People

Jayne Adams

Partner

Jayne unravels mysteries, finds sensible solutions to problems and sets clients on the right track, guiding charities, not for profits and individuals confidently through the legislative landscape and the geography of good governance.

What we say about Jayne

Jayne always has command of the fine detail and the nuances of any situation, whilst keeping the bigger picture in plain sight. Her advice is comprehensive, clear, commercially-minded and focused on achieving the right outcome for her client. Her knowledge and experience are greatly enhanced by her practical understanding and empathy gained from her considerable involvement at board level, including as Chairman, as well as her in-house experience. She appreciates the pressures faced by clients and works with them pro-actively to help them achieve their aims.

Jayne advises charities and not for profits of all types, forms, structures and sizes, as well as private individuals. Her extensive expertise includes governance and constitutional matters, restructuring, collaborative working and mergers, advising on the interpretation and implications of new legislation and guidance, trustee duties, contracts and agreements, management and administration, serious incident management and reporting, regulatory requirements, company secretarial matters, UK cross border concerns, permanent endowment and specie property, Gift Aid, legacies (contentious or otherwise) and donations, grant conditions, corporate sponsorship, Big Lottery Fund applications, Charity Commission investigations and the formation and dissolution of organisations.

In addition, her practice includes advising on probate, tracing missing beneficiaries and assets, and the formation and management of syndicates owing valuable musical instruments. 

She also provides in-house consultancy and is delighted to work closely with both start-ups and more mature organisations in need of a fresh approach or a review of existing legal, governance, policy and procedural arrangements.  Her skills as a technical draftsman are also in demand.

Jayne is Chair of the Council (the governing body) of Ardingly College (an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Sussex) and previously served as Chair of the Governing Body of Walthamstow Hall (an independent girls’ school in Sevenoaks) for 10 years. She is an experienced charity trustee and other boards served include those of an arts charity and a youth club.

Jayne trained and qualified at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP, where she practised for over 10 years. She completed her academic studies in law at the College of Law, Guildford, having previously gained a joint honours degree in French and Italian from the University of Durham. In between qualifications, her experience in international conference organising gave her a valuable insight into many different sectors, as well as proficiency in the understanding and successful management of logistical complexities and diplomatic challenges.

Highlights

• £25 million merger of two education charities, plus subsequent advice on policies and procedures for the merged entity.
• Review of constitutional, governance and compliance matters for and multi-jurisdictional registration of a large benevolent fund.
• Amalgamation of long-established literary charitable trusts and prize funds.
• Merger of Victorian charities, including due diligence on over 100 years of indifferent record-keeping, confusion over permanent endowment, restricted and designated funds, constitutional uncertainty, trustee identity crises and legal muddles and mistakes.
• £28 million merger of two medical research charities, including the formation of a new charity, fundraising, property and UK cross border considerations.
• Advising on charity restructuring, including of a charity operating overseas also requiring amended objects and extensive operational advice, of a celebrity-founded charity with a high profile and significant reputation considerations, of a charity with a deeply entrenched culture and a large, difficult membership and of a substantial grant-maker in a sensitive and contentious state where trustees were divided as to the validity of records, resolutions and actions taken.
• Interpreting trusts on which numerous parcels of land belonging to an educational charity are held, including permanent endowment and specie land issues and successful negotiation with the Charity Commission.