The Legal 500

Hempsons is a leading UK law firm in health and social care, professional services, real estate and the third sector.

The firm: Hempsons is committed to understanding its clients’ legal and business requirements so that it provides quality advice, outstanding service delivery and best value for money. The teams offer specialist and national expertise from London, Harrogate, Manchester and Newcastle offices.

Types of work undertaken: Health: Hempsons is a leader in the health and social care sector. Clients are public, private and third sector organisations who plan, commission, regulate or provide health and social care services or operate within the supply chain. It has a strong client base in the NHS, acting for over 180 clients, including the Department of Health, SHAs, special health authorities, foundation trusts, PCTs, emerging GP commissioning consortia and NHS trusts. The firm also has a significant and growing private and third sector client base.

Hempsons is praised by clients for its thought leadership. It has a reputation for working on groundbreaking projects in the UK health and social care sector. For example, the firm has led the way in its work on NHS Transforming Community Services. It also helps clients with operational issues such as corporate governance, advisory, employment and real estate. Hempsons’ innovative approach to legal transactions has resulted in the firm being named ‘Legal Advisers of the Year’ at the 2010 Health Investor Awards.

Third sector: the firm’s clients include charities, membership bodies, community interest companies and other not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises that cover a range of charitable and social purposes, including health and social care. The firm acts for some large and well-known national charities including the Zoological Society of London, the Ramblers Association, the NSPCC and the Arthritis Research Campaign.

The firm also contributes to the continuing development of the third sector. Hempsons works closely with the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) and co-authored Healthy Business — a guide to social enterprise in health and social care (into its 2nd edition), and provides the Legal Helpline for SEC members. The firm is also a member of third sector organisation ACEVO, working closely with them to develop their growing interest in the health and social care sector, and is also represented on the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association.

Real estate: the team’s client base spans the public, private and third sectors. The team looks after the property requirements of the firm’s healthcare clients and has acted in a significant number of LIFT/PPP projects across the country. Hempsons has a track record of working across commercial and residential schemes, including work done on innovative affordable housing tenures, where it has drafted template documents for mixed-use schemes, as well as facilities management and life-cycle agreements.

Community benefit projects are another specialist element of development work where the firm advises on property funding, construction and related matters, drawing on its specialist knowledge of not-for-profit organisations. The firm has acted for a social enterprise on a pioneering scheme to acquire surplus hospital property from the NHS for the provision of community services.

Professional services: Hempsons has one of the largest practices in the country, advising professionals across a number of sectors acting for both practices and the individual. The group supports clients with advice ranging from ownership structures, mergers and takeovers, disputes, premises redevelopments/relocations and staff issues, to advice provided to the individual practitioner, including regulatory and private client advice.

Much of the firm’s work is with practitioners working within the public sector. Change in the healthcare system has led to GPs and dentists needing to regularly re-evaluate how they manage their practice, how they meet the needs of the patient and how they will sustain their place in an increasingly commercial, competitive and demanding landscape. Hempsons is now a leading adviser on GP commissioning consortia which are destined to replace PCTs.

Number of UK partners 46
Number of other UK fee-earners 76