News & Events | News

Thursday 14th December 2006

Corporate and commercial law firm SJ Berwin’s real estate division has advised property development company Delancey and funds advised by Invista Real Estate, on their agreement with Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) to develop the new Business Court at the Rolls Building, Fetter Lane in the City of London. According to Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, “The new Business Court will house a world class institution to match the UK’s world class reputation for business law, which attracts cases from across the globe.”

On completion the new building will provide 260,000 sq ft of office space, of which HMCS will occupy 145,000 sq ft on a 30 year government lease.  HMCS will occupy the lower ground to fourth floor, which will provide 29 courtrooms, 12 hearing rooms, 45 public consultation rooms and administrative office space.  The new building will replace the existing facilities of the Commercial Court at St Dunstan’s House, which can no longer accommodate the volume of work undertaken by the court, and various sites within the Royal Courts of Justice complex.  The remaining 115,000 sq ft on the fifth to eighth floors will be accessible from its own double height entrance hall on Fetter Lane, and will be available for separate let. Some of these upper floors have spectacular roof terraces for corporate entertainment.

The new building will also provide enhanced acoustic standards in courtrooms as well as improved natural light and ventilation throughout the building.  A new, state-of-the-art IT infrastructure will help to further enhance efficiency, complementing HMCS’s consolidation of its services into one modern facility.  The Rolls Building will contain various aspects of commercial dispute resolution, including the work undertaken by the Chancery Division, Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court.

Jamie Ritblat, Chief Executive of Delancey  said, “We are very excited to be working with HMCS and the Department of Constitutional Affairs on the development of this prestigious new building which will provide world-class facilities for the Business Court and its users. “

The SJ Berwin team advising Delancey was led by real estate partners Nick Minkoff, and Lewis Myers.

HMCS was advised by a Michelmores team led by partner Richard Honey and Philip Page.

Work on site is due to begin in early 2007 with the new courthouse expected to be operational by 2010.

For further information please contact:

Nick Minkoff on +44 (0)20 711 2599, email nick.minkoff@sjberwin.com  or Karen Roberts on +44 (0)20 7111 2578, email karen.roberts@sjberwin.com 

• On 1 June 2005 SJ Berwin LLP, an English limited liability partnership, took over the business of the SJ Berwin general partnership.  SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich and Paris.
  
  
• SJ Berwin LLP was named ‘UK Firm of the Year’ at the 2005 Legal Week Awards.  The award recognised SJ Berwin’s five years of international expansion and its involvement in a series of high quality deals.
  
  
• SJ Berwin's Real Estate Division totals 118 staff of which 21 are partners in London and 50 associates, encompassing the disciplines of Commercial Real Estate, Construction, Planning & Environment, Property Litigation and Real Estate Funds.  In addition, there are 3 dedicated real estate tax partners and 1 dedicated real estate partner in Paris.  There is an increasing emphasis on cross firm activity with related areas of Banking and Corporate and with the international offices.  The division acts for blue chip clients including British Land, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Hilton Group, Brixton plc, AXA, The Crown Estate, Marks & Spencer and Gazeley.
  
  
• The Real Estate Team is Legal Business Real Estate Team of the Year 2005.  It was also named "Real Estate Team of the Year" in the Lawyer Magazine Awards 2004, following its advice on the RBS/Canary Wharf transaction the highest-value property investment transaction in the UK in 2004.
  
  
• Revenue from Real Estate represents approximately 21% of the firm's total revenue in London.