Lester Aldridge LLP

Lester Aldridge is a full-service law firm with offices in Bournemouth, Southampton, and London, providing legal services regionally, nationally, and internationally. Established following the merger of two Bournemouth firms in 1988, with origins dating back to 1796, the firm transitioned to a limited liability partnership in 2007. Its core practice areas include real estate, litigation and recoveries, dispute resolution, corporate and commercial services, private client matters, as well as specialised sectors such as marine, healthcare, and employment. The firm has been accredited with the Law Society’s Lexcel Quality Standard since 2007 and has held ISO 27001 certification since 2022, adding ISO 14001 in 2023.

Lester Aldridge’s real estate team handles a broad range of property matters, including commercial development, residential and care properties, lending, investment, and retail, as well as niche sectors such as ports, marinas, waterside developments, and assisted living. Its dispute resolution team manages commercial litigation across diverse industries, offering services from emergency injunctions to high court claims, including multi-million cross-jurisdictional matters. The corporate and commercial team is particularly recognised for M&A work and also advises on joint ventures, IT and IP licensing, competition law, and corporate restructurings, serving international, national, and regional clients, including charities and the third sector.

The litigation and recoveries team provides advice to banks, building societies, finance houses, leasing companies, and insolvency practitioners, specialising in the recovery of secured and unsecured finance and asset recovery. LA Marine, the firm’s marine and shipping team, offers expert guidance on maritime law, including collisions, charterparty issues, bill of lading disputes, demurrage claims, and personal injury. The healthcare team has over 20 years of experience advising independent social care providers, hospitals, NHS Trusts, GPs, schools, fostering agencies, and children’s homes on regulatory matters. The employment team provides specialist advice across all areas of employment law to international, national, and major regional employers, supporting HR and senior management with contracts, policies, tribunal claims, redundancies, and TUPE matters.

The private client team offers comprehensive services for individuals, including wills and estates, tax planning, trusts, contentious probate, community care, court of protection, residential conveyancing, family law, employment, personal injury, and medical negligence. Its international private client team supports both professionals and private individuals with global estate planning and administration, including a specialised medallion signature guarantee service.

Languages
English, Afrikaans, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Punjabi, Spanish, Swedish, Flemish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Bulgarian

Memberships
Law Society of England and Wales, MSI Global Alliance

Staffing
49 UK partners, 60 solicitors and associates, 107 other fee earners