Stone King LLP > Cambridge, England > Firm Profile

‘We are very happy with the service Stone King provided.’

‘Established expertise in property and general commercial litigation, with a roster of institutional clients, in particular in the charitable and educational sectors.’

‘Tony Pidgeon is personable with clients, calm and level-headed in the midst of fast-moving litigation and able to quickly assemble a team of solicitors and counsel to deal with disputes.’

‘Small but commercially focused and pragmatic team of specialists.’

‘They continually demonstrate a high level of detailed knowledge of the charity sector and specialist knowledge of issues relating to the Church of England.’

‘James Barratt – has guided us successfully over the last 12 months on a very complex legal matter. His availability, support and speed of response have been consistently excellent. He makes us feel like we are his only client, although we know that we are not. He is quick to grasp the core issues and explain to us the position and our optionsm and the risks associated with the various options, in a simple and clear manner.’

‘All the staff at Stone King listen very carefully to the needs of the business so they get a clear understanding of what the client outcomes and expectations are. The invoicing is clear and has all of the detail on it that you would expect.’

‘My main contact is Peter Woodhouse – he is very approachable and picks up very quickly what it is that is needed.’

‘The team takes the time to understand the business in order to provide tailored support.’

‘James Barrett provides the legal knowledge and the personal reassurance which is so often greatly needed.’

‘Intense focus on the client’s needs, excellent teamwork, awareness of how to work cost effectively, the right advice for each task. Helpful cross-department collaboration.’

‘The employment law team has excellent and detailed knowledge.’

‘No praise is too high for Caroline Fell. She is extremely efficient, reassuringly knowledgeable in all her advice, and very on the ball. Everything has been done remarkably quickly and she has been good at chasing the solicitor on the other side as well. I have been most fortunate in having her act for me and she has caused me to transfer all my affairs to Stone King.’

‘Rebecca Eels displays exceptional client care and delivers detailed briefs to counsel. Extremely experienced, which means clients trust her advice. Content to give robust advice when required.’

‘Caroline Fell is a stand-out partner. She is a calm, capable and knowledgeable lawyer who has a wonderful manner with clients. I recommend her both as a solicitor and as a mediator. She is technical and also pragmatic. Rebecca Eels is a stand-out partner who I recommend particularly for child inclusive mediation work. She is brilliant with clients.’

‘Caroline Fell is a real star – composed and able – always looks to settle if she can.’

‘Caring, innovative solutions, cost effective, well respected.’

‘Tracey Smith is very knowledgeable but not afraid to see assistance when warranted.’

‘The family department have a competent team which is able to provide excellent child inclusive mediation.’

‘Both Rebecca Eels and Caroline Fells provide effective and empathetic support in family matters.’

‘Large enough to be reassuring and small enough to be collaborative and personal.’

‘ I have been immensely assured by the speed of support, competence and clear direction provided by Hugh Pearce.’

‘The workload is managed very carefully by a single partner, who then brings in the relevant expertise as required.’

‘I feel that we can throw anything their way.’

‘Hugh Pearce has good knowledge of what is relevant and what is not relevant.’

‘I have dealt with Caroline Taylor and Tim Rutherford, both of whom have given entirely satisfactory service and been extremely helpful.’

‘Stone King have an excellent reputation in estates and trusts litigation generally and particularly for international estates and trusts and charities including education providers.’

‘Luke Watson has years of experience as an estates and trusts specialist. He has first-rate knowledge and tactical awareness. A safe pair of hands.’

‘Dan’s specialist knowledge is quite exceptional, and his authentic charm and charisma inspire confidence.’

‘The go-to firm in the charity sector when it comes to international estates and dealing with anything cross-border. Get to grips with complicated matters quickly and efficiently.’

‘A clear understanding of a charity’s needs, not only with legal advice, but the implications for both trustees and managing potential PR issues. Fees are competitive and the depth of knowledge ensures that all elements of an issue and considered.’

‘Dan Harris is a remarkable solicitor whose expertise on multi jurisdictional probate matters is invaluable in ensuring that a charity will receive its full entitlement from countries throughout the world.’

‘Stone King has a fantastic reputation for contentious trust and probate, and attract first-rate work. A leader in their field, they combine genuine expertise with strength in depth.’

‘Luke Watson is a top-rate lawyer and I cannot speak highly enough of him. A delight to work with and superb with clients.’

‘Practical, timely and approachable.’

‘Intelligent and practical.’

‘Andrew Mortimer adopts a calm, measured, no-nonsense approach and has been a pleasure to deal with.’

‘The team at Stone King clearly care about the FE sector, they regularly support networks and events that we hold for our members and their input is always well received.’

‘Jamie Otter is extremely knowledgeable, such that we followed him to Stone King from his previous employment. Jamie has a sensible, down-to-earth approach that enables us to move forward.’

‘The team works hard to support clients and provides the specialist legal advice that is needed. Staff are approachable and committed to supporting clients.’

‘The Stone King LLP education practice is wholly unique. The practitioners I have worked with are extremely knowledgeable about the FE sector, have years of experience, work closely with me and my team to support us in making the right decisions and are extremely responsive.’

‘Tom Morrison is knowledgeable about the sector, experienced, responsive and easy to work with. In addition, Tom is extremely well-networked, connecting me with other experts both within Stone King and in other relevant organisations, and is able to very quickly get to the centre of an issue.’

‘The service is excellent. All the people we have dealt with have been knowledgeable and helpful, and all advice has been relevant, concise and high quality. Response time is very good, and we would recommend the service to anyone.’

‘Jamie Otter has been a fantastic support. He is very approachable, supportive, knowledgeable and ethical.’

‘The practice has an unrivalled understanding of and empathy with the further education sector, working with providers, funders, sector bodies and regulators. They seek practical, innovative solutions.’

‘Stone King offers first class legal and management expertise at all levels, combining exceptional expertise in sectors, leading solicitors across a wide range of specialist fields, regional teams as centres of excellence nationwide and client care second to none making the firm a first choice for my clients’.

‘Responsive team. Support us over a variety of different areas, including government contracting, commercial activities, HE/employment law, IP and charity governance. Committed to the charity’s success’.

‘Stephen Ravenscroft – Responses to claims have been handled with judgement, care and sensitivity, and have seen the firm working successfully and very constructively with trustees of the trust and gallery’. 

‘The specialist support and advice provided by Lee Coley and more recently by Frances Godden is excellent. This is particularly in respect of land and trust matters. Lee Coley is measured and considered and provides clear advice and guidance that supports me to make effective decisions’.

‘Julian Blake is the most committed, probably the most able and in my view the best charity and social enterprise solicitor. He provides exceptional client care and support and consistently achieves effective solutions whatever the complexities’.

‘Stone King has exceptional expertise in the field of social enterprises and the wider social economy. They are highly skilled and experienced and value driven which makes them stand out from lawyers in other firms. Key people working in this area that really stand out include Julian Blake, Hannah Kubie and Nicole Reed’.

‘In my experience of Stone King, their depth of knowledge – both legal and practical within the charity sector is fantastic. Their ability to make the law accessible but also ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of their charity clients is so valuable. They are consistently strong listeners, pragmatic whilst guiding you within the law’.

‘Ann Phillips has been a great source of strength, expertise and legal brain. Equally Julian Blake. Efficient, focused, rounded and informed in their advice. Their work is pre-emptive, thoughtful and acknowledges the operating environment of their client’’.

‘Right from the beginning, I have felt supported and understood by the team at Stone King LLP. The depth of knowledge, empathy and recommendations made by them have given me full confidence to place my trust in them for my safety and future. Dealing with a particularly emotive case, they have gone the extra mile to support me emotionally and have been available around the clock for any needs, concerns or reassurances I have required. I cannot recommend them highly enough and will be utilising them again for future issues.’

‘I have worked directly and exclusively with Andrew Banks – a confident, charismatic and understanding professional, I have worked with him now for a year on a particularly complex case. We have developed both a professional and personal rapport and I always find him to be on the ball and engaging. He has demonstrated exceptional patience and kindness throughout our working relationship. I have found his work to be faultless and some of the best I have experienced in the many experience I have had with different solicitors. I would recommend him without hesitation and have done so since working with him.’

‘My solicitor treated me as a person, was clear with my options and always treated me fairly.’

‘Just such a great team of people.’

‘They all worked hard for me. Angus McWilliams was just excellent and was so very good at everything he did.’

‘Stone King LLP offer a considered team around the client approach. Of note and worthy of special mention is the way in which they work collaboratively with each other and external organisations, to ensure the betterment of the overall professional care delivery.’

‘Stone King LLP is in a position to provide a bespoke service. They have excellent client care and consistently demonstrate meticulous case preparation.’

‘Matthew Graham and Angus Williams – both are exceptional in their case preparation and client care. It is my experience that lay clients are left feeling as though theirs is the only case that matters; nothing is too much trouble. First class.’

‘I found Stone King utterly refreshing. Their collaborative approach, made it possible for me to get the outcome I wanted whilst being compliant, this is very different to having to mold my ideas to fit a model with other firms.’

‘They are outstanding in their expertise, approachability, efficiency, and support.’

‘Their knowledge of the charity sector is excellent. We worked very closely with Tim Rutherford and Alice O’Mahony and they are a superb team.’

‘They have a real understanding of religious organisations and can offer support for a variety of matters that wouldn’t occur for many secular organisations.’

‘Ciara Campfield is super supportive and passionate about colleges.’

‘The ongoing teamwork and support provided is second to none.’

‘Experts in their respective fields. Great customer service and understanding of the sector.’

‘This big-hitting education specialist firm still manages to retain the personal touch when dealing with clients.  Their experience in the sector is very reassuring to our organisation, particularly when it is involved in significant change.’

‘Professional, pragmatic and responsive.’

‘There is a calmness to their approach that is reassuring, particularly when legislation around our sector can change dramatically and with little warning. Other firms can appear overly corporate and therefore somehow distanced from the topic.’

‘Excellent advice. Great communication. Timely responses. Approachable lawyers who provide information in an accessible way.’

‘I have been privileged to work with a number of people from Stone King. I have found them to be assiduous, helpful, insightful, constructive and – very importantly – always good listeners.’

‘I have worked with one individual in particular at Stone King (Tom Murdoch). He has gone out of his way to support, encourage, inform, structure, enable and ensure success in the projects that we have been working on together (gaining charitable status for local news organisations). I cannot speak highly enough of Tom, who demonstrates both a deep knowledge of the law and the ability to apply it exceptionally well on behalf of his clients (in this case the charitable body on whose board I sit).’

‘They have taken time to understand our issues and tailored their approach to our circumstances. Stone King have also been clear with their advice and challenged us when appropriate.’

‘Both Tom Murdoch and Sam Dowgill have been approachable, listen well and respond in a timely way.’

‘The firm uses a good thoughtful and consultative approach in its client interactions.’

‘Tom Murdoch has provided very sound advice that reflects his understanding of the practical realities of running a charity. He has continued to provide pragmatic advice.’

‘What stands out from colleagues at Stone King is that the advice is pragmatic and empathetic: the legal position is made clear and the probabilities attached to risks are spelled out in a way that supports, rather than unduly constrains, management decisions.’

‘From Polly O’Malley, I have valued particularly her availability, the directness of her advice, and the pragmatism and empathy shown to the management position. I always feel like she and her colleagues are on our side, even if the advice is not what we want to hear.‘

‘The team has a good depth of employment law expertise in the education sector and have given us helpful and pragmatic support and advice through a number of very complex cases over the last couple of years.‘

‘Polly O’Malley provides good leadership to her team, and hands-on support with the most difficult issues. Where appropriate, she has made suggestions about how our internal practices could be further strengthened.’

‘Stone King have a strong team of experts and were able to appoint a partner with the specific specialism to support us with novel and targeted advice for a complex and unusual situation.’

‘Polly O’Malley was extremely knowledgeable and thoughtful in providing advice on the complex dismissal of a senior individual facing a number of most serious criminal safeguarding allegations which required a novel approach.’

‘Excellent range of skills and expertise to cover all situations.‘

‘Perfect professional individuals that work with high values and integrity.’