I advise charities, not for profits, social entrepreneurs and B Corps – and those working with them – on structuring and formation, charity law and governance, commercial arrangements, restructuring, mergers and regulatory challenges. I enjoy working alongside my clients, building close trusted relationships and finding creative ways to enable my clients to achieve their goals.
Charity law and governance: I advise a wide range of charities and foundations across the full range of legal and governance issues they face. I also have special expertise in structuring relationships at the intersection of the worlds of charity and business/finance. This work includes advising foundations on impact investing, the creation of social venture and impact funds, donor advised funds, corporate partnerships and other matters.
Social enterprise: My work often involves advising on the formation of new charitable and social ventures, including choice of legal structure and constitutional and governance options. This extends to advising on the formation and operation of social enterprise, group, and tandem structures, which often combine private capital and the public interest.
Corporate foundations and partnerships: I advise corporates and financial institutions on the formation and operation of corporate foundations, charity partnerships, community affairs and philanthropic engagements. This work involves the development of strategic partnerships and collaborations which enable corporates and their charity partners to achieve their goals.
Social innovation: I work with innovative clients and so often advise on the development of innovative structures and instruments, including, for example, social impact bonds, outcomes-based financing, repayable and convertible grants, quasi-equity instruments such as revenue participation agreements, match trading grant programmes and other forms of social innovation.
Purpose & impact: Alongside my client work, I have sought to build the legal and regulatory infrastructure supporting the purpose & impact space. This has included, amongst other things, being a member of the founding team of B Lab UK, co-founding the Better Business Act campaign, co-founding the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers, working in Government on the regulation of social enterprise, creating governance principles for community interest companies which are endorsed by the CIC Regulator, proposing the introduction of a statutory social investment power for charities and developing Purposely, alongside Government, to help businesses to embed purpose.
- I acted for the successful claimants in the leading charity investment case of Butler-Sloss v Charity Commission I advised the trustees of the Ashden Trust and the Mark Leonard Trust in bringing this high-profile High Court case, which involved the blessing of the trustees’ momentous decision to adopt investment policies which seek to align closely with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The landmark judgment sets out the legal principles applying to investment for the benefit of charities generally and is central to the Charity Commission’s CC14 guidance.
- I advised on the development of the Charity Investment Governance Principles I convened key sector umbrella bodies and proposed the development of the Principles, which are now the first sector wide best practice principles for charity investment governance and which sit alongside the Charity Governance Code. I subsequently provided legal advice and guidance to the steering group responsible for the development and finalisation of the Principles.
- I have advised LifeArc during its transformation in recent years to become one of the UK’s largest and most active foundations. This has included advising LifeArc on the charity aspects of its £1bn+ monetisation of its royalty interest in the blockbuster drug Keytruda, advising on governance matters, and advising on investment, grant-making, collaboration, partnership and other activities in the life sciences translation space.
- I have acted on the formation and ongoing work of a range of influential charities, not for profits and social enterprises I have acted on the instructions of Government departments and founders on the formation and work of prominent civil society institutions, such as B Lab UK, The Oversight Trust, Big Society Capital, Social Finance, Access, Fair4All Finance, the Youth Endowment Fund and the Council of the Inns of Court, which co-ordinates the work of the four Inns.
- I co-designed the UK B Corp legal requirements and advise on embedding purpose and mission in corporate structures These legal requirements now define the purpose of over 2,500 businesses with approximately 150,000 employees and multiple tens of billions in revenue. I have also advised all kinds of businesses on the adoption and implications of B Corp legal requirements, including the Body Shop, Jamie Oliver Group, Good Energy and Kin + Carta, the first B Corp listed on the London Stock Exchange.
- I have advised several clients on group structures, where charities or not for profits have a close relationship with a corporate This has involved advising some of the world’s most sophisticated corporates and financial institutions on corporate foundations and clients - such as The Oversight Group, Dalberg, MedAccess, Futerra and OpenCorporates - on the subtle relationships between corporates and charities in group structures, including where the charity or not for profit plays an important role in protecting the mission of the corporate.
- I have advised UK Government Departments, the European Commission, OECD, UN PRI, City of London Corporation, the Impact Investing Institute, national governments, think tanks and others on the development of a just and sustainable economy This has involved advising on the development of law, regulation and policy to support social entrepreneurship, develop social impact bonds, accelerate impact investment and encourage more responsible investment and business practice. I have always sought to bring practical insights from my legal practice to inform policy and practice and help grow the impact economy, alongside other stakeholders.