2023: A year in review

Welcome to this, the final edition of the Bellevue Law newsletter for 2023. As the year draws to a close and our team prepares to enjoy the Christmas break, it seems appropriate to reflect on the past 12 months and take stock of the many activities and developments that have taken place here at our boutique law firm during that time.?

Whilst there’s much to celebrate, here’s a roundup of this year’s highlights from the Bellevue Law team…

January

We kicked 2023 off by hosting our first webinar of the year. Bellevue Law's founder Florence Brocklesby , Senior Consultant Susie Al-Qassab and HR lead at NREP Brian Evje discussed an ethical approach to redundancy processes in 'How to do redundancy well in 2023'.? You can access the recording here.?

February?

Bellevue Law had the honour of welcoming new team member Chris Croft , who now heads up our FS RegCheck service for businesses in need of advice on regulatory compliance. Thanks to Chris’s expertise, clients have access to an expert review and advice on the current regulatory needs of their business, and can avail themselves of additional support where needed to implement policies and procedures that meet regulatory expectations.?

March

We were successfully re-accredited by the Good Business Charter, having been the first law firm to join in 2020. The Good Business Charter recognises a business's responsible approach to the environment, tax, clients, supplies and employees. Re-accreditation is a testament to Bellevue Law's commitment to conducting business responsibly and sustainably.

April

Bellevue Law's Susie Al-Qassab was quoted in HR Grapevine, sharing her knowledge on running an ethical redundancy process. You can find the full article here.

We also welcomed paralegal Emily Kendon to the team. She joined us following her time with Bindmans LLP, where she specialised in Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury.

May

We added employment lawyer Ann Robson to our growing Employment team as Senior Consultant. Ann’s expertise is profound, covering every angle of employment law for clients in a range of different industries including banking and insurance, technology, retail, professional services and media.

June

Another new member joined us with the arrival of Eleanor Gilbert , who also joined our Employment team as a Senior Consultant. She supports employees and employers in navigating complex employment law issues across a range of sectors, including technology, professional services, media, retail and financial services.

July

Chris Croft participated in a webinar on Navigating the FCA's New Consumer Duty. Hosted in collaboration with leading advice technology company Twenty7tec , this event was held to help financial services companies understand their obligations under the new legislation. This is still available to view here.

August

We celebrated Bellevue Law's success at our annual summer party, with a barbeque and drinks in the sunshine on Wandsworth Common.?

September

We announced the arrival of Kay Osborne as our first Chief Operating Officer. Kay joined us from Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May, and her arrival, to help us further build our platform and processes is a significant milestone in the firm’s history.

Bellevue Law was also fortunate enough to welcome Sarika Rabheru as Senior Employment Law and Investigations Consultant. Her previous role before joining the team was as an EMEA Employment Investigator, as part of the International Employment Law and Investigations team, at the London offices of American multinational tech conglomerate Meta.?

And we were excited to file our submission for B Corp accreditation! The process required a significant commitment of time and resources for a relatively small firm, but proved really worthwhile and educational.

October?

We were very pleased to share our success in the Legal 500 and Chambers rankings. The former wrote in its praise that Bellevue Law “stands out in a crowded field” for our work for Employers and Senior Executives. These results reflect the hard work of the entire team, and we are all grateful to the clients who continue to trust us with their career-critical and sensitive matters for taking the time to provide such generous feedback.

“The lawyers at Bellevue are all very bright and great on the law, but most importantly, they are also pragmatic and commercial.” - client feedback, Chambers Directory 2024

This was also the month we were able to announce our impressive Band A ranking in the Law Firm Maturity Index (LFMI) benchmarking. It’s not something that is easy to achieve, nor something that can be done quickly, which is why we were so happy to have scored well on it.?

And the Bellevue Law team got together for a CPD session on imposter syndrome and handling difficult conversations with the fantastic Punum Telford . As always, it was great to have the opportunity to catch up with colleagues in person.

November

Florence hosted a session at Crafty Counsel’s Disputes Day with Bill Smith , Senior EMEA Employment Counsel at Oracle, on the topic of 'Navigating senior executive exits: settlements, risks and NDAs post-Me Too'.

At the same event, Bellevue Law’s Rachel Clementson and Georgina Calvert-Lee , both of whom are subject-matter experts on investigations and NDAs, joined Florence for an in-depth workshop.

December?

This month, we celebrated the great comments and results from our annual client feedback survey. For the sixth year in a row, we have scored 9.5 or above when asking our clients if they are willing to recommend us to friends and colleagues.

One client wrote:

“Bellevue is without a doubt the best law firm I have ever worked with. Their advice is clear-headed and powerful. They are transparent in their billing and deliver excellent value. They operate with integrity and passion. They always have my back. Superb.”??

Our founder Florence Brocklesby hosted another webinar, The Culture Conundrum: Navigating regulation of non-financial misconduct in professional services. She was joined by Bellevue Law’s regulatory, investigations and employment specialists Steve Melrose and Sarika Rabheru, and Katherine Allison, Chief People Officer from Moore Barlow.?

Together, they explored the implications of the SRA and FCA’s approaches to workplace culture for financial services and law firms and regulated individuals. You can watch the recording of this useful event here.

December 2023 also marks the sixth year in which we have sponsored the wonderful Home-Start Wandsworth Christmas carol service. Held on 19th December, this was an evening of great music, wonderful readings, mulled wine and mince pies in a great cause.

And last but not least, we enjoyed our end-of-year Christmas party with the whole Bellevue Law team!

Merry Christmas

So, that is it for another year from the Bellevue Law team. We wish you all a peaceful and relaxing festive break, and a happy new year.?