‘Superb in all respects’

‘Incredibly professional, approachable and knowledgeable workforce. The key difference in working with Browne Jacobson is that they really understand the Education sector and are able to answer questions, provide advice and support that is relevant, relatable and really straight-forward to understand and action.’

‘The Education Practice at Browne Jacobson LLP is deeply impressive and hugely knowledgeable. Browne Jacobson is also committed to diversity. Its won the D&I Initiative of the Year award at the British Legal Awards in 2021. This is the fourth national award that the firm has won for its innovative talent diversity and inclusion programme.’

‘The leaders of the education practice at Browne Jacobson, notably Mark Blois and Nick MacKenzie, are completely committed to the education sector and their moral purpose guides their legal advice and practice.’

‘Wide range of sector knowledge provided by access to a range of partners and associates. Excellent range of products to meet the needs of education sector means access to affordable legal advice and guidance.’

‘The customer liaison is excellent, the partners feel like an extension of the team, they make an effort to ensure that they remain up to date on both our Trusts issues and wider sector issues. Training and seminars are always relevant.’

‘Colleagues are highly accessible to our team, very personable and feel like an extension to our own team. They are knowledgable and efficient, providing great reassurance to our individual schools as well as our central Trust team. There is good transparency and openness of communication in relation to charging and the quality of service we can expect to receive.’

‘We have valued the in-depth knowledge they have not only of our sector, but of our own organisation. They have taken time to get to know people and members of the team are able to work interchangeably on case work because of the ways in which they share information. Good humour, professionalism and efficiency are all hallmarks of the way Browne Jacobson work with us.’

‘Farrers have a strong team in the educational space. We often use them to help with dispute resolution with parents in our schools and for safeguarding advice.’

‘The quality of advice has always been excellent – pragmatic, supportive and the team shows a real understanding of the education sector. The advice takes into account the sector and the nuances of working in education. The firm is also proactive in providing advice at a general level as situations change which is very reassuring.’

‘A multi-disciplined and talented team is led by a number of partners. The lead partner varies, this is dictated by the area of law that is being advised on.’

‘David Smellie – A figure of national importance as an expert, advisor and thought leader in safeguarding.’

‘The education team is well resourced and managed. Team members have excellent in-depth experience in a wide variety of matters which are relevant to clients in the education sector ranging from employment to complaints to external reviews. They take a collaborative approach, sharing sector knowledge and often working with the charities team to do the same.’

‘Alice Yandle is outstanding, one of the best lawyers I have ever worked with. She is super bright, strategic in her approach and always thinks a few steps ahead and with the ultimate preferred outcome in mind. Add to that her client care skills, diligence, responsiveness and phenomenal grasp of the law and issues in any situation, and you have the real deal: a solicitor who you can rely on and who will look out for their client. It is rare to find an advisor with Alice’s emotional intelligence.’

‘Full service team with great experience in the education sector. Great to have in your camp for regulatory work. Accessible and responsive.’

‘Alice Yandle is our main contact. She is truly exceptional in every way – cares deeply about her work, appears very conscientious and presents her advice to us clearly and with great skill. The advice is always practical and easy to follow.’

‘The team are swift to respond and the breadth of experience and how they collaborate with the other teams at Stone King means that advice is always available for the non-standard queries. They have really got to know us well meaning that their advice comes with good understanding of our ways of working.’

‘Laura Berman is responsive, solution focused and takes time to talk through options – it’s a pleasure to work with her.’

‘Strong knowledge of the education sector, including; academy conversion process, documents and contacts; PFI arrangements for schools; legislation affecting the operation and responsibilities of schools; land arrangements, management of leases and licences and process for securing ESFA consent when needed.’

‘The legal team have worked together well to meet our needs in a timely way. There is good use of Teams meetings so as to have conversations with multiple people at once which is helpful. Our conference with counsel worked well this way.’

‘I have found the individuals I have worked with to have good understanding and empathy about our context which they bring to bear when discussing our case. This helps because staff who work in schools generally have very limited experience of working with the law in a complex way and sometimes struggle intellectually to focus on the legal issues rather than the wider people/children context.’

‘We have used this firm in relation to conversion of PFI schools into a Multi-Academy Trust, their knowledge and experience in this area has been extremely beneficial. The team working with us are always at the end of the phone or email to answer any question (big or small) that I may have. Communication is clear.’

‘I have worked closely with both Graham Burns and Nicola Andrews. They are extremely good at keeping me informed of what is happening with our individual cases and pushing them forward. They explain things in a way a person without a legal background can understand, their knowledge of PFI is exceptional.’

‘Bates Wells are the absolute experts in charity, social enterprise and education practice. They have extensive experience with start-ups, multi-academy trusts and scaling organisations which gives them a fantastic perspective and portfolio. No other firm has this expertise.’

‘Their approach is unique as they build capacity in the sector – with workshops, templates and networking to help increase skills and knowledge and spread their impact more widely than just the clients they work in depth with.’

‘They are always seeking opportunities to connect our organisation with others where there could be interesting collaboration, and this has led to strategic discussions for us and advanced our mission to make education fair.’

‘They are quick to respond with clear answers. Their answers are also jargon- and waffle-free, which is reassuring: concise, well structured, reassuring. There is a clear impression that they have extensive knowledge and experience of the educational market and the legal issues common to it.’

‘I was particularly impresssed with Jean Tsang. She stood out as someone who is keen to understand the client to ensure her expert advice is spot on. And it is so, invariably. She is flexible, and not just able to rattle off stock answers but is very precise in her advice. She also has a great command of the whole project and not just the areas which she deals with directly which is most impressive.’

‘The whole team has a very strong customer focus, friendly, professional and approachable. Evidence of collaboration across the organisation to ensure the best placed person is assigned with supporting any query.’

‘The people are intelligent, demonstrate high levels of moral integrity and humanity. They are also very emotional intelligent and able to deal effectively to a wide range of different, and often complex situations.’

‘Billing is timely, fair and you receive a high quality of service. They are not the cheapest but in our experience are the best at what the do and the quality of service they offer.’

‘Ben Wood has been absolutely excellent. He is highly responsive, astute and understands the nuances of highly complex situations very well. He has a high level of emotional intelligence and an excellent ability to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.’

‘The Education: Schools practice at Eversheds Sutherland is experienced, competent and responsive, with a broad base of knowledge in academisation, assets transfers, new building projects and DfE interaction.’

‘Availability of experts in different fields has been invaluable when we have needed assistance in a new area at short notice. Skills, knowledge appear to be of a high standard.’

‘All individuals dealt with over the last year have been professional, knowledgeable and approachable. In most cases response times have been excellent. The service feels like it is a considerable step above that which we receive from other firms’

‘A very knowledgeable and responsive team.’

‘Rachel Parkin can be relied upon to provide pragmatic advice and realistic solutions to a range of complex issues. Her education-sector expertise is second to none and she has proven to be a trusted advisor throughout some quite turbulent times.’

‘Kristine Scott leads a multi talented, adept, informed and engaged team of lawyers. The advice is accurate, timely and pragmatic.’

‘HCR’s strength and depth within the Education Sector is very impressive. They are proactive and always on top of the detail specific to our industry.’

‘They have the range of services and departments that you would expect in a top tier law firm but match this with a very high level of responsive and personal service.’

‘Kristine Scott is an exceptional leader of their education team. She provides clear, concise and pragmatic advice. She is always responsive and quickly directs specific requests to relevant departments if she is not best placed to advise herself.’

‘We moved to using Moore Barlow after a successful reorganisation piece of work which was handled with sensitivity and careful practical planning. Questions and queries are answered in a very timely manner and meetings held in person where possible.’

‘We have a close and strong relationship with both contacts at the firm who have dealt with HR issues at our school. They are quick to respond and clear in their explanations on what is possible and and not possible. Ben Collingwood and Adam McRae-Taylor are always personable in their approach and helpful with honest and practical solutions.’

‘Excellent service in assisting us though an employment consultation. First time using Moore Barlow and looking to move further work over based on our experience.’

‘A well balanced and dependable team, who provide a wealth of sound advice. They are friendly, customer-focussed, understand the sector and have good insight into the business side of a charitable independent school. They deliver good value and consistently high quality advice.’

‘Ben Collingwood quickly grasps complex issues and reduces them to their essential components without over simplifying. He is responsive and gives clear, sound advice. Gordon Reid is dependable and solid, giving a great, reliable service. Adam McRae-Taylor has always reliably and successfully guided us though the complexities of employment law.’

‘Broad and detailed knowledge and experience within the team. A one-stop shop for all education/charity issues. Prompt response to any issues and always willing to help or recommend someone who can.’

‘Professional, quick to respond, relevant experience, pragmatic.’

‘All I can say is that those who have given advice and prepared documents went beyond the usual effort to make sure that everything ran smoothly.’

‘Simon Henthorn is formidable in this area.’

‘The employment team has good experience in working with schools and acted quickly and efficiently with the issue at hand.’

‘I was introduced to the team due to their strong experience in employment issues related to independent schools.’

‘I find Doyle Clayton to be highly responsive, knowledgeable and efficient.’

‘I mostly work with Simon Henthorn, who is extremely good to work with. He responds extremely promptly, accepts when he needs to look something up, and is available for conversations whenever I need him, often at very short notice.’

‘Good knowledge of the sector; responsive to client needs;’

‘Individuals have good industry knowledge – they have built up a good working relationship with us and have sought to understand our needs and to build responses based on this.’

‘They are responsive to requests for meetings and creative in thinking through potential solutions.’

‘Trowers have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the sector stemming from the long-standing support they have given to the Department for Education over the last decade. This expertise is particularly strong in the property and construction teams.’

‘The team at Trowers combine excellent technical expertise with commercial nous and it is this practical approach that I value particularly highly.’

‘The team knows the context of the employment dispute within the education sector, inside out. It is unusual to have employment experts with such a specialist knowledge of the education sector, and is of huge benefit to their clients.’

‘Aida Smajlovic’s judgement is spot-on as a result of her extensive experience within employment law, but her specialist expertise within the sector sets her apart from her competitors. She is a shining light of sensible, practical advice for her education clients but she is also tenacious and tough in support of her clients’ best interests.’

‘The team at Winckworth Sherwood are extremely accessible and their legal knowledge is excellent. They provide pragmatic advice in an accessible way. I always feel supported and our working relationship feels like a partnership. If I have a query which requires specialist legal advice, the partner or associate I am speaking to will either consult with a colleague, or will forward my query to the relevant specialist team.’

‘I have worked with a number of individuals at Winckworth Sherwood. However, my stand-out partner is Aida Smajlovic. I have worked with her on a number of complex disciplinary and grievance investigations. She has always provided timely advice and I always feel that Aida is happy to talk through issues and scenarios. Her advice is always practical and robust.’

‘Nothing is ever too much trouble for the Winckworth Sherwood team; they are simultaneously professional and personable. People are at the heart of their practice and they take the time to really get to know their clients’ needs in order to deliver a bespoke, efficient and outstanding service.’

‘The team at Winckworth Sherwood have real expertise in the overlap between employment and education law, and the particularly complexities that that can give rise to. I am impressed by their knowledge of the nuances created by employers being, for example, charities, faith schools, and academies. Their advice is practical and commercial but, importantly, sector specific.’

‘Aida Smajlovic is great with clients. Her advice is commercial and always extremely objective-focused for clients. She understands what clients want and need to achieve, and helps them navigate the relevant areas of law to achieve those objectives.’

‘Unusually within education law, Winckworth Sherwood have leading solicitors with experience of acting on both the school-side and parent-side which assists them when acting for schools. They are impressive at dealing with discrimination law issues.’

‘Experience in public sector’

‘Penningtons have excellent relationships with us as the client. Our point of contact, Katie Glendinning, is excellent. We are a relatively small school and so having a consistent point of contact helps maintain consistency for us and to build relationships with our legal partner.’

‘Katie Glendinning is exceptional. Her attention to detail is outstanding and she has taken time to understand our school and our context to best give advice that fits us. Katie’s response time allows us to act on situations quickly and I have consistently found her support to be first class.’

‘The team are knowledgeable and able to anticipate and communicate any changes which may affect our business.’

‘Gemma Woodhouse – empathetic, excellent understanding of challenges in independent schools. Clear, decisive, objective. Supports client’s direction of travel but keeps us firmly on the right side.’

‘Gemma Woodhouse is a total star – amazingly accessible, practical and responsive.’

‘Gemma Woodhouse is fantastic. She always has time for us, and provides wise, nuanced answers on any topic we need. I think it is her approachability and genuine desire to understand our specific situation that sets her apart from other legal firms we have worked with.’

‘The Employment team take time to really understand our business, the issues we face and the challenges we need to overcome. As such their advice is then tailored and bespoke and always achieves the desired results. Excellent support team for our in-house HR and Management team.’

‘Gemma Woodhouse is an outstanding business partner. She knows me, my style and my business challenges. As such she goes out of her way to offer a range of solutions all of which will achieve the desired outcome but tailored to my style. Similarly Katie Glendinning has been trained well under Gemma and is also an excellent business partner for myself and my business and I have worked with both individuals across various businesses over the years.’

‘What is unique is having US charity specialists in London and UK charity specialists in New York. You don’t get sent from pillar to post (which happens with other firms who also ‘claim’ a dual-qualified mix).’