mandates relating to legacy gifting, regulatory compliance, collaborative arrangements, governance and dispute resolution. The team is led by Sarah Gaines, Christopher Eriksson-Lee and Catherine Daw. Gaines guides clients through property transaction matters whilst Eriksson-Lee’s practice covers governance, re-organisational, trustee duties and compliance issues. Daw is especially adept at employment concerns for charities, including trade union matters and individual disputes. Mary Rimmer is a noted team member advising on charity constitution for new and long-running charities. The firm expanded its property-related charity expertise with the addition of Andrew Harbourne from Gateley Legal in October 2023.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Professional and responsive.’

  • ‘The firm is responsive and able to provide clients with the right level of support and advice on all aspects of their activities.’

  • ‘We work with a number of different individuals within the firm who all have the specialist knowledge and advice needed.’

  • ‘Brachers provides sound employment law advice. They also offer an HR service, providing additional HR advisory and support resources when needed which can be very helpful to manage specific projects.’

  • ‘I work with Catherine Daws supports in other ways that just giving emplyoment law advice, such as delivering training to our managers as part of our management development programme.’

Key clients

  • William Barrows Charity
  • Charities Aid Foundation Bank
  • Blackthorn Trust
  • Kent County Agricultural Society
  • Brachers Charitable Trust
  • Tunstall Village Hall
  • The Sir Percival Griffiths’ Tea Planter Trust
  • Kent Farmers Benevolent Fund

Work highlights

  • Acting for CAF Bank in its secured lending, mainly to charity borrowers.
  • Advising the Kent Farmers Benevolent fund, which provides financial assistance to farmers and their families.
  • Advising Tunstall Village Hall in carrying out an independent review of the Trust documentation including updating the trusteeship and regularising trustees appointment process and the appointment of Brachers Trust Corporation as a professional trustee.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Sarah Gaines, Christopher Eriksson-Lee, Catherine Daw

Other key lawyers

Mary Rimmer, Andrew Harbourne, Sophie Spellman, Simran Sanghera