We understand that the education landscape is ever changing and that educational institutions are operating in a challenging environment. That is why it is important to have dedicated, experienced and trusted lawyers to work by your side.

It is the mission of the Education Team at Birkett Long to deliver high quality, practical, accessible, straightforward and prompt specialist advice. We have years of experience in advising and assisting a range of educational institutions from across the country, ranging from standalone nurseries to universities. Our reputation stems from decades of providing legal services to educational institutions.

We offer a number of different retainer and other services to the education sector. Key to our offering is flexibility and choice – whilst we set out in this brochure a number of pre-made options, we will always listen to those who wish to engage our services so that we can provide the service offering that is the right fit for them. Our complete package solution for all your legal and HR requirements is the BL Education Legal and HR Support Service retainer. It is a fixed fee annual support service which provides our clients with immediate access to specialist advice when it is needed. It is a support mechanism for all the key stakeholders within educational institutions and its purpose is to support you with all legal queries, no matter how big or small they may be.

We appreciate that staff are very important to educational institutions and that employment and HR issues can impact on the motivation, efficiency, and effectiveness of staff. That is why all our BL Educational Legal and HR Support Service clients have direct access to a specialist Education Employment Solicitor who understands the regulatory framework that applies to educational institutions (for example the restrictions in the Academy Trust Handbook relating to settlement agreements and the requirements of the “Keeping Children Safe in Education” statutory guidance relating to safe recruitment) and can provide advice on a range of HR and employment law issues that arise in the context of your educational institution.

Alongside our complete package solution retainer offering, we have devised three separate standalone retainer solutions for those not looking for an all-encompassing retainer product, each specifically designed with educational institutions in mind: BL Educational Legal, BL Education HR Core and BL Education HR Flexi. Our legal retainer provides you with access to our dedicated Education Team and our standalone HR retainers provide you with access to an Education Employment Solicitor whose sole focus and responsibility is providing employment law and HR advice and services to those in the education sector.

Our support to those in the education sector is not limited to retainer products. We offer a range of bespoke legal services to our clients, including:

• Training
• HR consultancy
• Data Protection Quickcall Service
• Academy conversions and school transfers
• Governance reviews
• SENCo support quick call service

What is most important to the Education Team at Birkett Long is that clients trust us to provide them with the right legal advice, delivered in a timely fashion and with empathy and reassurance when dealing with what are often difficult and sensitive situations. 

Additional services and value added

Training

It is important for educational institutions to keep up to date with the law and best practice in the education sector.

We provide bespoke training to senior leadership teams, SENDCos, governors and trustees on legal and HR issues for an additional fee. Training can be delivered in person or virtually. The areas we can provide training include, but are not limited to:

1. Safeguarding;
2. SEND law for SENDCos;
3. Parental complaints;
4. Managing absence and supporting staff wellbeing; and
5. Safer recruitment for School Managers

HR Consultancy

We can deploy an education employment solicitor to assist you with one-off assignments or large ongoing HR projects, so that in such circumstances you can be sure you are receiving the highest level of guidance. For an additional fee, we can help you to find pragmatic solutions to one-off complex challenges relating to matter such as:

1. Absence;
2. Capability;
3. Grievance; and
4. Disciplinary.

We can also act as independent investigators in serious matters such as allegations of staff harassment. 

Governance reviews

We can assist you with or undertake governance reviews, such reviews being expected by the Department for Education

Data Protection Quickcall Service

The Data Protection Quickcall services gives your internal DPO access to a data protection specialist solicitor over the telephone, so that they can get support or advice when it is needed, for example a subject access request or a data breach. The fee is £1,000 for Gold BL Education Legal and HR Support Service. For users of other retainer schemes or non-retainer clients, the fee is or £1,500. Platinum BL Education Legal and HR Support Service and BL Education Legal users automatically have access to this service.

The Data Protection Quickcall service includes:

1. Up to 12 hours’ telephone advice per year; and
2. Discounted cost estimates for written advice and reviews of data protection related policies and contracts

Regular webinar programmes

We will run regular monthly and quarterly webinars covering legal and HR updates and current issues. 

Legal updates

We will run regular monthly and quarterly webinars covering legal and HR updates and current issues. We issue regular legal update

SENCo support Quickcall service

To support SENDCo’s in their role, by providing access to a legally qualified solicitor by telephone to provide legal advice and assistance with all things funding and SEND law.

For further information or any questions you may have, contact our Education Law solicitor Thomas Emmett on 01245 453847 or at thomas.emmett@birkettlong.co.uk.