Susan Newell

Susan is an associate in our Ecclesiastical, Education and Charities Department. She advises clients on the setting up and running of charities, particularly in relation to governance.

Susan works with a wide range of charities and not for profit organisations, from small unincorporated trusts to large corporate charities, including Royal Charter bodies. Given her background in company law, she has a particular interest in governance, and often assists trustees to update and improve their governance systems and documents. She has considerable knowledge and experience of educational charities, such as schools (both state schools and independent schools) and universities and colleges, particularly those with a Church of England foundation. She has a strong working knowledge of the Department of Education's suite of documents for multi-academy trusts, and works efficiently with the Charity Commission, the DfE, and other government departments.

Recent Experience

• Establishing corporate charities (including charitable incorporated organisations)
• Assisting Royal Charter Bodies to update their Charters, and advising on good modern governance
• Establishing or merging multi-academy trusts
• Advising multi-academy trusts on the impact of and compliance with related party transaction rules introduced into the Academies Financial Handbook

Career to date

Susan qualified in 1997 and joined LBMW in February 2016, after a career mostly spent in corporate and company law. She is a member of the Charity Law Association and the Ecclesiastical Law Society. She is Deputy Registrar for the Dioceses of Guildford and Lincoln. She is Vice-Chair of the Local Governing Body of St Peter's Church of England Middle School, Old Windsor.