Karen Collins

Bates Wells welcomes new partner, Scott Leonard, to join corporate practice

We are very pleased to welcome Scott Leonard as a partner in our corporate practice. Bringing over 25 years’ experience, Scott joins Bates Wells from Russell-Cooke, where he advised on a broad range of corporate work. Scott advises on M&A transactions, equity investment, corporate real estate, corporate reorganisations and employee incentives. His clients include family-owned …
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Join our bimonthly employment law updates | Free live broadcasts with Q&A

During these bimonthly sessions, we cover recent people, HR and immigration developments which directly impact your role and organisation.  The webinars include: They will leave you with a host of action points and ideas to enable you to add a good degree of extra value. Sign up to our employment mailings to receive invitations directly to your …
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Spotlight 2023: A summary of the key issues facing the charity workplace in 2024

These past few years have seen a dramatic shift in the look and feel of the workplace. Charities are experiencing new HR challenges, from competing needs and interests, through to managing a workforce that has mixed feelings about the value of the office and more active trade unions. At this year’s Spotlight conference, Paul Jennings, …
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Recent immigration updates – what we know so far

They say a week is a long time in politics. When it comes to immigration, that has certainly rung true of late. Last Monday saw Home Secretary James Cleverly announce a new “five-point plan” to reduce legal migration to the UK. On Wednesday, the draft Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was published, which …
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Assured Unitary Governance Model

The current governance model for large, complex charities is broken and unfit for the current regulatory environment in which volunteer trustees find themselves. In this article Philip Kirkpatrick outlines his alternative vision. Whenever anything goes wrong in a charity in a way that reaches the public ear, people freely express their views about what the …
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Practical tips for deploying AI

With AI integration becoming increasingly common, it is vital that businesses deploy AI systems in a way that complies with data protection law and ensures that outcomes are legal and ethical. Here are our top tips for responsible, lawful implementation:
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In the news: Chetal Patel comments on new UK migrant rules

Following Home Secretary James Cleverly’s announcement on the 4th December of the government’s intention to cut migration numbers with a 5 step plan, Chetal Patel spoke with various news outlets to discuss the consequences of these changes. One of the planned actions is to increase the earning threshold for overseas skilled workers from its current …
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Trustees’ Week 2023 – celebrating trustees across the UK

It’s Trustees’ Week and we are joining charities around the UK to celebrate the work that trustees do. There are currently over 1 million trustees in the UK working to make a positive impact and support their charities. They bring expertise and guidance to their organisation, from protecting the charities’ objectives to facilitating change and …
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Advised emissions: Towards a climate-aware advisory ecosystem

What are advised emissions and why do they matter? ‘Financed emissions’ refers to the emissions that arise from projects funded by investment. ‘Advertised emissions’ describes emissions that are generated by encouraging increased consumption, particularly of high-emissions products. For lawyers, ‘advised emissions’ are the emissions that we support our clients to generate by providing advice to …
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Creating impact: Bates Wells recognised by The Times Best Law Firms 2024

We’ve been commended by The Times Best Law Firms 2024 for our work for administrative and public law, charities, employment and immigration. The piece acknowledges the sad passing of Andrew Phillips earlier this year, commemorating his contribution to the legal world, and highlighting how Bates Wells continues to use the law as a force for …
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Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme: What you need to know when travelling to the UK

What is an ETA? An Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme has been launched as part of the UK government’s plans to strengthen the UK border through digitisation. The scheme will apply to most visitors to the UK who do not need a visa for stays of less than six months, and who do not have …
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AI – opportunities, threats and policy – an overview

AI will change the world.  As with previous innovations that revolutionised society, the nature of those changes are difficult to predict.  Legislators risk stifling innovation or imposing ineffective regulation if they act too hastily.  But gaps in regulation are also problematic because of the risk of discrimination, division and bias.  In the absence of clear …
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