Member focus – Harbottle & Lewis

What is your business speciality/USP?

We are a leading London-based law firm. For over 60 years, we have acted for some of the most creative, talented, entrepreneurial and successful people, businesses and corporates across all of their legal and business needs.

Our clients range from multinational companies to start-up businesses; early stage entrepreneurs to established industry leaders; and household names to private individuals and their family offices.

Whilst we consistently provide advice that is of the highest quality, we take pride in our ability to make even the most complex of matters appear simple. Every lawyer at the firm takes the time to understand our clients and their businesses to ensure the advice we provide is effective and business ready. As a result, we enjoy a culture of longstanding client relationships, built on trust and anchored in the quality of our service.

Our clients range from multinational companies to start-up businesses; early stage entrepreneurs to established industry leaders; and household names to private individuals and their family offices.

Whilst we consistently provide advice that is of the highest quality, we take pride in our ability to make even the most complex of matters appear simple. Every lawyer at the firm takes the time to understand our clients and their businesses to ensure the advice we provide is effective and business ready. As a result, we enjoy a culture of longstanding client relationships, built on trust and anchored in the quality of our service.

What might we be surprised to learn about what else you do?

We are well known for our stand-out expertise in the Technology, Media and Entertainment sectors.

This sector knowledge is very much in the DNA of our firm. But our capabilities spread far wider than this. Our lawyers are practice area experts in areas including family, property, reputation management, private client, tax and immigration.

What have been your business highlights this year and/or historical business achievements?

The firm was set up in 1955 by Laurence Harbottle and Brian Lewis. Our first client was Dirk Bogarde, we then shortly acquired Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and, later, other internationally known names such as David Frost, John Cleese and Bob Hoskins.

Since then, the firm has diversified naturally, but our heritage is still apparent. We continue to act for many clients relating to the world of entertainment and creativity, but is now a much broader sphere than in the 1950’s. Clients include The Royal Family, TV networks and production companies, high-end retailers like Harrods, celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham, plus many more less famous but hardly less successful entrepreneur types.

What are your recent achievements?

Various individuals and departments at Harbottle & Lewis have won awards recently:

  • Spear’s 500: Various lawyers at Harbottle & Lewis have been named in their respective Index.
  • Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2024: we received a total of nine nominations across the firm and won two awards for Law Firm Leader of the Year (Emma Wright, Technology Partner), and Rising Star (Polly Broad, Family Associate).
  • RollOnFriday: Ranked 7th in the ‘Best Law Firm’s to Work At 2024’.
  • Managing IP Awards 2024: we have been nominated for UK Copyright Firm of the Year.
  • eprivateclient: Chris Moorcroft has been named as one of the ‘2024 eprivateclient 50 Most Influential’.
  • Forward Ladies Leadership Summit and Awards 2023: Emma Wright (Technology Partner) was named Transformational Leader of the Year and overall Business Woman of the Year.
  • Tolley’s Taxation Awards 2023: Won ‘Best Private Client Tax Practice’.

Fascinating fact/statistic about your business

We helped Richard Branson buy his first aeroplane for Virgin Atlantic Airways!

What do you do to help contribute to the local community?

Our chosen charity for 2023 and 2024 is Key4Life. Key4Life is an innovative crime prevention charity which rehabilitates young men in prison or at risk of going to prison and provides real solutions to help reduce youth offending. Throughout both 2023 and 2024 we have taken part in various volunteering opportunities, including ‘Meet the mentor’ where volunteers help the young men improve their confidence to find meaningful employment upon release, ‘Dragon’s Den’ in which Partners listen to business plans and give constructive feedback, and ‘Meet the companies’ where the young men meet various organisations and volunteers carry out mock interviews and assist in CV preparation. As well as these volunteering opportunities, as a firm we regularly fundraise for Key4Life.

We have also continued our partnership with Aspiring Solicitors (AS), an organisation that works with law firms to increase diversity in the legal profession through mentoring, employability assistance, competitions and events.

What do you find most useful about your MSJA membership?

Meeting all the other wonderful members at events – especially given the wide span of sectors other members operate in. We love the sense of community being a member of MSJA.

You can view the full member directory listing for Harbottle & Lewis here