Alison Paines

Almost every day brings something new and interesting - charities operate in so many different areas and have so many different projects - and the clients I work with include some truly inspiring people.

When I started as a lawyer I did property, tax and trust law; this knowledge has proved to be very useful, but in the 1990s I realised that charities needed proper legal advice which took account not only of whatever contractual, commercial or fiscal law affected them, but also of their special status as charities and their own governance arrangements. And so the charities team at Withers was born. We now have the privilege not only of acting for over 50% of the UK’s top 100 charities by income, but also of setting up and working with many others. This may include discussion with a philanthropist how best (and in what jurisdiction) to establish a charitable foundation; analysis of a charity’s service contract with government; governance advice on a board dispute; merger negotiations or joint venture structuring; fundraising projects; rationalising special purpose funds; and much more. Our work for UK charities will always be core, and close to my heart, but increasingly our work has an international angle: the good which charities seek to do often reaches across borders, but then has to deal with the laws of several different jurisdictions. One of my most fascinating, and challenging, tasks was acting as interim General Counsel for the International Baccalaureate Organization, headquartered in Switzerland, at the time when it was re-organising its operations into three regional hubs (one in Europe, one in the USA and one in Asia).

Right now, in addition to my day-to-day work, I am focusing on what Brexit may mean for charities. It is important that, in the depths of its international trade negotiations and legislative changes, the UK government still hears charities’ voice - for instance, the impact on cross-border scientific research, and the need for continuing immigration for staffing in the NHS and care sectors - and we are working with our clients to achieve this.