• Chambers and Partners have awarded the firm Band 1 rankings for its Administrative & Public Law: Mainly Public Sector & Charities, Clinical Negligence: Mainly Defendant, and Healthcare: Public and Third Sector and Local Government departments. 
• Recognised as one of the UK’s best law firms by the Times in 2023.
• Interesting range of practice areas, including charity law, clinical negligence and ESG, as well as the more common transactional and contentious practices.
• Carries out private client work as well as corporate work, offering more variety than some larger City law firms. 
• Long-standing legal service provider to the NHS and local authorities, making a name for itself in the healthcare and local government sectors.
• Small trainee intake.
• Diversity & inclusion initiatives at the firm include Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Ambassadors, annual celebration of Pride and celebrating South Asian Heritage Month. 

We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics. 

Practice areas / services

Bevan Brittan is a full-service commercial law firm, with a range of practice areas including:

• Administrative and Public Law
• Banking & Finance
• BB Solutions
• Charity Law
• Clinical Negligence
• Commercial
• Commercial Dispute Resolution
• Competition Law
• Construction & Engineering
• Corporate
• COVID-19 Advisory Service
• Criminal Regulatory
• Employment, Pensions & Immigration
• ESG
• Facilities Management
• GC Exchange
• Governance
• Governance, Risk & Compliance
• Health & Social Care Integration
• Health, Care & Regulatory Law
• Housing Management Services
• ICT
• Information Law
• Insolvency & Asset Recovery
• Insurance Disputes
• Intellectual Property
• Investigations & Inquiries
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Medical Malpractice
• PFI/PPP
• Planning
• Primary Care Premises
• Procurement
• Procurement Litigation
• Professional Negligence 
• Professional Regulation & Discipline
• Property
• Property Litigation
• Reputation Management
• Secured Lending
• Subsidy Control

Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Bevan Brittan its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Administrative & Public Law: Mainly Public Sector & Charities, Clinical Negligence: Mainly Defendant, Healthcare: Public and Third Sector and Local Government. See here for more information

Key sectors / industries

Bevan Brittan serves a broad range of industries and values its lawyers as being sector-focused experts, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:

• Central Government & Agencies 
• Housing & Regeneration 
• Local Government 
• NHS 

In addition, Bevan Brittan also services the following industries: Energy, Estate Management, Financial Services, Higher Education, Independent Health, Infrastructure, Insurance, Manufacturing, Resources & Waste, Senior Living, Social Care, Social Enterprise & Mutuals and Technology. 

Work

Bevan Brittan is a leading provider of legal and advisory services for organisations across the UK, with its sector-focused teams providing unrivalled expertise to clients. Examples of its work include:

• Peabody: The firm advised housing association Peabody on a joint venture with Lovell Partnerships to deliver the next phase of its regeneration masterplan for South Thamesmead in South East London. 
• Mysa Care: Bevan Brittan advised Mysa Care on its acquisition of a leading supported living, residential and day care provider, PoC. 
• NHS: The firm advised NHS England on the procurement of a community diagnostic partner to enable the opening of five community diagnostic centres across the South West. 

Older examples

• Viridor Waste Management: advised a major waste management firm on an extensive PPP contract with five local authorities in South Wales, which involved the development of £220 million worth of work from energy waste plants.
• UK local authorities: representing UK local authorities affected by the collapse of the Icelandic banks in 2008, helping them to recoup millions of pounds.
• Advised on mergers, includingPeabody Trust and Catalyst Housing Limited,Catalyst Housing Limited and Aldwyck Housing Group,Catalyst Housing Limited and Rosebery Housing Association, LYHA and Karbon Homes,YMCA Birmingham and Coventry & Warwickshire to form YMCA Heart of England, and Great Places Housing Group and Equity Housing Group.

Offices / global footprint / expansion

Headquarters: Bristol, One Queen’s Street

Offices: Bristol, London, Birmingham and Leeds

Insights, internships and other opportunities

Bevan Brittan offers a range of opportunities for individuals wishing to gain experience in the legal industry and learn more about life at the firm. 

For aspiring solicitors, the firm regularly attends university law fairs to share insights into life working at Bevan Brittan. The firm also runs two vacation schemes annually in the summer. The firm tends to make training contract offers to 90% of the candidates on the vacation schemes. 

Training contract

Bevan Brittan offers a four-seat training contract, with each seat lasting six months. The training contract offers quality insights into the kind of work carried out by each department. Trainees are encouraged to be vocal about areas they wish to train in and Bevan Brittan will look to cater to trainees’ specific interests by designing a niche seat for them to train in (for example, a seat in corporate restructuring for charity associations).

Regular feedback, mentorship and support is provided to trainees from their supervisors, colleagues and Training Principal, whilst a training plan drawn up by the Early Talent Team supports each trainee’s skill development and understanding of key practice areas.

Trainees are provided with a range of opportunities outside of work. For example, trainees (and more senior lawyers) can also get involved in pro bono and charity work and community engagement (in particular with local schools), as well as mentoring schemes involving local secondary schools. Trainees are also encouraged to attend networking events.

Corporate social responsibility

Bevan Brittan contributes actively ‘to the local communities’ it works within. Examples of the work it carries out within communities includes: 

• Heal: The firm provided pro bono legal advice to Heal, a rewilding charity which launched at the start of the pandemic and has been acquiring more land to help create new nature reserves. 
• Yorkshire Cat Rescue: Bevan Brittan helped the Yorkshire Cat Rescue to secure a larger shop premises in a West Yorkshire town. 
• Christmas Charity donation: In December 2023, the firm donated £100,000 across four office charities, which is the firm’s largest single donation. 

Diversity and inclusion

Bevan Brittan prides itself on creating an environment in which everyone feels comfortable being themselves, regardless of their background. Initiatives for this include: