The Legal 500

Pitmans LLP has grown to be one of the largest law firms in the Thames Valley, with offices in Reading and London, offering clients strength and depth of service provision and commercially astute legal solutions. Pitmans boasts regional leadership with a national reputation for delivering quality advice.

The firm: Pitmans’ expertise covers the full spectrum of commercial and private client legal services, and its lawyers are recognised by The Legal 500 and Chambers as experts in their fields.

As a founder member of InterAct Europe, the firm is part of a network of lawyers with offices in 17 European cities, enabling it to offer an integrated service to cover its clients’ needs across Europe.

From banks to entrepreneurs and start-up businesses, clients seek Pitmans’ perspective to ensure that their legal needs are met. They see in Pitmans a team of lawyers who help them to achieve their personal and commercial objectives.

Services: banking and finance; commercial; corporate; crime; debt recovery; defendant insurance; dispute resolution; employment; environment; information technology; insolvency and restructuring; intellectual property; matrimonial; media and entertainment; pensions; planning; private tax and family business; real estate; residential development; and sport.

Sectors: automotive; entertainment, media and sport; defence and security; finance; franchise; hospitality; real estate; retail; and technology.

Types of work undertaken: Banking and finance: handles corporate and business/SME bank lending, corporate restructuring, acquisition and corporate finance, property acquisition, development and investment finance, receivables, asset and trade finance, invoice discount and factoring finance, business and personal security, and derivatives.

Corporate: company formations, M&A, takeovers, MBOs, private equity, AIM and Official List, joint ventures, restructurings, share option schemes, financial services and general commercial work.

Debt recovery: staffed by an experienced team that acts for many major companies in the UK and overseas.

Defendant insurance: instructed by insurers and self-insured organisations; provides a complete service, from initial accident investigations to multi-party claims in the UK and overseas.

Dispute resolution: domestic and international commercial disputes; specialises in company and shareholder disputes, banking and finance, construction, employment, insurance, property and trades.

Employment: advises employees and employers on all matters from recruitment to restrictive covenants, termination to dismissals, disputes and claims in the employment tribunal.

Environment: specialises in environmental aspects of corporate and property transactions, waste, asbestos and contaminated land, and advises on remediation and waste issues on brownfield sites.

IT: negotiates trade marks and maintains trade mark portfolios; advises on contentious IT matters, including the supply of goods and services, and contractor disputes.

Insolvency and restructuring: draws on the expertise of the firm’s corporate, dispute resolution and real estate departments; receives nationwide instructions and is listed on several bank panels.

Intellectual property: specialises in design right, copyright and trade mark disputes, advice relating to protection and exploitation of IP, and the management of trade mark and design right portfolios.

Pensions: one of the largest teams in the South; advises trustees and employers on all aspects of occupational pension schemes; specialises in corporate pensions, dispute resolution and insolvency.

Planning: contentious and non-contentious advice, working with local authorities, successfully negotiating s106 planning obligations, brownfield redevelopment work and planning enforcement.

Private tax and family business: domicile and residence planning, establishment of UK and overseas trusts, tax planning, wills and probate, trust and estate disputes, and enduring powers of attorney.

Real estate: has extensive experience advising regional and national developers, investors, banks, financing institutions, utilities, retailers, occupiers, landowners and local authorities.

Sport, media and entertainment: event and commercial matters and sponsorship, licensing, management and image rights, rights creation, and clearance to audio-visual exploitation in music.

Associated offices: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Belfast, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leipzig, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Madrid, Munich, Nicosia, Paris, Porto, Rome, Zurich.

Breakdown of work %
Banking and finance 5
Corporate 14
Defendant insurance 4
Dispute resolution 18
Employment 4
Insolvency and restructuring 7
Intellectual property 4
Pensions 17
Planning 4
Private tax and family business 2
Real estate 16
Residential property 5

Number of UK partners 30
Number of other UK fee-earners 89
Total staff 206