Caroline Leviss

Senior associate

Caroline is a senior associate in the housing corporate and governance team based in Pennington Manches Cooper’s Birmingham office. She has specific expertise in corporate, governance and charity matters.

She brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to advising housing associations, housing providers, charities and not for profit organisations on corporate, constitutional, governance, co-operative and community benefit society law, charity law and regulatory matters. Caroline has particular expertise in advising on incorporations and registrations, governance issues, operational legal matters, company secretarial matters and transfers and mergers, along with joint venture and collaborative working. She provides training to both boards and executive teams on various legal topics.

My experience enables me to approach issues from both a corporate and charity perspective. I enjoy working in a sector which keeps me engaged and continually learning as it is important to keep our clients updated on the latest developments.

Caroline Leviss, Senior associate

Caroline has over 20 years’ experience, having qualified at a London law firm in 2001. She joined Penningtons Manches Cooper in 2022 having previously worked as a corporate solicitor in the healthcare sector. Prior to that, she was a corporate and commercial solicitor working primarily with charities and educational establishments.
She is also a member of Women in Social Housing and the Charity Law Association.

Recent work highlights

Acquisition of registered provider

Advising on the acquisition of a for-profit registered provider, including detailed due diligence and negotiating a share purchase agreement and association documents. This demanded a detailed understanding of the structuring and governance requirements for for-profit registered providers.

Transfer of engagements

Advising both housing associations in a merger using the transfer of engagement process. This matter broke new ground as the costs of complying with the consumer standards regulatory regime was considered by the transferring association to threaten its financial viability.

Articles of association

Updating the articles of association for a large and well-established management company of a private estate including advice on key issues and drafting new provisions to meet its current requirements.

Due diligence

Undertaking an extensive legal due diligence exercise and investigation for a client on a merger with another housing association which was under regulatory supervision. The merger could therefore adversely affect our client’s credit rating or result in a regulatory downgrade.

Grant agreements

Reviewing a bespoke grant agreement for a housing association, highlighting areas of risk and advising on a range of solutions to the issues raised.