England - West Midlands • Public sector
Mills & Reeve LLP
Recommended for providing ‘pragmatic advice’ to UK universities, Mills & Reeve LLP’s capabilities extend to a broad range of matters, ranging from sexual misconduct allegations to managing students’ mental health to counterterrorism. Nick Abbott co-heads the practice and his strengths include industrial action, mergers and discrimination claims, to name a few, while Richard Sykes, who jointly leads the team, advises clients on issues such as disputes, liability, and freedom of information, as well as offering particular expertise regarding discrimination issues. Christian Bull specialises in real estate education matters, and associates Siân Jackson and Abisola Latunji-Cockbil further strengthen the practice with expertise in employment law.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team work well together, they provide adequate cover for periods of leave and are up to speed on matters where cover is being provided. This gives good continuity for matters.’
‘The individuals we work with have a good understanding of our business and how we work as an in-house legal team and the challenges we face in receiving instructions internally and how this has a knock-on effect. All the individuals we work with seem to take this in their stride.’
‘They offer pragmatic advice that is easy to understand and respond to.’
'They offer care in understanding the complexities and subtleties of our organisation, and the complex sector within which it operates, which is of real value to us. Not all firms manage to do this well.'
'Nick Abbott is responsive, pragmatic, and genuinely cares about what we do.'
Christian Bull is great to work with, positive, proactive, and strikes the right balance in negotiations through a deep understanding of our organisation and its objectives.'
Key clients
- Academies Enterprise Trust
- Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation
- Arden University Limited
- Birmingham City University
- Bolton College
- Bournemouth University
- British Council
- Buckingham New University
- Cardiff University
- Christ Church, Oxford University
- Christ’s Hospital
- Coventry University
- Cranfield University
- Dragon School Trust Limited
- Exeter College Oxford
- Francis Crick Institute Ltd
- Harrow School
- King’s College London
- Linacre College Oxford
- London Business School
- LTE Group
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- Merton College Oxford
- Nottingham Trent University
- Oxford Brookes University
- Oxford University Endowment Management
- Peterhouse College, Cambridge
- Royal Veterinary College
- Sheffield Hallam University
- Solent University
- St Dunstan's Educational Foundation
- St Edmund Hall Oxford
- St John’s College, Oxford
- St John's College
- The Institution of Engineering and Technology
- The United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation
- The University of Birmingham
- The University of Northampton
- The University of Nottingham
- TOF Corporate Trustee Limited as Trustee of The Oxford Funds
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- University of Cambridge
- University of Bath
- University of Bedfordshire
- University of Derby
- University of East Anglia
- University of Exeter
- University of Gloucestershire
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Kent
- University of Lancaster
- University of Liverpool
- University of London
- University of Manchester
- University of Oxford
- University of Salford
- University of Southampton
- University of Surrey
- University of Sussex
- University of Worcester
- University of York
- Wellcome Sanger Institute
- West Thames College
- University of York
Work highlights
- Advising the University of Salford on the appointment of its private sector development partner to implement its £850m master plan which has the potential to provide 1.1m square feet of educational floor space, 2,500 new homes, almost two million square feet of public realm, green landscaped routes and cycle track and 1.6m square feet of commercial space.
- Advised University of Derby on a £30m sustainability-linked revolving credit facility with Santander and subsequently advised the university on a £70m private placement of debt securities, again sustainability linked. The proceeds will be used to fund the construction of a major new building on the university campus.
- Advised Birmingham City University on becoming the anchor tenant for the Alexander Stadium’s redevelopment. The university will occupy parts of the stadium under a lease and will run a number of its specialist sports and health sciences degrees from the Stadium. The university also plans to construct new purpose-built student accommodation at the Stadium.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Nick has specialised in employment law since qualifying as a solicitor and works exclusively with universities, further education colleges and academies. Nick leads Mills & Reeve’s higher education practice in the West Midlands and is head of Mills & Reeve’s further education group. Nick’s recent work has included advising a number of universities in relation to equal pay challenges; advising a university on the practical management of industrial action arising from a national pay dispute; advising a number of further education college groups on the organisation of staff within federations and using shared services; advising on a number of mergers between further education colleges; advising universities, further education colleges and academies on the removal of senior staff, including the use of university Statutes; advising various universities on employment issues arising from international collaborations; advising universities, further education colleges and academies on the practical management of reorganisations and compulsory redundancies; successfully defending complex Employment Tribunal claims, including those involving disability discrimination, race discrimination, whistleblowing and claims made by trade union representatives in relation to their status; advising on the conversion of over 140 schools to academies; advising on retirement and age discrimination; advising on the management and dismissal of staff with poor performance or long-term sickness.
Richard is a barrister who has specialised in education law since 2001. His work covers litigation and governance matters including freedom of information and personal data. He is recognised for his work for HE and FE clients in disability discrimination and equality issues, under 18s, fitness to practise and other regulatory issues and judicial review. He also advises qualification bodies on their relationships with their regulators and equality issues.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Nick Abbott, Richard Sykes