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

Praised by clients for its ‘pragmatic solutions-based’ approach, Mills & Reeve LLP‘s education team leverages the firm’s national network to assist clients with M&A, commercial contracts, and student accommodation projects. In the Oxford office, the team is headed by employment expert William Downing, and Sarah Seed, who also works from Cambridge, and specialises in advising non-profit clients on lending.

Mills & Reeve LLP is well known for working on complex and significant education-related matters, such as mergers and collaborations. The department also assists with regulatory, freedom of information, data protection, litigation and liability issues. Martin Priestley leads the nationwide team with vast experience in assisting with major projects such as the University of Sussex outsourcing, taking over the shared lead with Gary Attle, who now focuses on the ongoing changes to education law and policy affecting the sector. Richard Sykes is adept at handling a wide range of education work, in particular governance and student disputes. While Poppy Short is skilled in the full range of commercial and corporate issues, and Sarah Seed specialises in lending to universities, Neil Burton assists universities and charities. Key employment education specialists are Nicola Brown and Alex Russell. Richard Noble, Christian Bull and Jennifer Lewis  who supports clients with property needs, while Alexandra Pike leads the construction team. Helen Tringham assists with data protection compliance, student claims and cyber-attack responses; Jonathan Greenwood handles transactions; Jens Henniker Heaton is adept in student accommodation projects and Mark Pearce specialises in IP.

The charities and social enterprise practice at Mills & Reeve LLP has an ‘exceptional team‘ and clients praise practice head Neil Burton as ‘an outstanding lawyer and refreshing to work with‘. The firm has a deep, multi-disciplinary group in its Cambridge office, which supports national and regional charities such as Francis Crick Institute and Royal Society of Chemistry. Charity finance partner Sarah Seed, fundraising specialist Dona Ardeman, and employment expert Nicola Brown are among the key advisers to the not-for-profit sector. Lucinda Brown, who joined from Broadfield Law UK LLP in late 2023, is a specialist in resolving issues affecting trusts and estates, and she works closely with the charities teams.