Qualifications and experience
• Associate Solicitor (2011)
• Admitted Solicitor (2008)
• Trainee Solicitor (2006 – 2008)
• Joined Bates Wells & Braithwaite 2006
• Legal Practice Course (Commendation), College of Law (2005 – 2006)
• Volunteer legal adviser to asylum seekers at UNHCR Clinic Leeds (2005-2006)
• Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction), College of Law (2004 – 2005)
• Teacher of Foreign Affairs and English, Semboku Senior High School, Osaka (2002-2004)
• BA (Honours) in English Literature (2:1), Bristol University (1999 – 2002)
• 4 A levels (all grade A)
Areas of legal work
• General commercial advice: Commercial, contractual, trading, company and charity law advice to: registered charities, arts organisations, social enterprises, not for profit entities and commercial companies.
• Governance and advice to boards of directors/trustees: Advice on trustee/director responsibilities and duties, governance (both for national and international charities), board organisation and structure, risk management, conflicts of interest and strategy.
• Structural: Establishment of new charities, social enterprises and groups of companies; advice on re-organisation including: mergers and transfers out of charities, social enterprises and central and local government to new entities. Click here to read the talk on transferring out of local authorities.
• Advertising, brands, fundraising and commercial relationships: Advice on the relationship between charities/social enterprises and commercial entities including exploiting brands and licensing, commercial participator relationships, professional fundraising, corporate sponsorship and charitable/non-charitable trading.
• Digital, IT, software, web development and website: Advice on all legal issues relating to websites and web presence (including online data protection, social media, blogging, domain names, online marketing and fundraising); advice on website development, maintenance and hosting, software development and IT contracts. Click here for the website legal issues video blog.
• Intellectual property (“IP”): Advice on copyright, branding and trade marks, database rights; advice on exploitation and licensing of IP and general IP management.
• Media, content, defamation: Advice to publicly funded and commercial media/arts organisations on content clearance, defamation and privacy.
Pro bono work
• Founder trustee and company secretary of the youth-led environmental and social change charity: Otesha Project UK
• Director of Urban Culture Project , a community performance social enterprise
• Legal adviser to the trustees of Unitas, an education and training charity
• Pro bono adviser to the Teach First social entrepreneurs
• Honorary legal secretary to the National Association of Choirs
• Pro bono adviser to the trustees of Pure a theatre and young persons’ social well-being charity
• Pro bono legal adviser and adviser to trustees/directors for several charities and social enterprises
Recent Talks
• Tricks of the Trade: Ten things Charities and Social Enterprises should know about the web. Click here for the video blog extract
• Transferring Music Services out of local authorities to independent charities and social enterprises. Click here for the talk.
• Managing in a Downturn, a talk at BWB on funding, employment issues, trading and insolvency
• National Association of Choirs Annual Conference – Talk on Intellectual Property andLicensing
Recent Articles
• Guardian Q & A: Charities and trading
• To Web or Not to Web?
• Funding Cuts for arts charities and social enterprises
• Recent Developments in IP law
