Below is a selection of recent work that we have handled on
behalf of our clients:
governance
incorporations, amalgamations and mergers
- Advising the University of Winchester on a constitutional
restructuring, including the transfer of all assets, and including
a permanent endowment (consents of Privy Council and Charity
Commission involved)
- Advising on an educational agreement between a UK university
and a Japanese college involving an agreement to provide teaching
facilities and land for a student residence in return for financing
to build more teaching accommodation
- Advising Peter Symonds College on the transfer of an HE/FE
college out of Local Authority control
- Advising on the sale of an independent higher education college
associated with a UK university.
charity law and dealings with the Charities Commission
- Advising on the duties responsibilities and liabilities of
governing bodies for a number of higher education institutions
- Advising several Oxford colleges on structures required for the
conduct of conferences for third parties taking into account
charity law compliance and tax and VAT implications
- Advising several Oxford colleges on trading for income
generation including advice on structures and compliance
issues
- Establishing a number of ‘library scheme’ structures for Oxford
colleges.
- Advising a significant number of Oxford colleges on the process
and requirements of registration as registered charities under the
Charities Act 2006
- Negotiating recognised centre status for a body affiliated to
the University of Oxford
- Advising another University of Oxford-recognised centre on its
governance and a major restructure of its charitable and corporate
structure
- Advising to a higher education college on policies for the
admission of students and safeguarding students and staff
- Advising to a student union on its relationship with the
university and trading issues and structures.
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student issues
student issues (complaints etc)
- Acting for a number of universities and colleges providing
advice regarding, and prosecution of, student disciplinary
cases
- Advising on the creation and implementation of procedures to
ensure that higher education institutions have robust and
transparent procedures in place to deal with student
complaints
- Advising on disciplinary offences, involving: the investigation
process; evidence gathering; allegation drafting; and case
presentation
- Advising on the obligations of students who are maintained on a
regulatory student register, involving: consideration as to the
regulatory process; professional obligations; rigour of the
university investigation; credibility of evidence provided; and
reputational risk
- Provision of a Legal Advisor service to clients to ensure the
integrity of a disciplinary process
- Providing specialist advice on the limitations of a student
disciplinary scheme on the grounds of unfair procedure,
inappropriate application and lack of compliance with the
principles of the Human Rights Act 1998.
- Defending of personal injury claims by students
- Providing training and advice to the Office of the Independent
Adjudicator
- Providing specialist litigation, alternative dispute resolution
and mediation advice.
regulated courses and accreditation
- We have been involved in the consultation process with a number
of healthcare regulators relating to the Government’s proposals for
regulation of health professionals.
- We have provided detailed consultative advice to university
departments about the Government proposals.
- We have developed a training package for higher education
sector clients to:
- provide training to students regarding the requirements of
professional regulation, professional competence, regulatory
compliance and statutory interpretation
- provide advice to training institutions regarding the
compliance of proposed training packages with the Government’s
proposed development in areas of professional regulation and
consultation with the professional regulator
- assist higher education providers with training, advice and
consultation as to how the opportunities of the proposals can be
maximised
- prepare training programmes for students, to deliver either on
behalf of university clients or to deliver directly to
students.
entrepreneurial and student services
- Providing advice and representation at campus located student
legal advice centres
- Establishing and resourcing a student entrepreneurship
clinic
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employment
contracts and procedures
- Advising a university client upon its terms of employment with
academic staff
- Advising a university client upon a contract for services for
self-employed contractors working overseas
- Advising a further education college in relation to holiday
rights and accrual of benefits during maternity leave for lecturing
staff
- Advising a further education college in respect of harassment
and disability discrimination, disciplinary procedures in respect
of allegations of gross misconduct against senior management
employment claims
- Representing a higher education establishment in relation to a
claim brought in the Employment Tribunal by a senior manager for
constructive unfair dismissal
- Advising a higher education establishment in relation to a
grievance brought by a secretary alleging bullying and harassment.
Advising upon the grievance appeal process and subsequently
advising on the counter-grievance that was brought by the accused
employee. Successfully representing a constructive unfair dismissal
claim brought by the accused employee
- Negotiating severance terms for senior personnel in various
higher and further education establishments
- Advising a university client in relation to the dismissal of a
porter on long term sick leave, including advice on unfair
dismissal and issues under the Disability Discrimination Act
- Advising a further education college in relation to the
dismissal by reason of redundancy of a disabled employee
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pensions
- negotiating a withdrawal agreement for a u niversity client to
deal with a section 75 debt that was triggered by its
incorporation
- dealing with the backlog of part-time worker pension claims for
a number of colleges participating in the LGPS and TPS
- negotiating a funding plan with the trustees of a pension
scheme sponsored by a university (which included the trustees being
granted a charge over various assets owned by the institution)
- dealing with the pension aspects of compromise agreements where
higher education sector clients have terminated the employment of
senior academic and non-academic staff
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property
property development
- Advising a number of Oxford colleges and the University of
Winchester on major development schemes, joint ventures with
commercial partners, joint equity schemes, construction and
planning issues, site acquisitions and disposals and sales and
leasebacks.
property-related tax
- Advising on tax effective arrangements, including VAT
mitigation schemes.
- Property portfolio management
- Advising Oxford colleges and the University of Winchester on
management of portfolios of commercial, residential and
agricultural property including landlord and tenant issues
town and country planning
- Advising on maximising planning potential of property
portfolio
student unions
- Advising on constitutional issues and lease arrangements
student accommodation
- Advising on the construction of student accommodation (circa
400 units) by a developer on a lease back basis. Approx value of
contract over £40 million with passing ground rent related to
student rental payment return
- Advising on letting terms to students of residential
accommodation and operating a landlord’s forum
health and safety
- Advising on a health and safety case concerning the overall
safety of the University’s combined heat and power system
- Advising in relation to an investigation by the Environmental
Agency into the operation of a prescribed process without the
appropriate PPC
- Advising on an investigation by the HSE into a serious scalding
injury to a contractor
- Advising on health and safety liabilities relating to spin-out
companies occupying university property and conducting research
using university facilities
- Advising the Genetic Modification Safety Committee of the
University of Southampton on several issues relating to spin-out
activity
- environmental issues, sustainabilty and climate change
- Environmental advice relating to buildings containing asbestos
and advising in relation to an investigation by the Environment
Agency concerning glass fibre
- A range of climate change initiatives, including commercial
arrangements for emissions reductions, carbon and ecological impact
consultancy, energy management contracts and carbon offsetting
arrangements
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construction
- Advising several Oxford colleges on a series of developments
ranging from refurbishment of existing college premises to
construction of new accommodation and other facilities; advising on
building contracts and ancillary documents (bonds, warranties,
guarantees and appointments) on each project
- Advising a university on the development of sports facilities
in cooperation with local authority and grant funding from Sport
England
- Advising on major new build of accommodation and mixed use
premises for a major university on brown-field site in east
London
- Advising several high profile schools on the construction of
new building including accommodation and leisure facilities (some
being closely linked with VAT planning schemes)
- Advising a further education college on terms of appointment of
team of professional consultants for a new build project
- Acting for a higher education college in negotiating terms of
project management agreement in relation to construction of new
sports halls and related facilities
- Advising various sixth form colleges in relation to the
building project and finance documentation for major new build
projects, including science centres, learning resource centres,
performing arts facilities and sports facilities
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commercialisation and knowledge transfer
IP exploitation and technology transfer
- Providing spin-out realisation advice to the University of
Surrey in relation to the disposal and IPO of Surrey Satellite and
Technology Ltd and Modern Water Plc respectively
- Advising on the third round funding of Whitfield Solar Ltd, a
spin-out from the University of Reading
- Advising on the spin-out of Intelligent Sustainable Energy Ltd
(University of Oxford, Isis Innovation)
IP Protection
- Advising the University of Bath on the structuring of
agreements relating to research carried out for external commercial
bodies, including questions of liability; IP ownership,
exploitation and licensing; and adherence terms on the University
joining a major multi-party international joint-venture
- Advising the University of Bath in relation to the joint
ownership and exploitation of IP rights between higher education
institutions and funding bodies
- Advising on university IP policies
- Drafting licences to, and other arrangements with, newly formed
spin-out companies, licences in of commercially held IP rights for
use in commercial collaborations and assignments and
revenue-sharing agreements
- Advising on IP law generally including entitlement and
ownership, research exemptions and European data exclusivity
provisions
- Commercial partnerships and alliances
- Acting in connection with the creation of CommercialiSE, a
collaborative programme between the Universities of Oxford Brookes,
Brighton, Buckinghamshire Chilterns, Kent, Greenwich, Portsmouth
Higher Education Corporation, Reading, Chichester, Cranfield,
Kingston and Sussex to support the exploitation of the knowledge
base of the south east of England’s HEIs
- Acting in relation to the strategic commercial partnerships
entered into by the University of Surrey with IP Group Plc and the
University of Reading with ANGLE Plc (and its subsequent
re-structuring)
- Acting in relation to industry collaborations and joint venture
commercial arrangements (various universities and HEIs)
contracts and agreements
- Acting as a resource for the University of Bath’s Research and
Innovation Team, providing on-site assistance with the negotiation
and drafting of agreements
- Advising the University of Reading on contracting and
technology licensing matters
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enhancing university funding
capital projects
- Advising a university on the development of sports facilities
in cooperation with local authority and grant funding from Sport
England
- Funding arrangements for the construction of a new student
village on a university’s own freehold premises.
philanthropic donation
- Advising the University of Oxford on securing and structuring
legacy donations.
industry collaboration
- Advising on IP exploitation and technology transfer other commercial
matters.
data protection and freedom of information (FOI) issues
- Providing advice to the University of Southampton on all
aspects of data protection and FOI and the interaction between the
two regimes, advising on dealing with data subject access requests
and requests under the FOIA
- Implementing a new on-line university residence application
programme
- Advising on data sharing arrangements with local councils and
bus companies for an integrated travel management system
- Providing training seminars to academic and administrative
staff on data protection and FOI issues.
outsourcing
- Advising on the outsourcing of catering services, and the
outsourcing of conference services so that a college’s conference
offering is managed externally.
publishing
- Advising a university on the exploitation of copyright assets
through licensing to a joint venture vehicle for online
publishing
- Advising on publishing and associated commercial
arrangements
