Robert is a charity lawyer guiding trustees on charity law, governance and regulatory issues, supporting charities in their work and at all stages of their journey: establishing new charities, incorporating existing organisations, advising on collaboration or merger issues and, where necessary, on dissolution.

He advises on the engagement of charities with the Charity Commission e.g. seeking necessary approvals and dealing with serious incident reporting and on charities' dealings with non-charities e.g trading subsidiaries, corporate partners, sponsors and commissioning bodies.

He works closely with colleagues in Shoosmiths’ charities team – in particular with employment, commercial, corporate and real estate lawyers - to provide clients with integrated and responsive solutions to help them to manage their legal risk.

He also advises business clients and philanthropists on setting up their own foundations and on their dealings with charities, in the context of the increasing prominence of “ESG.”

Recent experience includes:

• advising a national charity on governance and regulatory matters as part of multi-faceted legal support provided by Shoosmiths’ charities team;
• advising a national conservation charity on constitutional and regulatory issues;
• registering a charity to support those in need following the invasion of Ukraine;
• creating corporate foundations for businesses looking to increase their charitable engagement;
• advising on various charity mergers; and
• training trustees and senior executive teams on charity law and governance issues.

Robert is a member of the Charity Law Association and of The Chartered Institute of Fundraising and chairs the charity committee of Shoosmiths’ Manchester office.

Legal 500 quotes (2022)

‘Robert Nieri is hugely assiduous and thoughtful in his advice. He has a forensic attention to detail combined with an engaging and supportive style. He is technically excellent, but also is able to focus on the bigger picture.’

Client quotes

‘I have to say that Robert has been brilliant and unlike previous solicitors that I have come across really seems to care about what he is doing. You can tell he has passion to help us and it feels like this comes before fees – which is very unusual.’

‘Thus far, the best solicitor I have dealt with and I would absolutely recommend him to others (who might have challenges with Charity Law!).’

‘This is the news we have been waiting for, Robert – thank you so much for all your support it has meant a lot and we seriously couldn’t have done it without you.’