The Legal 500

Within EU and competition

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

Acting for the pharmaceutical investment arm of Nomura on a US$40m spin-out from AstraZeneca is indicative of Bristows’ strength in the pharmaceuticals and technology sector. An impressive range of blue-chip clients will typically instruct Mark Hawes’ team on sub-£20m deals.

Within Outsourcing and procurement, Bristows is a third tier firm,

Headed by Dr Mark Watts, Bristows’ outsourcing clients include Capgemini, Gap, MTV, Cerner and Diageo.

Within Partnership, tier 4

The ‘knowledgeable’ John Lace at Bristows is recommended.

Within Fraud - commercial and regulatory investigations, tier 5

Bristows gained a successful civil judgement in the UK High Court for Chrysler in 2008 against 58 individuals involved in the Castor Holdings ponzi fraud scheme, which extended into several jurisdictions. Charles Pugh and James Irvine are recommended.

Within Commercial litigation

Within Employment, tier 8

Bristows delivers ‘open, client focused and commercial advice’ to clients that include global IT companies.

Within Charities and not-for-profit , tier 5

Bristows’ ‘first-class’ charities practice is led by John Lace, who has ‘an unrivalled understanding of client needs’, and Miranda Cass, who is ‘proactive, commercial and pragmatic’. The team recently advised on several charity mergers, and assists a number of charities clients in the engineering sector.

Within Commercial property, tier 6

Bristows’ practice is ‘professional, responsive, and clearly expert in the work that it’s doing’. The group is largely focused on two main areas: corporate occupiers, and investment and funds work. Team head Alexandra Lethbridge handles the latter, while Teresa Edmund specialises in advising corporations, such as Kodak. The practice has undertaken some impressive work recently, including acting for LaSalle Garden Centre Fund on the establishment of a new offshore fund. Clients have the ‘utmost confidence in them’.

Within Property finance

Within Brand management, Bristows is a third tier firm,

Bristows has a ‘fantastic’ commercial partner in Laura Anderson. She represents brand-owning clients including Diageo and the firm’s strong stable of pharmaceutical clients on advertising and marketing matters. Litigator Paul Walsh handles ASA work and advises on ambush marketing. The team has been boosted by the recruitment of an associate focused on advertising, Paul Jordan, from DLA Piper UK LLP.

Within Intellectual property, Bristows is a second tier firm,

Bristows is ‘exceptionally strong in technical IP’. The ‘excellent’ Edward Nodder heads the team, which has recently been boosted by the recruitment of commercial IP partner Fiona Nicolson from Maclay Murray & Spens LLP, and the promotion of two new partners, Liz Cohen and Andrew Bowler. Bowler acted for new client Siemens in one of the rare patent cases in Northern Ireland. The team also acted for GE Healthcare in a case brought by two former employees for compensation under a rarely used provision of the Patents Act. Trade mark litigator Paul Walsh is ‘very responsive and very clear’, while commercial IP partner Laura Anderson has a ‘very good intellect and is a very a pleasant character to work with’.

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

Linklaters LLP saw Christopher Millard depart to Bristows and TMT head Tim Schwarz retire. But the group acted on several large-scale telecoms projects in emerging markets, and a mix of contentious and non-contentious work elsewhere. Advising Harbinger on the regulatory aspects of its acquisition of Inmarsat is a recent highlight. New practice head John Crozier is ‘a perfect fit and wonderful to work with’ and recently advised a consortium of banks on renegotiating telecoms outsourcing deals. IT and business services co-head and ‘smart counsel’ Marly Didizian advised AT&T on all aspects of its data privacy compliance outside the US.

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

Bristows had several big client wins in 2008, including Siemens, Orange, Cerner and Autodesk, which it added to a roster laden with large technology suppliers and users. It continues to add considerable experience in commercial IT work to strength in IP litigation. Dr Mark Watts heads the commercial practice and is ‘a terrific, multi-talented counsel’. Christopher Millard joined the team as of counsel from Linklaters LLP, while litigator Philip Westmacott is also recommended.

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

Bristows’ media group head Dr Myles Jelf advises Sony Computer Entertainment and Endemol. Music and copyright expert Mark Brown acts for The Music Sales Group, Faber Music and Odeon Cinemas. Paul Walsh represents broadcasters including the BBC and UKTV. Publishing clients include OUP, Penguin Books and new client Virgin Media.

Within Overview,

Bird & Bird LLP has the largest IP practice and more top-tier rankings than any other firm in this section, and its recent high-profile public sector mandates include advising BT on its work with the NHS. Like Bird & Bird LLP, Taylor Wessing LLP has a very strong European IP practice, and is a market leader for trade marks and brand management. Bristows is a significant force for patent litigation and has a significant presence in the pharmaceuticals sector. The firm has also hired IT and telecoms of counsel Christopher Millard from Linklaters LLP. Of the boutique TMT practices, those that genuinely compete with the top-tier firms in terms of understanding the cutting-edge issues affecting the industry include Powell Gilbert LLP and Howrey LLP for patent litigation, Rouse Legal for soft IP, and Kemp Little LLP for IT and telecoms.

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

Bristows has ‘outstanding industry knowledge’ and is well known for high-level patent litigation. Regulatory partner Maria Isabel Manley recently handled what is only the second appeal to NICE, on behalf of Servier Laboratories. Co-head of life sciences Sally Field is particularly active in life cycle management work, where the firm has a leading reputation, acting for clients including Novartis. Pat Treacy handles competition work in the area, while head of corporate Mark Hawes has been active on some high-profile acquisitions in the sector and commercial partner Laura Anderson attracts high praise from clients.