Bates Wells Braithwaite

Last updated

Bates Wells & Braithwaite London
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
No. of offices1
No. of lawyers120
Major practice areasCommercial, charity
Date founded1970
Founder Andrew Phillips (Lord of Sudbury)
Company type Limited liability partnership
Website www.bateswells.co.uk

Bates Wells (officially Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP) is a law firm based in London, United Kingdom. The London-based firm employs around 130 people with specialists covering all areas of law. [1] [2]

Contents

Overview

The firm was founded by Andrew Phillips (Lord of Sudbury) in 1970. [3] [4]

Bates Wells helped in the development of Big Society Capital, the social investment bank founded by Sir Ronald Cohen in 2012. The firm also had a major role in establishing Charity Bank, a financial institution that lends to charities and social enterprises, as well as in helping to develop the definition of a Community Interest Company. [1]

Bates Wells is acknowledged by the United Kingdom's two independent directories, Legal 500 and Chambers UK in 21 areas. [5]

The firms is a co-founder of "trans-Europe" lawyers network, the Parlex Group and UK's Legal Action Group,

Notable clients

According to Charity Financials, Bates Wells is listed as an adviser in the accounts of 368 of the United Kingdom's 5,000 largest charities. [6] High-profile charities that the firm represents total £7.6bn and include Cancer Research UK, Arts Council England and Oxfam GB. In 2013, the firm won the business of United Learning Trust and Home Farm Trust. [6] Additional clients include Action Aid, the British Red Cross, Friends of the Earth and Shelter, the firm's first charity client. [7]

Bates Wells also represents clients in the entertainment sector such as Sean Combs (P Diddy), 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg. [8]

Alternative business structure

In June 2014, Bates Wells became the first City of London-based law firm to be granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence specifically to provide a unified service to its clients. [9]

B Corporation certification

In August 2015, Bates Wells became the first UK law firm to certify as a B Corporation. [10] "B Corp" status is awarded to "socially conscious businesses that meet externally audited rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency". [11]

Equivalent means

Bates Wells employed the first paralegal to qualify as a solicitor through equivalent means. [12] Equivalent means was introduced in 2014 as a reform by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) as part of the Training for Tomorrow programme to recognise experience obtained in the workplace to fulfil the requirements of a formal period of recognised training or a training contract to become a solicitor. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrister</span> Lawyer specialised in court representation in certain jurisdictions

A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giving legal opinions.

A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paralegal</span> Paraprofessional who assists qualified lawyers in their legal work

A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for paralegals is broad, including consultancies, companies that have legal departments or that perform legislative and regulatory compliance activities in areas such as environment, labor, intellectual property, zoning, and tax. Legal offices and public bodies also have many paralegals in support activities using other titles outside of the standard titles used in the profession. There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the paralegal field, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level positions.

Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States.

Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first pass a bar examination after obtaining a law degree or some other form of legal education such as an apprenticeship in a law office.

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) – also known as the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice – is a postgraduate course and the final educational stage for becoming a solicitor in England, Wales and Australia. The course is designed to provide a bridge between academic study and training in a law firm. It is a one-year, full-time course, and tuition fees range from £8,000-£17,300 a year. A small proportion of students may have their fees and some living expenses paid for by future employers under a training contract.

TheUniversity of Law is a private university in the United Kingdom, providing law degrees, specialist legal training and continuing professional development courses for British barristers and solicitors; it is the United Kingdom's largest law school. It traces its origins to 1876.

Legal executives are a form of trained legal professional in certain jurisdictions. They often specialise in a particular area of law. The training that a Legal Executive undertakes usually includes both vocational training and academic qualifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chartered Institute of Legal Executives</span> Professional body for Chartered Legal Executives in England and Wales

The CILEX is the professional body for over 20,000 paralegals, CILEX Lawyers and other legal professionals in England and Wales. It provides a cost-effective vocational route to qualification via the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ). the CPQ opens a route of entry for anyone who is looking to have a successful legal profession, whether they have a degree or equivalent qualification/experience or not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury</span> British solicitor and politician (1939–2023)

Andrew Wyndham Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury, was a British solicitor and Liberal Democrat politician.

A training contract is a compulsory period of practical training in a law firm for law graduates before they can qualify as a solicitor in the United Kingdom (UK), the Republic of Ireland, Australia or Hong Kong, or as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore. During the training period, the participant is known as a trainee solicitor or trainee lawyer.

Irwin Mitchell is a full service law firm in the United Kingdom, established in Sheffield in 1912. The firm offers legal and wealth management services from its 17 offices, and employs more than 3,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burges Salmon</span> UK law firm

Burges Salmon LLP is a law firm based in Bristol, England.

Travers Smith LLP is a corporate law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It advises national and multinational companies in the UK and internationally across the full range of corporate and commercial matters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ince & Co</span> International commercial law firm

Ince & Co was a United Kingdom-based holding company with a core business in legal services, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company also offered complementary services in accounting, financial services, consulting, and pensions advice. It was previously known as Ince Gordon Dadds LLP, following the acquisition of Ince & Co by Gordon Dadds Group LLP, and rebranded as The Ince Group in August 2019.

Co-op Legal Services offers legal advice, and provides legal services for Family Law, Divorce, Will Writing, Conveyancing, Employment Law, Probate and Personal Injury.

Macfarlanes LLP is a London-based law firm.

Blake Morgan LLP is a large full-service commercial law firm with offices in Cardiff, London, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading and Southampton in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 2014 following a merger between the Cardiff-based Morgan Cole and the Portsmouth-based Blake Lapthorn. It employs approximately 415 lawyers and 145 other fee-earners. It has 130 partners. It is registered with the Law Society of England and Wales.

The legal services sector of the United Kingdom is a significant part of the national economy; it had a total output of £22.6 billion in 2013, up from 10.6 billion in 2001, and is equivalent to 1.6% of the country's gross domestic product for that year. The sector has a trade surplus is £3.1 billion in 2013 and directly employees 316,000 people, two-thirds of whom are located outside London. The UK is the world's most international market for legal services. It allows virtually unrestricted access for foreign firms, resulting in over 200 foreign law firms with offices in London and other cities in the UK. Around half of these are US firms, with the remainder mainly from Europe, Australia and Canada. The UK legal market has a strong global position due to the popularity of English law. Some 27% of the world's 320 legal jurisdictions use English Common law.

Roberts Jackson Solicitors was a law firm headquartered in Wilmslow, Cheshire in the United Kingdom. The firm was founded in 2009. It specialised in industrial disease and workplace illness, prosecuting cases across conditions such as mesothelioma, dermatitis and occupational asthma.

References

  1. 1 2 Manu Mair (4 March 2015). "Meet the London law firm taking action for both charity and commerce". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bates Welss - People". Bates Wells. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Andy Ricketts (25 September 2009). "Andrew Phillips wins Luke FitzHerbert Lifetime Achievement Award". Third Sector. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Jonathan Ames (31 May 2012). "Lord Phillips: law has become tool for rich". The Times. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Howard Lake (9 December 2013). "Striking series of donations totalling more than £100m show British universities are a big draw for philanthropists, says BWB". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 Gareth Jones (29 October 2013). "Bates Wells Braithwaite named as UK's leading legal adviser". Charity Financials. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bates Wells tops charity client table for fifth consecutive year". The Lawyer. 8 March 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Victoria Bates (16 March 2010). "Celebrity lawyer cements his status". Ad Exchanger. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Catherine Baksi (13 June 2014). "City firm Bates Wells Braithwaite becomes ABS " Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine . The Law Society Gazette.
  10. ↑ "Charity governance and trustee news - Bates Wells Braithwaite among the UK's first benefit corporations". Civil Society | Governance. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "What are B Corps? | B Corporation". bcorporation.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  12. 1 2 Laura Clenshaw (15 April 2015). "First solicitor to qualify through equivalent means speaks to SJ". Solicitors Journal. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  13. ↑ John Hyde (15 April 2015). "Paralegal first to qualify as solicitor through equivalent means". The Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.