RLS Law > London, England > Firm Profile
RLS Law Offices
4th Floor, The Pavilion
The Pavilion
118 Southwark St
SE1 0SW
England
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RLS Law > The Legal 500 Rankings
Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers Tier 3
The ‘approachable and reliable’ boutique real estate practice at RLS Law is proficient in aiding corporate occupiers in their office, industrial unit, and warehouse requirements, often within the retail and leisure sectors. The team lies under the guidance of Julien Rutler, who handles complex headquarters relocations and commercial property investment portfolios, and the ‘brilliant’ Craig Themis, who advises on real estate planning, acquisitions, and disposals. Tom Foley is well versed in property development, while the ‘supportive’ Liam McArdle assists tech and professional services sector clients with office relocations and pre-lets.Practice head(s):
Julien Rutler; Craig Themis
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘Very thorough, often make themselves available to me as I need.’
‘Always genuinely looking out for my best interests.’
‘The RLS team is knowledgeable, approachable and reliable. They understand clients’ needs and provide concise advice in a timely manner. The team is very open and transparent.’
‘Liam McArdle is very hardworking and supportive. He explains all important points in a plain language and clearly, then further explains what a possible issue with simple examples may be, which allows me and helps me to make fully informed decision.’
‘Liam McArdle is the kindest, most clever and supportive solicitor I have ever met.’
‘RLS Law is a bespoke quality led law firm providing excellent services to clients within the Real Estate sector. The practice is led by experienced Partners with excellent support from Associates and admin staff.’
‘Craig Themis is an experienced solicitor, excellent communicator, and always works closely with the client to fulfil their needs.’
‘RLS in my experience is a partner led commercial property specialist firm providing a first-rate service at exceptional value that you just cannot procure in larger City firms.’
Key clients
AllianceBernstein Limited
Sony Music Entertainment Limited
Ottolenghi Limited
Octopus Energy
Viacom CBSinc.
TCN UK
Urban & Provincial
Iwoca
Computacenter PLC
Soho Housing Association Limited
The Kingdom of Spain
Work highlights
- Acting for Octopus Energy Limited on the acquisition of a newly built industrial unit of over 47,000 sq.ft. of offices.
- Acting for Tide Platforms in the acquisition of its new UK headquarters in Derwent London’s new development at the Featherstone Building on City Road.
- Acting for AllianceBernstein Limited in the expansion of its UK headquarters at 60 London Wall.
RLS Law > Firm Profile
RLS Law is a specialist property central London law firm acting on all types of commercial property transactions for retailers, property companies, property developers, investors, corporate occupiers, housing associations, and bar and restaurant companies.
The firm: Co-headed by Julien Rutler and Craig Themis (both ex-Hogan Lovells), who founded the firm in 2003, RLS Law was set up specifically to provide good value, first-class, partner-level advice on mid-market transactions.
RLS Law continues to place huge emphasis on its original core values. It has developed a particularly strong reputation in acting for high-end retailers throughout the UK as well as large corporate office occupiers, housing associations (on the commercial property and residential development aspects of their portfolios), medium-sized property companies and developers, and restaurant and bar operators.
RLS Law is perceived as a viable alternative to mid-tier City firms, large West End firms and national practices. All the firm’s lawyers have more than ten years of experience at highly ranked law firms including Hogan Lovells, Mishcon De Reya, Norton Rose, Slaughter and May, and therefore have a high level of experience and expertise, and work is not delegated to junior lawyers. It has gained a reputation for having a dynamic, responsive and proactive team of top-quality lawyers, offering legal services at competitive rates.
RLS continues to build on this reputation, and has recently secured some high-profile new clients including Ottolenghi, Agent Provocateur and Vilebrequin. Other clients include CBS Corporation, Deliveroo, Look Ahead Care and Support, Sonos, Soho Housing Association, Simon & Schuster, Stone Island & TCN UK Limited. The firm carries out site visits for clients where practicable, enabling it to better understand the properties and to spot any potential issues which may otherwise be overlooked. This level of service means it is widely recommended by many London agents as their law firm of choice due to its outstanding client service, and 100% of clients surveyed say they would recommend RLS to others.
RLS Law’s remuneration structure is heavily geared towards encouraging fee-earners to obtain their own clients and win work, both from new and existing clients. This ensures it delivers the best possible service as the greatest source of new business is from satisfied customers. As a small modern practice with a commercial remuneration structure, this means RLS is able to keep its operating costs tightly controlled, which in turn allows it to keep fees extremely competitive for its clients.
The firm envisages continued growth in the coming year, and aims to further expand by the addition of senior like-minded lawyers, with similar training and experience to the existing team.
Types of work undertaken: RLS Law specialises and regularly advises on sales and purchases (including portfolios) of freehold and leasehold commercial properties; leases of office, retail, industrial and warehousing space acting for landlords and tenants; corporate support (the firm assists commercial law firms that do not have specialist property expertise); property finance for investment and development loans for lenders and borrowers; property-related insolvency matters; commercial property portfolio management; leisure property – dealing with the sale and purchase of bars and restaurants and associated assets; property development; option agreements and pre-emptions; sale and leasebacks; and compulsory purchase matters, including compromise agreements.
In the area of property litigation, RLS Law assists freeholders, landlords, tenants and other property holders in dealing with a full range of disputes, including lease renewals; dilapidations; rent reviews; portfolio management issues; service charge disputes; recovery of possession; collection of rent; breaches of covenant; construction disputes; planning applications, section 106 agreements and appeals; sale and purchase of land; restrictive convenants; highway and rights of way issues; compulsory purchase; and insolvency aspects of holding property.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
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| Senior partner | Craig Themis | ||
| Managing partner | Julien Rutler | ||
| Property litigation | Richard Webber |
Lawyer Profiles
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Mr Ashley Allton | Property finance and banking lawyer | View Profile |
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Mr Tom Foley | Commercial Property Lawyer | View Profile |
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Mr Jason Goldsmith | Partner | View Profile |
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Mr Edward Jones | Dispute Resolution Lawyer | View Profile |
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Mr David Leedham | Commercial Property Lawyer | View Profile |
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Mr Liam McArdle | Commercial Property Lawyer | View Profile |
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Mrs Anna Rabin | Construction and engineering lawyer | View Profile |
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Mr Julien Rutler | Founder and Managing Partner of RLS Law | View Profile |
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Mr Craig Themis | Founder & Senior Partner | View Profile |
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Mr Richard Webber | Partner | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of UK partners : 5 Number of other UK fee-earners : 6Languages
English (fluent) French Spanish Portuguese- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers