Louise Watson-Jones

Louise specialises in commercial law and governance matters.

She is a highly regarded commercial lawyer with over 20 years’ experience advising clients on a wide variety of commercial transactions in the public and private sectors. She has a particular focus on the health and social care sector. Her key clients include NHS providers and commissioners, independent operators of health and social care and private sector organisations.

Louise specialises in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, delivering practical and commercial advice to her clients on complex and strategic arrangements, as well as on negotiation parameters and ongoing contract management.

Louise has a strong track record of successfully project managing large transactions and is regarded as a leader in her field. This includes managing significant transactions such as acquisitions, due diligence projects and outsourcings.

In the Health sector, Louise has a focus on NHS Foundation Trusts, providing strategic advice to help them maximise their commercial opportunities whilst operating within a regulated environment.

Louise also provides practical, situation based training and workshops to her clients on various areas of contracting and governance, keeping them up to date on legal and commercial issues and ahead of changes which will impact their business.

Her relevant experience includes advising:

• Several NHS foundation trusts on the setting up of subsidiary companies to deliver services such as outpatient pharmacy and estates and facilities management in order to improve quality of service and make significant savings. This has involved strategic commercial advice and the project management as well as advising on governance and regulatory issues.
• A road maintenance company on its international distribution arrangements. This included advising on compliance with regulatory aspects such as anti-bribery and corruption and modern slavery. She also ensured a commercial contract was in place which was easily understood by the international partner.
• A national logistics provider on its day to day contracting arrangements and management of its network.
• NHS Foundation Trusts on international collaborations where they are looking to share expertise to improve healthcare services abroad and provide experience to NHS staff. This involves strategic, risk based advice necessary to protect the reputation of the clients involved.
• Social care providers in relation to template documentation with service users and residents. This ensures that the client complies with consumer laws and enters into documentation which is clearly drafted and user friendly.

Louise is recognised by the Legal 500 as a leading individual for commercial health work and is CRM lead for a number of key client accounts.