I am a Partner in the Charity & Social Enterprise team and a “Roll A” Parliamentary Agent — one of only a small number of Parliamentary Agents practising in the UK, and the only one with a dedicated charity sector focus.
I advise charities, membership bodies and other purpose driven organisations with the furtherance of their aims, including some of their most complex constitutional, governance and regulatory questions.
My practice spans three complementary areas: (1) advice to membership organisations and students’ unions; (2) constitutional and Parliamentary affairs; and (3) core charity law, including advice to Royal Charter bodies and statutory charities.
Membership organisations and students’ unions
- I act for a wide range of membership charities, associations and representative bodies, including campaigning groups and professional bodies / Royal Colleges, advising them on governance, constitutional reform, elections, disputes and strategic engagement with their members and stakeholders.
- I advise dozens of students’ unions, with a particular emphasis on governance, charity law compliance, freedom of speech, campaigning, and trustee responsibilities. We wrote the model constitutions used by higher education students’ unions and have been at the cutting edge of issues including the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, and the sectoral response.
Constitutional & Parliamentary Affairs
I help campaigning groups, charities, MPs and peers to draft legislation or legislative amendments to achieve their policy aims, which includes:
- Drafting private members’ bills;
- Drafting illustrative legislation to influence / inform discussions with government;
- Drafting amendments to draft bills as they go through the Parliamentary process;
- Writing briefings for lawmakers on draft legislation, on behalf of campaigning groups;
- Challenging the government’s use of powers related to the commencement of legislation;
- Liaising with Parliamentary authorities about draft bills and amendments;
- Advice on navigating Parliamentary processes.
As a Roll A Parliamentary Agent, I advise statutory charities, Royal Charter bodies and other statutory corporations on how to update or replace historic legislative provisions (including where necessary by promoting Acts of Parliament); and consider the full range of reform options when an organisation’s governing Act no longer reflects its purpose or operational reality.
I also advise on the categorisation, merger and release of restricted funds and endowments.
Charity law and governance
Alongside these specialist areas, I maintain a wide core charity law practice. I advise on trustee duties, governance structures, Charity Commission engagement, charity registrations, restructurings and mergers, restricted funds and permanent endowment, conflicts of interest, grant‑making, contractual arrangements, and data protection and election law as they relate to the work of charities and social enterprises. I enjoy contributing to sector thinking through writing, speaking and engagement on developments such as the Charity Governance Code.
- I helped organisations working with MPs, peers and membership groups to draft amendments to public legislation, illustrative legislation and private members’ bills.
- I advised on the restructure of a professional membership body governed by Royal Charter, and helped others to obtain supplemental Royal Charters or to amend their governing documents.
- I worked on the development of sector wide guidance for the higher education sector alongside NUS Charity.
- I have advised dozens of students’ unions on constitutional issues as well as the inter-relationship between rules on charity law and freedom of speech.
- I advised on the constitutional reform of a century-old national membership organisation, including the design of new governance structures; and other transactions and mergers.
- I advised on a complex multi party merger of several regional charities into a single organisation.