Railway Lawyer of the Year in England Hollingworth Bissell
Hollingworth Bissell
Helen Bissell Partner Tel: +44 (0)20 7653 1994 helen.bissell@hblaw.co.uk www.hblaw.co.uk
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Solicitors
Hollingworth Bissell was set up in 1997, by Helen Bissell in partnership with an ex-British Railways Board colleague, Sara Hollingworth. Since then they have provided specialist rail and general commercial legal services to a wide variety of rail industry clients, from both the public and private sectors. Clients include a number of train operating companies, train company owning groups, government bodies, rail property owning companies, rail property developers and ATOC. Helen Bissell has substantial experience in large UK rail projects, including new track and infrastructure, new stations and depots (land assembly, legal structure, asset protection and bringing into operational use), major station redevelopments and station change. She also has experience in negotiating, drafting and advising on commercial rail contracts, including rail franchise agreements and has an in-depth knowledge of regulatory and licensing issues. Ms Bissell joined British Railways Board as an in-house solicitor shortly before rail privatisation. During privatisation, she was instrumental in formulating the structure and documentation for all GB’s railway stations and had a central role in train operator franchising. She noted: “I have been working with many of my clients since 1997 and can offer clients a service similar to that offered by an in-house lawyer. This enables me to gain a deeper understanding of my clients’ businesses and how best to service their business needs from a legal perspective.
“The knowledge that I have is unique as it was developed from firsthand experience gained during rail privatisation, and has been constantly updated and developed ever since.” Hollingworth Bissell prides itself on providing a personal service. Work is undertaken by Helen Bissell or Sara Hollingworth personally, not by assistants who are introduced to the client after initial instructions have been taken, which often happens in larger firms. Ms Bissell said: “I have gained a degree of trust among train operators, including those for whom I do not act, in that they are happy for me to represent them all when acting for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), despite having their own retained lawyers. I believe this to be rare.” With regard to railway stations, Helen Bissell has been cited by clients as the UK expert. Her knowledge and expertise in this area has been recognised by clients, peers and those working within the industry, including by governmental departments and the industry’s regulator. Regarding Ms Bissell’s successes in the past 12 months, she was retained by ATOC in connection with the development of revised documentation for all stations on the national network. She has also been instructed by BRB (Residuary) in connection with the new depot at North Pole, required in connection with the Intercity Express Project and the arrangements for bringing into domestic use platforms at the old Eurostar Terminal at Waterloo.
Winner of ‘Financial Transactions Winner of ‘Financial Law Firm of theTransactions Year’ WinnerCorporate of ‘Financial Transactions Intl Magazine Awards 2013 Law Firm of Legal the Year’ Corporate Intl Legal Awards Law Firm of the Corporate Intl Magazine Magazine LegalYear’ Awards 2013 2013 SME - Financial Transactions Law Firm of the Year in England
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Sara Hollingworth
Helen Bissell
Tier 1 Chambers & Partners
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2013 Legal Awards
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