The Legal 500

As one of the UK’s Top 100 law firms with offices in London, Bristol, Swindon and Bath, the firm’s strategic growth over the past five years has provided a platform to build on the commercial focus of the firm, integrating it with its renowned private client expertise, to offer the complete service for businesses and their owners.

The firm: The firm offers specialist advice in sectors such as agriculture, innovation and technology, defence, financial services, mines and minerals, energy and waste and FMCGs, from partner-led teams whose expertise matches that found in much larger City firms.

Types of work undertaken: The well established and nationally regarded agriculture team acts for farmers, agri-businesses, landed estates and other rural enterprises and has strong relationships with the CLA and NFU, being the NFU’s appointed firm in seven counties. The team provides advice on rights of way legislation, buying and selling farms, coastal access, diversification, environmental law, regulations, issues around food and farming businesses, the localism agenda, the energy sector, sophisticated tax and succession planning and other heritage issues.

Thrings’ corporate and commercial teams provide specialist advice to public and private companies based in the UK and internationally, family owned businesses, private individuals, venture capitalists, banks and financial institutions. In the last year the teams have completed transactions totalling £120 million, plus one group re-organisation value approximately £1 billion. They advise on UK and international commercial contracts, T&Cs, competition law, data protection, IT and communication, marketing, brands, outsourcing and regulation. The recruitment of Mark Harden has increased the firm’s growing international reputation, further developing the relationships the teams have with Italian, Russian and CIS based businesses and entrepreneurs.

The commercial property team has enjoyed significant new client wins, despite the recession, advising on significant regeneration projects, high-value corporate real estate transactions and major redevelopment schemes as well as acting for established plc landlords on their real estate portfolio management and institutional lenders on their secured lending requirements. The team retains important existing clients such as stadium investments (on the regeneration of land surrounding the Emirates Stadium in Highbury) and Gasrec (a significant client in the waste to energy sector.)

The construction team has been in high demand, advising two major water utilities as well as energy and ICT clients. Significant instructions have come in for construction and procurement work, including an Olympics-based project.

A great deal of the employment team’s advisory work has revolved around strategies for keeping corporate and SME clients in good shape in a changed economic climate. Landed estates and agriculture clients provide a niche area of practice. The team increasingly advises media and technology clients, and acts for a number of significant manufacturing clients, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.

The Bath and Bristol commercial litigation teams merged to form a formidable three partner and 11 associate/assistant team in the Bristol office. The team focuses on IP, financial services regulation, pensions and professional negligence disputes, as well as defamation claims, fraud and asset tracing, tax and judicial review.

The nationally-renowned, claimant-focussed personal injury team specialises in two areas: catastrophic brain/spinal injuries and life-threatening industrial disease claims, particularly those arising from asbestos. The team handles high-value, low-volume work and has secured over £25 million worth of compensation for clients in the last year alone.

Thrings’ clients reap the benefits of a truly cross-office private client team providing a experienced and sophisticated service helping clients to manage every aspect of their assets from one generation to the next. This team combines a unique range of skills from the multinational cutting- edge tax- driven practice, agricultural and landed estate specialists, and the firm’s own Trust Company.

The family team regularly handles cases involving multi-million pound assets including those tied up in hedge funds, sited in several jurisdictions and/or owned by companies registered abroad. Work includes financial dispute resolution, divorce, separation, pre-nuptials and post-nuptials. Clients represented include parents (same sex and unmarried), children, grandparents, trustees, beneficiaries, professionals, company directors, entrepreneurs, farmers and, land owners.

Number of UK Partners 55

Number of other UK fee-earners 123