Mills & Reeve LLP has been described as ‘the crème de la crème of the private client world’. At the helm are John Grundy, Catriona Attride (who joined the firm in June 2023 from Gateley Legal) and Lucy Howard. It has a strong reputation for its advice to business owners, wealthy individuals, families and landed estate clients. The group has particular expertise in advising on the creation of family investment companies. It frequently advises wealthy philanthropists on the establishment of charities and other charitable-giving mechanisms. Another core area of focus is advising wealthy families where mental capacity has become a concern. Principal associate Sarah Wood receives many plaudits. Matthew Hansell has now retired.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘A highly dependable and efficient team. Proactive, hard-working and efficient.’

  • ‘The team provides an excellent collaborative approach to complex estate planning matters.’

  • ‘Catriona Attride excels at making the complex matters easier to understand from a client's perspective. Her knowledge and experience make her stand out from others in her field. She is extremely popular with clients.' 

  • ‘A highly capable team dealing with high-net-worth clients. Sound advice and administration services relating to intergenerational family wealth planning and tax mitigation whether during life or post death.’

  • ‘John Grundy is extremely capable technically. His advice inspires confidence and is delivered with care and consideration to clients.’

  • ‘A first-class outfit that gets private client work, especially strong on international matters.’

  • ‘Jacob Cork is an exceptional individual. Able to think outside the box and come up with commercially balanced solutions to difficult problems. A real team player as well.’

  • ‘John Grundy, Jacob Cork and the team provide excellent practical advice to clients and are very easy to deal with considering all the issues in a timely manner.’

Key clients

  • Acts for two of the top five in the Midlands Rich List and many other notable local families.

Lawyers

Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
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.

John Grundy, Catriona Attride, Lucy Howard

Other key lawyers

Sarah Wood, Jacob Cork