Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

Ajay Malhotra

Ajay is a Partner specialising in financial services litigation and investigations.

Alan Watts

Alan is a disputes partner and the firm’s Head of Global Class Actions, Head of Commercial Litigation UK and Co-Head of Partnerships.

Alexander Oddy

Partner and head of the contentious Insurance & Professional Risks team in London

Alison Matthews

Alison is a consultant in the London office focusing on non-contentious work for clients in the insurance sector. Alison has specialised in insurance law and regulation for over 30 years, advising on all aspects of prudential and conduct of business regulation. Most recently, she has been working with clients on the introduction of the Consumer Duty and on the post-Brexit conduct of cross-border business. She frequently advises on the implications of group supervision for domestic and international groups, including in the context of M&A transactions. Other experience includes advice on the FSMA regulatory perimeter, FCA conduct of business rules, Solvency II, and the SMCR. Alison has worked with a number of mutual insurers on issues relating to the conduct of with-profits business. Alison is the joint consulting editor of “A Practitioner’s Guide to Solvency II” (Sweet & Maxwell, 2016).

Alison Brown

PartnerAlison is the Global Head of Employment, Pensions and Incentives

Andrew Wells

Intellectual Property

Andrew Lidbetter

Partner

Andrew Cannon

Andrew is the Global Co-Head of our International Arbitration practice, and of our Public International Law practice. He is head of our India Disputes group and co-head of our Nordic group. He is also Deputy Chair of the firm's Global Pro Bono and Responsible Business Council.

Andrew Procter

Consultant

Andrew Cooke

Andrew is a Partner specialising in commercial, corporate and restructuring litigation.

Andrew Taggart

Partner Andrew heads our EMEA employment team

Anna Law

Senior Associate

Antonia Pegden

Partner

Anuradha Agnihotri

Anuradha is an Of Counsel based in London, specialising in International Arbitration.

Aurell Taussig

Partner

Barnaby Hinnigan

Barney focuses on non-contentious work for clients in the financial services sector. Barney works for clients in the financial services sector, providing advice in relation to general corporate and financial services regulatory matters, restructurings, business sales, capital raising and takeovers. He has extensive experience in advising on complex M&A and restructuring transactions for banks and asset managers and on a wide range of matters in the Fintech sector. Barney also has particular experience acting on transfers of insurance and banking business, cross border reinsurance arrangements and acquisitions in the insurance and insurance intermediary sector.

Brian Spiro

Partner

Caroline Hagg

Caroline advises her clients on the full spectrum of corporate governance issues, and regularly trains both public and private company boards and client teams on new and forthcoming legal developments. Her areas of focus includes: developments in public disclosures and corporate reporting, including in relation to annual reports and climate and sustainability reporting; annual general meetings and shareholder engagement strategies; directors' duties, liabilities and conflict issues and directors' indemnities; compliance with listed company continuing obligations, including the UK Market Abuse Regulation; corporate governance considerations, including approaches to and compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code; corporate governance advice in relation to strategic transactions; subsidiary and joint venture governance matters. Caroline provides commercial and pragmatic advice on governance and company secretarial issues, having spent more than two and a half years on client secondments over the course of her career at HSF.

Caroline Rae

Caroline is a partner in our corporate team specialising in cross border public and private M&A. Caroline advises leading corporates and financial institutions on private acquisitions and disposals, recommended and hostile public company takeovers, joint ventures and equity capital raisings. Caroline works with clients across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on the financial services. She has worked on a range of matters in the Fintech sector. Caroline also works with a number of our listed company clients on corporate governance and board advisory matters, listed company regulation and compliance. Caroline topped the UK M&A lawyer rankings by deal value in 2021, Mergerlinks. Caroline has been recognised in The Lawyer's 2019 Hot 100 for "her legal prowess in major public takeovers".

Casey Dalton

Partner

Catherine Howard

Partner, Head of Planning

Charlie Morgan

Charlie is an international arbitration lawyer specialising in energy and technology disputes. He helps clients to resolve complex international disputes across a range of jurisdictions.

Chris Ninan

Partner

Chris Bushell

Chris is a dispute resolution partner and solicitor advocate based in London.

Chris Parker KC

Chris is a partner specialising in international arbitration.

Christine Young

Partner Christine specialises in employment law, advising on contentious, transactional and advisory matters.

Clive Cunningham

Clive is a leading financial services law and regulation lawyer. With extensive City experience, including time as a banking regulator with the Bank of England and in-house, Clive advises banks, asset managers, insurers and other financial institutions on a wide range of regulatory and compliance matters across the financial services, banking and funds sectors. Areas of special sector expertise are banking, asset management (including private wealth management) and securities regulation.

Craig Tevendale

Craig is Head of our International Arbitration group in London and Head of Energy, UK.

Damien Byrne Hill

Damien is a partner in the dispute resolution practice.

Dan Saunders

Of Counsel

David Coulling

David is a Partner in Technology, Sourcing and Digital practice in the UK. David is a transactions lawyer who focusses on the technology and telecommunications sectors. David advises tech and telecoms corporates and investors on a wide range of transactions, including joint ventures and acquisitions, technology development and adoption projects, major systems and networks projects, business transformation projects, technology licensing, data licensing and complex commercial arrangements. David particularly enjoys transactions which aim to harness the transformational powers of technology in other sectors. With this in mind, he works closely with our clients in other sectors to help structure and implement their technology-driven strategies. Recognised by the UK directories, David has a leading technology and telecoms practice. David holds a first class MSC in Physics and Philosophy from the University of Oxford and was a Theodore Scholar at Balliol College. He enjoys the increasing overlap between technology-enabled businesses and his passion for science fiction.

David Bennett

Partner

David Nitek

David specialises in the resolution of infrastructure, construction and engineering disputes.

David Rosen

Partner

Dawen Gao

Senior Associate

Dinesh Banani

Dinesh is a Partner in our Equity Capital Markets team, and advises investment banks, investment funds and corporations on complex, cross-border capital markets transactions.

Donald Rowlands

Partner

Elizabeth Head

Of Counsel

Emily Bottle

Partner

Emma Sherratt

Senior Associate

Emma Deas

Partner

Fiona Treanor

Partner

Gareth Sykes

Gareth is a Partner and UK Head of Corporate Governance Advisory Practice, helping listed and private companies navigate the increasingly challenging corporate law and governance framework. He leads the firm's Corporate Governance Advisory Team, advising clients on a range of governance and compliance issues. His expertise includes advising on corporate reporting requirements, the UK Corporate Governance Code, continuing obligations under the Listing Rules and Market Abuse Regulation, shareholder meetings and directors' duties. Gareth is a member of the FRC's inaugural Stakeholder Insights Group, the only lawyer to be appointed to this group which reflects his expertise and status in this area. Gareth speaks and writes widely on corporate governance matters and is regularly approached by leading governance bodies to speak or write on governance issues. He organises, and speaks at, the firm's Annual Update for Listed Companies seminar, the market-leading corporate governance event for FTSE general counsel and companies secretaries.

Gavin Davies

Gavin is Head of the Global M&A practice and supports clients on international M&A, investment and governance matters. Gavin has significant expertise in public takeovers, private capital, strategic board advice and shareholder engagement. Particular focus on TMT, financial services, and real estate sectors, and on advising our US and Japanese clients. Gavin was named in 2023 in The Financial News Fifty Most Influential Lawyers, and has twice led teams winning Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards. Gavin is a member of the governing Board of our firm, and is a member of the UK Government DIT Investment Trade Advisory Group (TAG). He led the private equity practice from 2006 to 2013. Gavin works with, and is a former Chair, of The International Lawyers Project, a leading international charitable organisation providing the skills of senior lawyers to promote human rights, sustainable economic development and the rule of law worldwide. Gavin also advises the Government of Sierra Leone on investment matters, having founded our "Fair Deal Sierra Leone" pro bono project which supports the Government of Sierra Leone on a pro bono basis.

Geoffrey Maddock

Geoffrey is a consultant in the London office focusing on non-contentious work for clients in the insurance sector. Geoffrey has experience of acquisitions, disposals, demutualisations, high value/longevity reinsurance, regulatory capital, securitisation and other transactions in the insurance sector, together with extensive experience of prudential and other regulatory advice to insurers and reinsurers. He has provided legal and regulatory advice on a broad range of issues arising from clients' with-profits business. He also has particular experience of transfers of insurance business, having led the firm's team advising on more than twenty five such transfers. He is the author of the chapter on Insurance Business Transfers in A Practitioner's Guide to the FSA Regulation of Insurance (5th edition, City & Financial Publishing, 2014) and joint Consulting Editor of "A Practitioner's Guide to Solvency II" (Sweet & Maxwell, 2016).

Grant Murtagh

Grant is a corporate lawyer who specialises in the insurance sector. Grant works on M&A and other corporate transactions (including Part VII transfers), and has extensive experience of large and complex (re)insurance transactions. He also has an in-depth knowledge of the regulatory regime that applies to (re)insurers and (re)insurance brokers. In addition, he is a member of the firm's fintech group, and has worked companies looking to develop businesses in that sector. He is qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor (non-practising) with the Irish Tax Institute, and is an affiliate member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills, Grant worked with a leading Irish law firm. Prior to that, he was an in-house lawyer working in the European headquarters of a leading American financial institution.

Greig Anderson

Partner

Hannah Ambrose

Hannah is a Partner and solicitor advocate in the international arbitration and public international law group.

Hannah White

Senior Associate

Harriet Forrest

Harriet is Of Counsel in the firm's corporate practice with a focus on public and private M&A. Harriet helps UK and international clients implement M&A and other transactions. Her experience includes recommended and hostile public company takeovers, private company acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, group reorganisations and listed company regulation and compliance.

Hayley Brady

Hayley advises on media and entertainment, consumer and digital commercial, transactional and regulatory matters. Hayley heads our media and digital practice, in London, and assists clients on global strategic and innovative arrangements. Hayley has spent time in industry on secondment at Sky, acted as quasi-in house counsel at FilmFlex Movies for a number of years and undertook mini secondments at OSN in Dubai. Her practice is split into two: (i) advising both media companies and those in other sectors on media and entertainment matters including significant content licensing, partnering, joint ventures, regulation and marketing, sponsorship and advertising; and (ii) advising growing digital companies on partnering and product/geographical expansion and traditional companies on moves to new digital platforms.

Heather Newton

Of Counsel

Heidi Gallagher

Heidi is a Partner in the corporate division. Heidi's experience relates to a wide range of corporate finance, public and private M&A and capital markets transactions. Heidi advises both UK and overseas clients on a wide range of corporate transactions (including private share and asset acquisitions and disposals, public takeovers, initial public offerings, secondary capital raises, auction sales, joint ventures and group reorganisations).

Henry Saunders

Senior Associate

Howard Murray

Partner

Hywel Jenkins

Partner

Ian Gault

Consultant (previously Head of Pensions)

Ian Cox

Regional Managing Partner for UK, US and EMEA

James Palmer

James is a senior corporate and governance lawyer who was the Chair and Senior Partner of our firm. He is one of the UK's leading M&A, capital markets and corporate lawyers, with deep experience of corporate governance and regulation, including financial regulation. He is frequently involved in helping clients in situations where they face significant and unusual challenges. These include hostile takeovers, board and governance disputes, regulatory and other investigations, business crises, interactions with governments or government bodies, significant liability or solvency exposures, as well as significant transactions. He is also recognised as a leading expert in relation to both Brexit and foreign direct investment regulation. James is a General Editor of and contributor to Butterworth's Takeovers: Law and Practice, and has also contributed to other leading reference works on takeovers and corporate law, including Buckley on the Companies Acts and Hannigan and Prentice's Guide to the Companies Act 2006. He was Chair and Senior Partner of the firm from 2015 to 2021. James joined the firm as a trainee solicitor in 1986, becoming a partner in 1994. He was a member of the firm's governing Partnership Council from 2002-2006. He led the firm's global equity capital markets practice from 2005-2010 and was the firm's Global Head of Corporate from 2010-2012.

James Wood

Partner

James Doe

James is Head of the UK Construction Disputes practice, focusing on major infrastructure, construction and engineering projects.

James Baily

James is a solicitor advocate and Partner in the firm's dispute resolution division in London.

James Farrell

James is a commercial litigator in dispute resolution and a partner in our London office.

Jasveer Randhawa

Professional Support Consultant

Jennifer Andrews

Senior Associate

Jenny Stainsby

Partner

Jeremy Purton

Jeremy is a senior commercial lawyer who specialises in tech transactions and complex sourcing projects. Ranked in Legal 500 each year since 2021 as a Rising Star for both IT & Telecoms and TMT Industry Focus, Jeremy works closely with clients on long-term technology-enabled transformation programmes. He is experienced in dealing with complex legacy systems transitions, finding practical ways through distressed sourcing projects, and helping organisations to implement digital solutions that enable them to benefit from advances in technology.

Jeremy Garson

Jeremy is a partner and specialist in commercial disputes.

Jeremy Walden

Partner

Jessica Chappatte

Senior Associate

John Williams

John is an Of Counsel in our Corporate Practice

John Corrie

Partner

John Whiteoak

John is a disputes and restructuring Partner and co-leads the firm's global Restructuring, Turnaround and Insolvency practice. He advises on a broad range of general commercial litigation and contentious insolvency matters.

Jon Ford

Partner

Jonathan Blake

Jonathan is Head of International Private Funds Strategy based in our London office.

Josh Lom

Partner

Julian Pollock

Partner

Karen Anderson

Consultant

Kate Meakin

Partner

Kelesi Blundell

Kelesi has over a decade of experience in the financial services sector and regularly advises some of the largest investment banks, retail banks, broker-dealers and financial market infrastructure on UK financial services regulation. Kelesi has advised across a range of regulation and regulatory change in the financial services industry including Digital Assets, Brexit, MiFID II, Recovery and Resolution, Market Infrastructure Regulation and Conduct of Business requirements. Kelesi also often provides regulatory support in corporate transactions. Kelesi regularly supports industry working groups including the AFME digital securities sandbox working group, the AFME Recovery and Resolution working group and the AFME Short Selling Regulation working group. Kelesi is also a member of the Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) Banking and Securities Scoping Forums.

Kiran Khetia

Kiran specialises in remuneration and employee incentives, advising listed and private companies.

Laura Hulett

Laura is a Partner in our Global Energy group

Lewis McDonald

Lewis is the Global Co-Head of our Energy Group

Louise Barber

Louise is an Of Counsel in Herbert Smith Freehills' International Arbitration, Public International Law and ESG Disputes practice in London.

Lucinda King

Lucinda is an associate in Herbert Smith Freehills’ construction and engineering disputes practice.

Malcolm Lombers

Malcolm is a partner with particular expertise in public takeovers, cross border M&A, international partnerships and regularly advises clients across all sectors.

Marina Reason

Marina specialises on advising banks and other financial institutions on all aspects of financial regulation. Marina has been active in the regulatory industry for a decade and a half and has established relationships with most of the large banking institutions and asset managers. Marina regularly works with the industry through trade associations including AFME, the AGC, UK Finance, FMLC, PIMFA, Digital Pound Foundation and others on hot topics of the day, including most recently on Consumer Duty and the UK the FMI Digital Sandbox for blockchain tokenisation.

Mark Bardell

Mark is a corporate partner with particular expertise in public takeovers and cross-border M&A. Mark has been a partner at the firm for over 13 years and has helped clients to close more than US$300 billion worth of transactions across the US, UK, Europe, CIS, Middle East, Africa, India, Asia and Australia. He focuses on advising corporate clients and works with boards on both transactional and advisory work. He is frequently involved in advising on significant challenges that face boards whether on transactions, shareholder activism, governance issues or regulatory investigations. In addition, he regularly works with and advises investment banks and corporate finance advisers in connection with their roles on major cross-border transactions. Mark is a General Editor of Butterworths Takeovers Law and Practice (second edition 2015) and a contributor to other leading practitioners' texts on topics including shareholder activism, market abuse, schemes of arrangement and takeovers. He lectures annually at Cambridge University to postgraduate MCL students as part of the Deals Course. In September 2011, he completed a two-year secondment as Secretary to the UK’s Takeover Panel. During that time he was closely involved in the day-to-day regulation of UK public takeovers and also in significant revisions to the UK's Takeover Code. He continues to be actively involved in consultations regarding amendments to the UK's Takeover Code. He also acts as Secretary to the Takeover Appeals Board in relation to various appeals.

Mark Ife

Mark is a Partner and co-head of the Herbert Smith Freehills London Remuneration & Incentives team, who specialises in employee incentives and remuneration, advising both listed and private companies.

Mark Newbery

Former head of the firm's Global Energy practice, Mark is a consultant and advises clients on privatisations, mergers and acquisitions, project development and financings. Mark has over 30 years' experience in the energy sector and has advised in more than 50 jurisdictions around the world acting in both developed and emerging markets. He is continually recognised by many of the independent publications as a leading individual within the energy and natural resources sector.

Matthew Bonye

Partner, Head of real estate disputes

Matthew White

Managing Partner, Real Estate UK/EMEA

Michael Jacobs

Michael is Co-Head of UK Equity Corporate Finance and Co-head of UK and EMEA VC and Growth Capital EMEA & Americas

Michael Hunt

Partner

Michael Poulton

Michael focuses on all types of securitisation and structured finance work. He brings a deep commercial understanding to transactions, advising arrangers, lead managers, originators, issuers, private equity, hedge funds, trustees, rating agencies and other market participants, often on complex and first-of-a-kind financings. Since 2009 Michael has been consistently recognised for his expertise and is currently ranked highly in all of the major legal directories.

Michael Aherne

Partner

Mike Flockhart

Mike is Managing Partner for Corporate and Regional Head of Practice for Corporate, UK and specialises in M&A and ECM transactions.

Natasha Johnson

Natasha is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team in our London office.

Neil Warriner

Partner

Niall Crean

Niall is a senior associate in the Herbert Smith Freehills London Remuneration & Incentives team who specialises in employee incentives and remuneration, advising listed and private companies.

Nic Patmore

Senior Associate

Nicholas Downing

Partner, head of non-contentious construction

Nicholas Turner

Partner

Nick Clayton

Contentious Tax

Nick Pantlin

Nick heads our TMT, Digital & Sourcing practice in the UK and is Global Co-Head of our Technology Sector Group Nick specialises in advising private and public sector clients on UK and multi-jurisdictional technology procurement, digital and business transformation, outsourcing, IT service provision, major systems implementation, communications, software development, licensing, cloud, e-commerce, cyber security, data protection, data commercialisation and complex commercial projects. Nick advises extensively on the use and adoption of technologies such as blockchain/DLT, AI, machine learning and automation. His expertise extends across multiple industry sectors.

Nick Wright

Nick is a Partner in the Herbert Smith Freehills London Employment team.

Nigel Farr

Nigel specialises in investment fund work. Acting for asset managers, the funds they manage and investment banks and brokers, he has been involved in numerous London and Euronext listed public fund launches, secondary capital raisings, takeovers, proxy battles, capital reorganisations and reconstructions. He also handles private fund formation work. Nigel has extensive experience of a wide variety of fund structures and asset classes, including real estate, infrastructure, private equity, hedge fund and other investment strategies. His practice also includes regulatory and other advisory work for asset managers, the funds under their management and their boards of directors and institutional investors.

Nish Dissanayake

Nish is Partner in our Investment Funds & Asset Management team.

Nusrat Zar

Partner

Paul Butcher

Brexit Director

Paul Lewis

Joint Managing Partner of the global disputes practice

Paul Ellerman

Paul is a Partner and co-head of the Herbert Smith Freehills London Remuneration & Incentives team, specialising in remuneration and employee incentives.

Paul Chases

Partner, Head of corporate real estate

Peter Dalton

Partner

Peter Frost

Consultant

Philip Pfeffer

Philip is a partner specialising in product liability in the dispute resolution team.

Rachel Lidgate

Rachel is a Partner and solicitor advocate in the firm's dispute resolution division in London.

Rachel Pinto

Partner

Reza Dadbakhsh

Partner with a focus on the energy and infrastructure sectors

Richard Norridge

Richard is a disputes partner and heads up the firm's Private Wealth and Charities Group as well as the Trust disputes practice.

Richard Forsdyke

Partner

Robert Hunt

Partner

Rupert Lewis

Partner, Head of Banking Litigation

Samantha Brown

Partner

Sarah Ries-Coward

Sarah is a corporate partner, advising clients on corporate finance transactions and projects, including ECM, public M&A and ESG.

Sarah McNally

Partner and global practice area lead for Insurance Disputes

Sebastian Moore

Partner and Head of Intellectual Property, UK

Shantanu Naravane

Shantanu is a corporate lawyer, specialising in funds and asset management.

Shaun Lee

Shaun is a corporate partner with a focus on non-contentious work for clients in the financial services sector. Shaun advises financial services businesses and sponsors on a range of corporate transactions including M&A, equity matters, joint ventures, restructurings and management incentive arrangements. He has significant experience advising financial investors and private equity backed companies in the insurance intermediary, asset and wealth management, and private real estate sectors.

Shona Grey

Partner

Silke Goldberg

Silke Goldberg is a Partner in our Global Energy group and the Global Head of ESG

Simon Clarke

Partner

Stephen Wilkinson

Stephen is a leading expert in corporate law and M&A with particular expertise in cross-border public and private M&A. Stephen has over 25 years' experience of advising major listed and other international companies on M&A and other corporate transactions including joint ventures and demergers and wider governance issues. An acknowledged expert in public takeovers and private acquisitions and disposals, Stephen has worked with clients in a range of sectors to execute their most significant transactions across the world, including many ground breaking deals. Stephen works with clients on multi-jurisdictional cross-border deals and across a range of sectors including banking, consumer products, energy, leisure and sport, manufacturing, and TMT. He works with the boards of FTSE100 and other listed companies to help them meet their governance and related obligations and to navigate through sensitive issues of risk, disclosure and compliance. He is General Editor of the leading Butterworths text "Takeovers – Law and Practice" and has written widely on M&A matters.

Stephen Newby

Stephen is a corporate partner who specialises in investment fund & asset management.

Steven Dalton

Partner, specialising in the energy and natural resources sector

Susannah Cogman

Partner

Thomas Vaughan

Thomas is Of Counsel in the firm’s Corporate division specialising in equity capital markets transactions.

Tim Leaver

Partner Tim is an employment and partnership lawyer in the London Employment team.

Tim West

Tim specialises in investment funds work and has been involved in numerous fund launches, secondary capital raisings and fund reconstructions, primarily in relation to closed ended investment vehicles (across multiple asset classes and including structured and alternative investment products) where he has led in relation to some of the largest and most complex and innovative structures both in the UK and globally. His practice also includes regulatory and similar own account work for asset managers and their funds.