The Legal 500

Within EU and competition , tier 6

Bristows has a ‘good team’ which is ‘thorough, knowledgeable, and responsive’ and provides ‘good commercial advice’. It focuses predominantly on regulatory investigations and litigation, but also undertakes valuable advisory work for clients across a diverse range of sectors. Clients include Bayer and Kimberly-Clark. The ‘excellent’ Pat Treacy heads the practice.

Within M&A: smaller deals up to £50m, Bristows is a first tier firm,

Bristows’ formidable strength in IP and technology gives it a sturdy platform from which to grow its corporate team. New client wins include Hewlett-Packard, Smith and Nephew, and WPP. The team is led by Mark Hawes, and includes Ken Boehner. ‘The firm’s sense of client service and value is excellent’.

Within Partnership, tier 4

Bristows’ team includes Iain Redford, who took over as practice head from John Lace in 2010, and ‘intellectually and technically strong’ partner Marek Petecki.

Within Fraud: civil , tier 4

The team at Bristows has experience with foreign legal systems, courts and arbitral systems. It advised leading European bank Dexia Banque SA on a substantial fraud arising out of the sale and purchase of credit derivatives. James Irvine leads the team.

Within Commercial litigation, tier 6

Bristows has expertise in civil fraud, insolvency, complex cross-border disputes and financial services, and has seen an increase in property-related disputes. Kevin Appleton is highly rated, as is the ‘very good’ Mark Brown. Geoffrey Gauci, Charles Pugh and James Irvine are also key figures.

Within International arbitration International arbitration

Within Employment, tier 8

Linda Farrell and her team at Bristows are rated as ‘extremely responsive, very savvy, and very practical’, and act for employers such as C5 and Capgemini Group.

Within Charities and not-for-profit , tier 6

Bristows has well-established expertise in acting for large, institutional charities in the spheres of science, engineering and commerce; they include The Geological Society of London. Miranda Cass and Mark Hawes co-head the practice; John Lace has become a consultant.

Within Commercial property, tier 5

Bristows has ‘comprehensive’ expertise in funds and investment, and is particularly good for life sciences and TMT work. Clients include Abingdon Health and Kodak. It represents many corporate occupiers, and advised new client Browns Food Group on acquiring cold-storage facilities. Alexandra Lethbridge and Teresa Edmund are recommended.

Within Property finance Property finance

Within Brand management, Bristows is a third tier firm,

Bristows’ team is led by recently promoted partner Paul Jordan, who is ‘responsive and pragmatic’. It ‘can be relied upon to understand the commercial position’, and represents major brands Cadbury, Diageo and new client McDonald’s, along with leading advertising agencies BBH and WPP. Paul Walsh provides ‘clear, comprehensive, authoritative advice’.

Within Intellectual property, Bristows is a second tier firm,

Bristows’ large, dedicated IP team is led by the ‘highly regarded’ Edward Nodder, who is representing Siemens against Seagate Technology in Northern Ireland’s first significant patent infringement case. Recognised for its scientific and technical expertise, the group undertakes commercial IP work in the life sciences, telecoms and new media sectors. Philip Westmacott and Sally Field represented Smith & Nephew in five patent proceedings; and trade mark litigator Paul Walsh is advising L’Oréal against eBay on issues that have been referred to the CJEU. Fiona Nicolson, Laura Anderson and Brian Cordery are also recommended.

Within IT and telecoms, Bristows is a second tier firm,

At Bristows, practice head Dr Mark Watts (‘an excellent adviser on data protection’) is overall European co-ordinator and adviser to new client Google on high-profile data collection matters. Philip Westmacott leads the IT litigation practice. James Irvine is representing SAS Institute in a breach of licence and copyright infringement case that has been referred to the ECJ. Other clients include CapGemini, Wincanton and Everything Everywhere. Toby Crick is recommended for outsourcing work, and ‘excellent, constructive’ litigator Myles Jelf is also singled out for praise.

Within Media and entertainment, Bristows is a third tier firm,

Dr Myles Jelf at Bristows continues to advise Endemol on formatting disputes relating to one of its flagship programmes. Mark Brown recently acted for Music Sales Group and Faber Music in a copyright infringement claim over sound recording synchronisation. Other clients include the BBC, MTV and Oxford University Press. Paul Walsh, who heads the publishing practice, Paul Jordan and associate Angela Fouracre are also recommended.

Within Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, Bristows is a second tier firm,

Bristows is strong in patent litigation, with clients including AstraZeneca, and Smith & Nephew. Regulatory practice head Maria Isabel Manley is ‘enthusiastic, pragmatic, and aggressive when needed’. She successfully represented Servier Laboratories in its landmark Court of Appeal case against NICE. Joint practice heads Edward Nodder and Sally Field handle transactional and life cycle management work for Novartis. The ‘knowledgeable, timely, client-oriented’ team was boosted by the recruitment of Dr Sahar Shepperd from Medimmune. Dr Robert Burrows and Dr James Boon have been promoted to partner.