Forsters HNW Residential Team expands with two significant lateral hires

The lateral hire of Robert and Charles is part of Forsters' ongoing strategy to be the firm of choice for clients seeking to transact high value assets in super prime Central London and the leading regional locations. The Residential Property team occupies a unique position in the market and enjoys an exceptional reputation as one of the leading firms advising domestic and international clients on the sale, purchase and financing of prime Central London property. With a dedication to the uppermost levels of client care and service, the group led by industry expert Lucy Barber is regularly featured in the UK media and the leading legal directories.

Lucy Barber, Partner and Head of Residential Property commented: “The arrival of Robert and Charles is a significant move for our Residential practice; it puts us firmly in the top tier of law firms advising clients on high value transactions. Our focus is to provide clients with an efficient and pragmatic service, and the addition of two further Partners to our group supports our market reputation.”

Robert Barham and Charles Miéville have jointly commented: “We are delighted to be joining Forsters, which we consider to be one of the leading firms in the residential property sector.  We are confident it will give us an excellent base from which to continue to provide a high-class service to our clients in the prime London residential market and will enable us to offer them top quality advice in other relevant areas of law. We look forward to working with Lucy and her team”. 

The arrival of Robert and Charles will create a 30-strong team of lawyers including six partners, making the practice the largest and most prominent specialist High Net Worth Residential Property group in the London legal market. 

Forsters’ Residential Property practice is the largest full-service team in the London market. With six partners, 17 associates, eight paralegals, two legal executives and 12 administrators, the group is well placed to advise on the full range of matters for clients seeking to transact high value assets.

In 2020 the team handled a high volume of transactions and despite the pandemic and general uncertainty, our clients have continued to remain active. To provide context, we set out as follows a short selection of exemplar deals:

• Advising on the purchase of a property in Belgravia for £40 million
• Advising an ultra-high net worth individual on the sale of a property in Kensington for £40 million
• Advising on the purchase of a property in the St James’s area of London for £26 million
  
  Both Charles and Robert will be joining the group with a strong following of long-standing clients, including HNW individuals and corporate entities. Both Partners work regularly with a number of the leading London Estates and have experience on acting for lenders, trustees and international clients. Further details on the group can be found here.

Chambers HNW comments as follows:

Charles Miéville is described as "a star" by one peer, who continues: "He is extremely thorough and he knows this space inside and out. He is practical, sensible and gets to the heart of a matter quickly." Miéville acts for a variety of individuals and institutions, and an estate agent says: "He is very easy to work with, incredibly professional and switched on."

Robert Barham advises several domestic and international clients, and one peer enthuses: "Robert is incredibly helpful, really lovely to work with and really good on the detail of a matter." Another property lawyer says: "He is very approachable, sensible and proactive. He is always acting in clients' interests and he works on finding solutions to problems rather than being entrenched in one point of view."