Hannah Smith

I advised on commercial contracts, consumer law, IP, IT and competition law. I worked for clients, both large and small, in various industries and sectors, including work for charities and public bodies. Within the broad range of commercial work that I did, I obtained particular expertise in advising organisations about consumer law and e-commerce. I was one of the Innovation Champions at Mills & Reeve. In this role, I promoted, encouraged, supported and drove innovation at Mills & Reeve.

I drafted and reviewed commercial, IP and IT agreements for a variety of clients. In addition, I advised on consumer law, including the drafting of online terms and conditions, website terms of use and privacy policies. I also prepared advice on competition law and state aid, including drafting and advising on responses to the Competition and Markets Authority.

As a Solicitor in the Commercial team, I specialised in the drafting and reviewing of commercial and IP/IT contracts from a wide range of industry sectors. My work included the drafting and reviewing of Terms and Conditions, commercial agreements, public sector agreements and IP/IT agreements. I gained particular knowledge of the transport industry.

I frequently drafted terms and conditions for the supply of goods and/or services for a variety of businesses in various sectors. I also drafted a range of commercial agreements which included research and development, concession, storage, sale of goods and services and framework agreements. I also drafted and reviewed IP and IT agreements and licences. I also undertook competition and procurement work. I assisted in responding to an Office of Fair Trading Inquiry and a Competition Commission Inquiry including responding to requests for information and assisting in drafting responses to the financial questionnaire, market questionnaire and working papers. I was involved in advising on market definition and on competition clauses. I was also involved in drafting procurement documents and advising on the Utilities Contracts Regulations. During this time I also undertook a part time secondment at Merseytravel.

The in-house legal role entailed providing legal services relating to all stages of Fitness to Practice investigations, up to and including preparing for and attending hearings at the MPTS Tribunal. Such legal tasks involved providing advice to the in-house client, identifying necessary evidence, instructing experts and Counsel, taking witness statements, identifying and drafting allegations and representing the GMC at hearings with Counsel. The role and also involved litigious matters such as issuing Part 8 claims and responding to Judicial Review claims, claims under section 40 of the Medical Act 1983 (Appeals) and Employment claims.

As a Trainee in Real Estate, I assisted with commercial property matters. I ran four of my own files: a sale for a company in liquidation, assignment of a lease, a lease renewal and a Section 104 Agreement. I drafted leases, a Licence to Assign, an Agreement for Sale, a S104 Agreement, a Notice of Underlease, Transfers (including one by a Trust), a Directors’ Certificate, Board Minutes, lease reports, reports on title, Statutory Declarations, a Deed of Surrender, Undertakings and various Land Registry forms. I undertook other tasks such as research (on various matters), searches, investigation of title, dealing with requisitions on title, applications to the Land Registry, billing, completion of £m sales and completion of a £m sale/subsale. I was involved in planning matters (some high profile) which included preparing advice on planning permission, preparing a case for Judicial Review and its appeal and dealing with enforcement proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court.

I ran my own caseload of files independently from the first contact up to settlement. This involved tasks such as conducting client meetings, determining funding, obtaining evidence, instructing experts, taking and drafting witness statements, analysing evidence, drafting letters of advice and advising over the telephone, drafting letters of claim, responding to Defences, instructing Counsel, drafting Schedules of Loss, drafting Claim Forms, negotiating settlement in writing and over the telephone (including preparing and responding to Part 36 offers) and determining costs. I attended Inquests and represented my client at a Pre-Inquest Review. I also assisted other fee earners on complex high value claims which involved additional tasks such as attending conferences and CMCs, preparing Particulars of Claim and preparing Lists of Documents.

As a Future Trainee Solicitor, I completed the Halliwells LPC+ which provided additional insight into how legal issues are dealt with in practice. I benefitted from additional in-house training, which included courses on the subjects of Contracts in Practice, Employment Law, Networking and Confidence, Conduct and Communication and Corporate Law.