Sarah Seed > Mills & Reeve LLP > Cambridge, England > Lawyer Profile

The education practice at Mills & Reeve LLP comprises a large team of multidisciplinary lawyers who are well-equipped to advise a range of universities and Oxbridge colleges on high-value and complex strategic and contentious matters spanning employment, regulatory compliance, freedom of speech, and commercial issues. The national team is jointly led by Cambridge-based lawyer Gary Attle, who has acted in a variety of high-profile contentious mandates under the Equality Act 2010 and is also a key contact for regulatory matters related to data protection and freedom of speech, and Martin Priestley, who practices from Leeds and is active across a range of high-value mergers, acquisitions, and procurements for higher education clients. Other key contacts in the team include Cambridge-based lawyers Sarah Seed, a higher education financing and banking specialist, Jens Henniker Heaton, an expert on student accommodation projects, and Poppy Short, who advises on a wide range of academic partnerships and arrangements.

Mills & Reeve LLP‘s education team stands out for its ability to advise large independent schools and multi-academy trusts on debt finance transactions, having assisted a number of schools and educational foundations on high-value private placements, and is also well-regarded for its advice on charity law matters as well as employment and safeguarding issues. Charity expert Neil Burton jointly leads the national education practice with Gary Attle and Martin Priestley. For financial matters, Sarah Seed is a key contact, while Richard Sykes is well-regarded for his understanding of sensitive student matters.

Neil Burton continues to lead the practice at Mills & Reeve LLP, which advises all types of charities on a wide spectrum of issues. Areas of recent growth have included advising membership organisations, education charities, and health charities. The group is also adept at handling a diverse range of matters such as alternative fundraising and philanthropy issues. Sarah Seed has considerable experience in debt capital markets, and has a particular emphasis on the not-for-profit and public sectors.

Mills & Reeve LLP‘s team delivers a ‘strong partner-led service‘ and has the deepest bench of banking and finance lawyers in East Anglia. The firm has the region’s only debt capital markets practice, which notably handled more than £1bn worth of public and private bonds in 2022. Cambridge-based practice head William Roles focuses on corporate and acquisition finance and is ‘the perfect lawyer to put in front of a potential client as he is always balanced, fair and well-reasoned in his approach’. Also in Cambridge, not-for-profit finance specialist Sarah Seed and principal associate Matthew Howling are names to note; both recently assisted The University of Hull with a £40m sustainability-linked Revolving Credit Facility and an £86m privately placed issue of green debt securities. Partner Laura Holdaway and principal associate Sarah Greenwood are the key contacts for real estate finance, whilst Bethany Webb is described as being ‘the dictionary definition of an up-and-coming lawyer’. In Norwich, Zak Virgin ‘provides consistent and clear advice‘ on asset-based lending, and borrower-side and government finance specialist Frances Churchard is also recommended.

The charities and social enterprise practice at Mills & Reeve LLP advises an impressive array of charity clients, among them the Francis Crick Institute, The Children’s Trust and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. ‘Exceptional lawyer’ and practice head Neil Burton, charity finance-focused Sarah Seed, fundraising specialist Dona Ardeman, and employment expert Nicola Brown are some of the key practitioners to note in the Cambridge office. The team stands out for its ability to ‘clearly identify risks and best approaches’. Principal associate Nathalie Jacoby-Danesh moved to Browne Jacobson LLP in April 2023.