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England - South East • Private client
3

Charities and not-for-profit

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Trethowans LLP

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With a dedicated charities team that ‘always works to a very high standard’, Trethowans LLP is well equipped to advise on a broad range of matters, including governance and regulatory issues, incorporation and trustee duties. Sarah Humphrey leads the charities sector group, bringing particular expertise in charitable property matters, while Kirsteen Hook heads the specialised governance team, focused on supporting clients across the full spectrum of governance-related issues. Hook has additional expertise in advising educational bodies as well as managing academic conversions.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘I only worked with one individual at the firm and was impressed with their work. I was also included quickly in the BD programme and invited to forums and events.’

  • ‘I worked with Partner, Kirsteen Hook, who was responsive, friendly and knowledgeable.’

  • ‘Trethowans now host one of the only specialist charity teams on the South Coast. In most other practices, it is an adjunct, but they have created a repository of excellence in their people, and it shows. Without a doubt, they have repeatedly provided excellent service, identified issues and found ways to tackle issues that require a deep knowledge and understanding of charity law and best practice. ’

  • ‘Kirsteen Hook is well-experienced and extremely knowledgeable. Her wisdom and knowledge of charity law are vast, and she is able to explain it with simplicity and ease. She has guided my charity through some extremely tricky and highly unusual governance adjustments which have resulted in a completely smooth acceptance by the Charity Commission, all due to her wisdom, experience and careful preparation.’

  • ‘Trethowans provide a first-class service to the RSPCA as a prosecutor in relation to animal welfare cases. Sarah Wheadon achieves success at court in terms of appropriate convictions and sentences, which helps protect animals from offenders in the future.’

  • ‘Sarah Wheadon is extremely thorough, well organised and detailed in her preparation of cases. Another quality I value is her communication. The RSPCA are always updated in a prompt fashion, and there is good dialogue with RSPCA case managers and officers regarding the progress of cases, and she will revert where appropriate.’

Key clients

  • The Girls’ Day School Trust
  • Army Air Corps Charity
  • RSPCA
  • The Wetwheels Foundation
  • Rowans Hospice
  • Jane Austen’s House Museum
  • De La Rue Charitable Trust
  • The Army Museums Ogilby Trust
  • Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited
  • Royal Navy Winter Sports Association
  • Home Start Portsmouth
  • The F. Glenister Woodger Trust

Work highlights

Advised Paint Pots Pre-School and Nursery on their restructuring, conversion to a not-for-profit organisation and registration as a charity.
Advised the RSPCA in a complex regulatory case involving veterinary and DNA experts, leading to a suspended 52-week prison sentence and a 20-year animal disqualification order.
Providing Rowans Hospice with a full service and legal support for all of the charity’s legal needs, from the heart of the charity governance requirements through to their wider legal needs, including property, employment and regulatory.

Practice head

Kirsteen Hook; Sarah Humphrey

Other key lawyers

Sarah Wheado