Catherine Rustomji > Shakespeare Martineau LLP > Birmingham, England > Lawyer Profile

The group at Shakespeare Martineau LLP is headed nationally by Catherine Rustomji who is experienced in advising charities, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations. Andrew Wilkinson, who is based between Leicester and Nottingham, acts for various charities on a range of complex legacy disputes. In Birmingham, Michael Hibbs is recommended for his employment law advice to charities. Rachel Gwynne is also well-regarded for her corporate support to charity clients such as advising on charitable registrations and conversions.

Catherine Rustomji was recruited in April 2022 from Browne Jacobson LLP to head up Shakespeare Martineau LLP‘s national charities practice. With deep expertise in the sector, Rustomji specialises in constitutional and governance matters, charity registrations and issues regarding legacies, which is steadily attracting a host of household names including Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home.

Shakespeare Martineau LLP‘s education team is composed of lawyers based who are ‘extremely knowledgeable in their field’ and are particularly well-reputed for their expertise in a broad range of contentious matters. The team has acted for universities and further education institutions in a number of commercial and property disputes, discrimination claims, investigations related to regulatory breaches, and claims related to unfair dismissals and freedom of speech restrictions. Smita Jamdar, who leads the Birmingham-based practice, has acted for universities in a number of OfS investigations and has also led the team to handle a growing number of non-contentious mandates related to governance, charity, and commercial matters. David Browne and Tom Long are noted for their experience in reputationally sensitive employment matters, and Clive Read is highly recommended for his ability to advise universities on real estate and student accommodation schemes. For contentious work related to discrimination and harassment, Andrew Adams and Ben Humphreys are further names to note. Catherine Rustomji, who advises on charity governance matters, joined from Browne Jacobson in April 2022.