Macfarlanes LLP

Adam Campbell

Adam works for a wide range of clients from private equity houses, asset managers and large corporate groups to family offices, professional services organisations and LLPs. He advises on a broad range of domestic and international M&A transactions, having considerable experience in the financial services sector in particular. He spends quite a lot of his time advising on private equity investments and other complex equity investment structures, regularly advising investors, founders and executive management teams across a range of sectors in respect of those arrangements, working closely with our Tax and Reward teams.

Alex Edmondson

Alex is head of the firm’s private equity practice and specialises in advising private equity clients on buyouts, management incentivisation and sales processes. He also has extensive experience of advising on asset manager M&A, private company M&A and general advisory matters. Alex has sector expertise in several areas, including in particular the technology sector and co-heads the firm’s cross-departmental technology practice group, advising companies, founders and investors.

Alex Green

Alex works on a broad range of corporate matters, with a particular focus on private equity, fund secondary transactions, GP-led restructurings and private acquisitions. Alex acts for private equity sponsors, secondary investors, co-investors, corporates and management teams. Alex has also spent time on secondment at an international private equity investor and a FTSE 250 company.

Alexander Amos

Alex advises a wide range of asset managers and investors on the structuring and establishment of, and investment in, alternative funds. His particular focus is on credit and real estate funds. Alex’s focus is on the raising of alternative funds, as well as funds-of-one / managed accounts, joint ventures, pledge funds, co-investment vehicles and alternatives to the traditional widely held blind pool fund model. Alex also advises asset managers on team incentive arrangements, conflicts, allocation policies and all the wider elements relating to operating an alternatives business.  He has advised on funds domiciled in Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, Ireland and the UK. Alex spent six months on secondment in the legal team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He regularly speaks at external industry conferences and is a contributor to industry bodies as well as leading asset management publications and texts. Private Funds Management named Alex in its list of the top 30 private funds lawyers under 40, identified by the industry and their peers as the best in their field. Alex is also listed as a leading lawyer by Who's Who Legal Private Funds 2022.

Alicia Thomas

Alicia advises on a broad range of tax and structuring matters but has a particular focus on advising in relation to the formation and structuring of private investment funds and investment management businesses, including family-owned investment management businesses and investment platforms. Alicia’s clients range from large international investment fund managers to UK family investment platforms and the executives that operate them. Alicia has advised on fund raisings for a number of our investment fund clients operating in private equity, credit and hedge fund strategies as well as family office investment platforms and particularly specialises in advising on structures which involve the interaction of UK and non-UK tax considerations.  Alicia has a particular specialism in structures which include both a UK and US nexus and she has spent nearly a year on secondment within the tax group of a leading New York law firm.

Andrew Perkins

Andrew is head of the finance group. He acts for alternative lenders, credit funds, banks and financial institutions on a wide range of financing transactions. Andrew advises banks, alternative lenders and credit funds on all aspects of cross-border and domestic leveraged financings, fund finance and speciality finance. Andrew has a strong presence in the alternative credit space, advising fund managers on subscription lines and leverage facilities for their credit funds, advising these funds, and other alternative debt providers, on their leverage financing portfolio acquisitions and other credit investments.

Andrew Barton

Andrew is a corporate insurance lawyer with expertise in a wide range of insurance transactional and advisory work, advising insurers, reinsurers and corporate clients on insurance matters. He is a leading practitioner in the field of insurance de-risking solutions for defined pension schemes. Andrew has broad experience of specialist insurance and reinsurance transactions as well as corporate and commercial matters in the insurance sector. He regularly advises insurers, reinsurers and pension schemes on complex defined benefit pension risk transfer transactions including longevity swaps, bulk annuity transactions, pension scheme buy-ins and buy-outs and associated collateral structures. He has extensive experience advising on insurance M&A transactions, M&A insurance (W&I policies), regulatory matters, commercial insurance policy negotiation, reinsurance, distribution agreements and trade credit insurance. He is a recognised expert on director liability protection, including director & officer (D&O) and POSI insurance and associated director indemnification issues. Andrew is Editor of Butterworths Insurance Law Handbook (15th edition) and a contributor to the ICSA Directors’ Handbook – chapters on D&O Insurance and director indemnification.  Andrew is recognised in respect of Insurance Corporate and Regulatory in The Legal 500 UK 2015. Andrew is a member of the City of London Law Society Insurance Law Committee.

Andy Mather

Andy acts on a wide range of substantial international and domestic arbitration, litigation and adjudication matters. He has a particular expertise in complex construction, engineering and real estate disputes and related professional negligence issues. Andy has represented a wide spectrum of clients, including state governments, financial institutions, large developers, high-net-worth individuals, professional consultants, contractors and sub-contractors.  He has advised on many of the most high-profile development projects in the UK over the last few years, together with significant international infrastructure projects.  His experience includes office, residential, hotel and industrial developments, hospitals, schools, power plants, airports, roads, and off-shore oil and gas projects.  Andy’s arbitration work has included major international ICC and LCIA arbitrations, including appearing as advocate.  He also has extensive experience of alternative dispute resolution procedures including mediation, expert determination and early neutral evaluation. Whilst an associate, Andy spent six months on secondment with the in-house legal team of a leading building and civil engineering contractor to assist with the preparation of a c£80m adjudication claim against a government authority in relation to a large hospital PFI project. He has an MSc in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution from King’s College London and is a member of the Society of Construction Law, the Adjudication Society and the Property Litigation Association.

Angus Dawson

Angus is head of the non-contentious side of our construction and engineering group. He specialises in all aspects of construction law, predominantly advising developers and institutional investors on major development projects. Angus acts for a broad spectrum of clients including developers, funders, owner occupiers, tenants, architects and contractors. He advises on procurement strategies, building contracts, consultant appointments, warranties, third party rights, bonds and guarantees. He also advises on construction aspects of agreements for lease and development and funding agreements. Angus is a member of the City of London Law Society Construction Committee, has an MSc in construction law and dispute resolution from Kings College and writes regularly in the RIBA Journal. Angus is co-author for the chapter on UK construction law for the International Comparative Legal Guide to Construction & Engineering.

Anthony Burnett-Scott

Anthony is a partner in the real estate group. He has a significant and varied real estate practice and wide experience in all forms of commercial property work. Anthony acts for a number of developers and property companies. He has particular expertise in mixed use development, acquisitions, disposals, lettings and real estate partnerships. Anthony is a partner champion of our REACH (race, ethnicity and cultural heritage) staff network, a forum for networking and peer support between ethnic minority staff and allies.

Ashley Greenbank

Ashley advises on the full range of corporate tax issues, but particular specialisations include the corporate tax aspects of UK and cross-border corporate finance and M&A transactions, group tax planning and dispute resolution. Ashley also advises companies on group structuring and strategic tax planning (including corporate residence, permanent establishment, transfer pricing and CFC issues) and assists our private client group on corporate tax aspects of structuring issues for substantial privately held groups. Ashley also has broad experience in handling disputes with tax authorities. He is a Deputy High Court Judge, a Deputy Judge in the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery) and a CEDR accredited mediator. Ashley is a former chair of the Tax Law Committee of the Law Society and a member of its Corporation Tax Sub-Committee. In that capacity he is active in making representations to and in consultations with Government and tax authorities on changes to existing legislation and new policy proposals. He is also a member of the committee of the British Branch of the International Fiscal Association and the organising committee for the IFA Congress in London in 2019.

Barry Donnelly

Barry has more than 30 years' experience in international disputes and investigations, involving banking, finance, financial services, fund and asset management, trusts, insolvency, fraud and financial crime. He has been approved as a Skilled Person by the Financial Conduct Authority and has conducted numerous business critical regulatory reviews in both the UK and overseas. Barry has particular expertise in large scale financial litigation and arbitration, and regulatory investigations and proceedings. He represents clients in connection with investigations and proceedings involving both UK and overseas regulatory bodies and government agencies, including the London Stock Exchange, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Serious Fraud Office, the Department of Justice, the SEC and the CFTC. He frequently advises and conducts internal investigations for financial institutions and other regulated investment businesses; examples include matters involving failings in systems and controls, conflicts of interest, internal fraud, the alleged manipulation of LIBOR, precious metals, FX and commodities trading, market abuse, insider dealing, misleading statements, money laundering, bribery and corruption, and failure to prevent economic crime. Barry's representation of clients has included complex, often cross-border, disputes and investigations involving the co-ordination of proceedings or the obtaining of evidence abroad, as well as information requests from international courts, regulators and government agencies, such as under the Hague Evidence Convention or the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003. Overseas jurisdictions have included the Cayman Islands, the BVI, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, France, Italy, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Brazil, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Mauritius, Indonesia, Greece, Ireland, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland.

Ben Webster

Ben advises on a wide range of contentious tax matters for individuals, partnerships, funds, multi-nationals and FTSE-listed companies. Ben is senior counsel within the tax investigations and disputes team, and his varied practice includes advising clients on HMRC powers and enquiries, disputes before the Tax Tribunals, High Court disputes that involve tax, and the mitigation of tax risk on commercial transactions. Ben regularly advises on the technical, tactical and procedural aspects of tax investigations and disputes across the full range of direct and indirect taxes, and has been involved with cases at all levels of the UK tax tribunal and civil court system. Ben also acts in High Court litigation and judicial reviews, with a particular focus on cases involving the alleged negligence of advisors, the conduct of HMRC and claims involving mistake and rectification. Ben has experience utilising different forms of ADR to settle disputes with HMRC and commercial counterparties, and also advises on wider international and European tax issues, including the residence and domicile status of HNW individuals, the cross-border exchange of information and transfer pricing disputes. Ben is also a qualified Solicitor Advocate.

Caja Griesenbach

Caja advises on a broad range of UK and European competition law matters, including antitrust investigations, private enforcement actions, merger control, and behavioural compliance issues. She has significant experience representing clients across a range of sectors (including FMCG, grocery, travel technology, publishing, defence and the automotive industry) before UK and European regulators and courts. Caja advises clients in connection with both contentious and non-contentious competition matters, including regulatory investigations concerning alleged anti-competitive agreements or abuses of dominance, obtaining merger control clearances, and defending private claims for damages in connection with alleged antitrust infringements. In addition, Caja provides competition law compliance advice and training. Caja has previously been seconded to online travel agent Expedia and to the Mergers unit of the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Cameron Firth

Cameron is an anti-trust lawyer with over 15 years’ experience practising all aspects of antitrust law in the UK and the EU. Cameron regularly represents a wide range of clients before the UK Competition & Markets Authority and the European Commission, as well as before the English and European Courts. Cameron advises clients on the full range of antitrust law issues, including: obtaining merger control clearances from regulators throughout the world; dawn raids and inspections undertaken by the UK and EU regulators; investigations (both by regulators and internal) in relation to anti-trust compliance; and providing advice and guidance on anti-trust and state aid compliance for both dominant and non-dominant companies. Cameron has extensive experience of antitrust and regulatory litigation before the English Courts and the European Courts in relation to antitrust and regulatory issues, including cartel damages cases, having represented parties claiming damages as well as parties defending such claims. Cameron has particular expertise in the application of antitrust law in the retail/consumer sector as well as the application of both antitrust law and IP/regulatory law in the pharmaceutical and media/telecoms/broadcasting sectors. Cameron has a BA (Hons) in Law from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in European Law from the Institute of European Studies, University of Brussels. Cameron also has experience of working for the regulator, having worked for DG Competition.

Camilla Barry

Camilla advises corporate groups, trustees and insurers on all aspects of UK pensions law and practice. She advises both employers and trustees and other scheme providers on the administration and regulation of defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. Camilla has significant experience of advising in relation to the powers of the UK Pensions Regulator both in the context of corporate transactions and restructurings and in relation to funding negotiations, ”stressed” schemes and governance arrangements. Camilla has advised in relation to transfers to the Pension Protection Fund. Camilla regularly advises on the pensions aspects of corporate transactions, including the allocation of pension scheme liabilities, scheme transfers, management of s.75 debts, liabilities transferring under TUPE and exposure to trustee powers and the powers of the UK Pensions Regulator.

Charles Lloyd

Charles specialises in private client disputes, particularly international trust and estates litigation. Charles has been the head of Macfarlanes private client disputes group since 2001. Charles has particular expertise in international trusts and estate litigation for high-net-worth individuals. He has a depth of experience in advising trustees, beneficiaries, protectors, executors, administrators in contentious situations arising out of disputes involving these structures. In particular, he advises on disputes relating to the succession of valuable family businesses held in complex structures, involving trusts, foundations, partnerships and other corporate entities, as well as cross-border estates. He has a depth of experience in Shari’a law succession disputes. He also works increasingly at the point of intersection between traditional private client litigation, white collar criminal, regulatory investigations and fraud.

Charles Gothard

Charles specialises in advising international families and entrepreneurs as well as the family offices, trust companies and other institutions helping them. His work often relates to their estate planning, structures (whether trusts, foundations or other vehicles), philanthropy and personal affairs. This frequently involves complex international tax and estate planning, co-ordinating advice from advisers in different jurisdictions and often in situations with little or no UK connection. He also regularly advises foreign residents on the most tax efficient way to structure UK investments or a move to the UK. Charles also has significant experience of contentious UK and international trust and probate work – resolving disputes between trustees or executors and beneficiaries, acting for either side. Charles heads the firm’s family office group and is country partner for Switzerland so has overall responsibility for our relationships in Switzerland. Charles lectures regularly in the UK and abroad and has published articles in many of the leading professional publications. He is the joint editor of The World Trust Survey – an overview of the trust laws of 34 jurisdictions published in 2010 by Oxford University Press and the joint author of a chapter on “Protectors” in Tolley’s Administration of Trusts. Charles is a member of ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists). Charles is ranked as a Tier One adviser in the UK and Global editions of the independent Chambers guide and as a leading individual in the UK Legal 500 guide. He has been recognised in the eprivateclient 2021 50 Most Influential list and is recommended in the 2020 Spear’s 500 guide.

Charlie Maydon Grace

Charlie advises both UK resident and non-UK resident/domiciled individuals, families, trustees and family offices on a wide variety of tax, trust law and international estate planning issues. She also works on high-value trust litigation matters and HMRC investigations. Charlie was seconded to a leading law firm in Bermuda, where she worked on various trust and litigation matters, often with a US focus. She gave a presentation at the 2019 Transcontinental Trusts: International Forum on economic substance and presented at the Private Client Global Elite Rising Leaders Forum in 2021. Charlie has been selected as a Rising Leader in the Private Client Global Elite Directory 2022/23, a peer-nominated list of the world's most respected lawyers advising ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Chloë Edworthy

Chloë specialises in complex and cross-border litigation and arbitration for corporates, financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Chloë acts for a broad range of clients in respect of both High Court litigation and international arbitration. She has experience of arbitration with each of the following institutions: LCIA, ICC, SIAC, CIETAC, DIS, Swiss Rules and ICSID. In 2020, Chloë spent time on secondment to the Litigation and Regulatory team at Goldman Sachs. In 2015/2016, Chloë was seconded to a leading German law firm where she advised clients in relation to various international arbitrations (both commercial and investment treaty). Chloë is a member of the London Solicitor Litigation Association and the Young International Arbitration Group of the LCIA. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Chris Mortimer

Chris is head of the VAT practice. He advises a broad range of clients but has a particular focus on financial services, real estate and luxury assets. His team advises on all aspects of VAT including the establishment of new investment vehicles; partial exemption methods and other matters pertaining to VAT recovery; structuring of property transactions and property holding arrangements; implementation of outsourcing arrangements; M&A; and the acquisition, use and disposal of yachts, aircraft and artwork. Chris also has extensive experience of handling disputes with tax authorities. He is a chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor.

Christine Dowdall-Platt

Christine advises borrowers and lenders on a range of domestic and cross-border debt finance transactions. Christine’s experience includes leveraged finance, real estate finance, corporate acquisitions, general corporate facilities and specialty finance.

Christopher Good

Christopher advises on private fund formation, looking after fund sponsors who are establishing and operating private investment funds. He advises across a range of asset classes, including private equity, credit, real estate, venture capital and growth and secondary capital.  As well as advising on fundraisings, Christopher also advises upon and helps structure and implement carried interest, co-invest and other executive incentive schemes. Christopher also regularly advises secondary purchasers and GP clients on secondary transactions, including portfolio transactions, liquidity solutions and fund recapitalisations and restructurings. He is also regularly asked to advise institutional clients on their primary investment programmes, co-investment operations and bespoke management arrangements with managers. Christopher has previously spent time on secondment with both Goldman Sachs and Legal & General Investment Management.  He is a member of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and participates in Invest Europe’s working groups on legal and regulatory affairs.

Christopher Acton

Chris advises hedge funds, managed account platforms and proprietary trading houses, on prime brokerage, derivatives and derivative regulation in Europe. He acts for the buy-side only. Chris' clients cover a broad range of strategies including equities, equity long/short, special opportunities and distressed debt, global macro, commodity trading advisors, emerging markets and fixed income. He advises on all aspects of his client's counterparty trading relationships including prime brokerage, custody, repo, securities lending, margin foreign matters, FX PB and intermediation, exchange traded and OTC derivatives and central clearing generally. His practice also covers debt and claims trading having advised clients on the diligence, structuring and negotiation of numerous debt trade transactions and on a number of master confirmations arrangements for loan or trade claims total return swap transactions. Chris' clients are primarily based in London, Europe and Hong Kong and he has developed close ties with local counsel who are able to provide local regulatory advice and market colour.

Christopher Charlton

Chris specialises in complex commercial litigation and arbitration, particularly disputes regarding financial services and products, corporate and shareholder disputes, and insolvency issues. He regularly acts for financial institutions and other corporate clients across a range of sectors, including financial services, technology and construction. Chris has significant experience of advising UK and non-UK clients in relation to cross-border corporate and commercial disputes, including in particular issues of jurisdiction and enforcement.  Through 2019, he was seconded as a Foreign Associate to a leading New York law firm where he worked on a range of US focused matters. Chris is a qualified solicitor-advocate.

Clare Breeze

Clare is a partner and head of the real estate group. Clare regularly advises investors, developers, private clients, family offices and funders on a wide variety of both domestic (UK) and cross-border commercial and residential real estate transactions with an emphasis on investment, development, leasing, joint ventures and real estate finance. Her sector experience includes prime residential, build-to-rent (BTR) and private rented sector (PRS), student accommodation, offices, retail, industrial, hospitality and leisure. Clare also heads up the Private Client Property team.

Colin Morgan

Colin is head of the firm’s real estate finance practice. He has extensive experience advising UK and overseas lenders and borrowers in relation to real estate investment and development finance. Colin acts for senior and mezzanine banks and non-banks, investors and developers, hotel owners and operators and high-net-worth individuals on the financing of the acquisition and / or development of a broad range of real estate assets in the UK.

Damien Crossley

Damien is head of the tax and reward group. He specialises in advising investment fund managers on the formation of private funds, on their house and remuneration structures and on the structuring of their investment transactions. He is widely recognised as a leading adviser to the investment management industry. Damien’s clients are, in the main, investment fund managers who he advises on their house, fund and investment structuring. He has a particular expertise in the structuring and operation of private equity and private credit funds and on their carried interest and co-investment arrangements. Damien also advises a number of clients on the efficient structuring of their global private equity and special opportunity investments. Damien spent a year on secondment at a leading law firm in New York practising US tax and most of his work has an international dimension. Damien is a chartered tax adviser and regularly speaks and writes on tax matters. Damien is the co-author of the textbook “Taxation of Partnerships and LLPs” which is published by Sweet & Maxwell. Damien is chairperson of the AIMA ACC tax committee.

Dan Lavender

Dan specialises in city and financial services litigation and investigations. He is experienced in managing and resolving major multi-jurisdiction litigation. Dan often advises on cases where the client’s reputation and business are under severe threat.

Dan Marriott

Dan has a broad practice in all aspects of commercial real estate. His work includes property development, the negotiation of commercial leases for both landlords and tenants, sale and leaseback transactions and the commercial real estate aspects of financing transactions and commercial mergers and acquisitions.

Dominic Cunliffe

Dominic works exclusively on commercial real estate transactions and specialises in both development and mainstream investment work, representing a mixture of institutional investors, private equity investment funds and developers. He has considerable expertise in development funding and the use of complex property holding structures. Dominic is a partner champion of our DAWN staff network, a forum that focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of all of those at Macfarlanes and also offers support to staff who have direct experience of or support others with disabilities, neurodiverse conditions and other long and short term conditions.

Douglas Wass

Doug acts on a wide range of substantial international and domestic arbitration, litigation and adjudication matters. He has particular expertise in complex construction, engineering and real estate claims and related professional negligence issues, although his practice also encompasses more general commercial disputes. Doug has advised a wide range of clients, including large developers, project companies, professional consultants, contractors and sub-contractors.  His experience includes office, residential, hotel, industrial, hospital, university, school, power plant, airport and roads projects.  Doug’s arbitration work has included major international ICC and LCIA arbitrations.  Doug also regularly advises clients in relation to mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Doug has an MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration from King’s College, London and is a member of the Society of Construction Law, the Adjudication Society and the Property Litigation Association.  Doug is also a Solicitor-Advocate. Doug is co-author for the chapter on UK construction law for the International Comparative Legal Guide to Construction & Engineering.

Edward Reed

Edward advises internationally mobile families on their asset structuring, personal tax and succession planning wills, trusts and personal tax planning. Having been educated both in the UK and in France, Edward has developed an affinity for civil law issues generally. He is a bilingual French speaker and fluent in Italian. In conjunction with overseas lawyers, he advises on cross-border estate, succession planning and complex tax investigation issues. He has a particular interest in drafting constitutional mechanisms in asset holding vehicles and has advised institutional and corporate trustees on the drafting of their standard forms, focusing on such issues as settlor reserved powers, settlor-directed investment provisions, protector committees and their appointment mechanisms and the trigger events (e.g. incapacity) for the transmission of key trust powers. Being a trustee and protector himself, he also advises trustees and settlors on fiduciary and tax issues arising out of the administration of existing structures. Edward has been quoted extensively in the press and lectured at industry conferences, as well as publishing articles in English and French on cross-border succession and tax issues. He also advises clients on philanthropic matters. With over 25 years’ experience in the field, he advises on UK immigration and nationality law and procedure for private and corporate clients. He has administrative oversight of the firm’s wholly-owned trust company, Embleton Trust Corporation Limited and of the Trust Administration Group. Edward is a contributor to Tolley’s Administration of Trusts and the author of the England and Wales Chapter in The World Trust Survey (Gothard & Shah) published by Oxford University Press. He is also co-author of the “Trusts, Trustees and the UK Anti Financial Crime Regime”, chapter (C11) in Glasson, The International Trust (3rd Ed. 2011). Most recently, he has co-authored with Iskra Doukova the UK chapter in the STEP Handbook for Advisers “Beneficial Ownership Registers” (August 2021, published by Global Law & Business).

Elizabeth Doherty

Elizabeth specialises in international contentious trust, probate and succession disputes and related regulatory investigations, high-value family disputes and proceedings in the Court of Protection. Elizabeth acts for a wide range of UK and international clients including multinational corporations, trust companies, private companies and a diverse spectrum of high-net-worth individuals. She has substantial experience as a litigator in the UK courts and in foreign courts, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands and has particular expertise in resolving complex and multi-jurisdictional disputes involving the trustees, beneficiaries and protectors of English and offshore family trusts, including through alternative dispute resolution. Elizabeth has acted for numerous clients in sensitive and highly confidential disputes in the Court of Protection and has advised fiduciaries who become involved in cross-jurisdictional regulatory investigations (including criminal investigations).

Emma Radcliffe

Emma advises on a broad range of antitrust/competition law issues. These include: managing dawn raids and inspections; leading and co-ordinating antitrust investigations (whether conducted internally and/or by regulators); obtaining UK and EU merger control clearances and advising on multi-jurisdictional filings; and providing day-to-day competition law compliance advice to clients, both in relation to historic conduct and future business propositions. She has extensive experience of high-profile investigations by the CMA and the European Commission, particularly in relation to alleged cartels (including the leniency and settlement regime) and contentious matters arising from those investigations (including defending follow-on and standalone damages claims before the High Court as well as collective/class actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal). Emma has developed a particular expertise and interest in the financial services industry, having acted for clients in this sector in relation to a wide range of investigations and regulators worldwide. These include multiple long-running antitrust investigations in relation to alleged benchmark manipulation. The majority of Emma’s matters are cross-border and her perspective is informed by time spent outside UK private practice, including secondments to Brussels, Sydney and to the CMA’s predecessor, the OFT, as a case handler.

Emma Bailey

Emma undertakes a broad range of corporate work across private equity, domestic and cross-border M&A and corporate advisory. Emma acts for a wide client base, including private equity houses, management teams and large corporates. She advises on mergers, acquisitions and disposals, restructurings and joint ventures, and general company and corporate governance. Emma is an active member of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Associate Working Group and the cross-department Consumer & Retail Group.

Faye Jarvis

Faye Jarvis prides herself on building strong working relationships with her clients, ensuring her advice is always tailored to their needs. Faye has extensive experience advising both employers and trustees on complex scheme mergers, funding arrangements, liability management exercises and the pensions aspects of corporate transactions.

Gerald Kelly

Gerald specialises in joint ventures and property development and advises developers, institutions and private equity houses.

Gideon Sanitt

Gideon specialises in tax litigation but has a background in transactional tax work. His tax litigation work has given him experience at all levels of the UK Courts and the European Courts. Gideon has worked on disputes and investigations involving complex corporate and financial transactions for a variety of multinational and FTSE listed companies across both direct and indirect tax, as well as dealing with investigations involving high-net-worth individuals. Gideon also has significant experience in high value regulatory investigations as they relate to tax issues. Gideon takes a particular interest not just in advising on disputes but in managing the risks of transactions, so that the extent of any such dispute is minimised, and in seeking solutions outside of the Courts, whether through well-run compliance or effective settlements. With a transactional background covering, in particular, M&A and finance, as well as matters with a significant international dimension, Gideon also has experience of how some of the most complex tax rules apply in practice. Such expertise is invaluable in managing the risks of those transactions, advising on any disputes that may arise and finding the most effective solutions.

Gregory Price

Greg’s practice focuses on tax consultancy, providing tax advice to UK and international clients. Greg has a particular interest in group and international tax matters, for example in the efficient structuring of mergers and demergers as well as group reorganisations. Greg’s work with major corporate clients includes advising on a wide range of corporate and financing transactions, in particular, public and private acquisitions, group reorganisations and raising funds in the debt and equity capital markets. Much of this work has a cross-border dimension. Greg also works closely with our private client group, advising on tax issues for family offices and for large businesses that are in private ownership. Greg has advised on a number of high value tax investigations and disputes, including bringing appeals to the Tribunal. Greg is a member of the Law Society's Tax Law Committee.

Harriet Miller

Harriet advises clients on all aspects of work relating to private funds, predominately focusing on fundraising for which she represents both fund managers and investors. Harriet’s focus relates to all aspects of private funds. This includes the structuring and fundraising of a variety of different products from traditional blind pool investment vehicles to managed accounts and co-investment vehicles domiciled in a diverse number of jurisdictions, assisting institutional investors review and negotiate fund investments, advising on team incentive arrangements and all wider elements relating to operating a private funds business. She spent six months in the US on secondment with a leading US law firm. During her secondment, she assisted various institutional investors, including State pension plans, on investments in private funds and spoke at angel investing and VC events on key legal considerations for start-up businesses. Harriet has also spent three months on secondment at both Old Mutual Global Investors and Skandia Investment Group.

Harry Coghill

Harry has broad transactional experience in public and private M&A, equity capital markets and other corporate transactions. He also advises listed clients on a wide range of corporate governance matters, including activism situations. Harry sits on the legal panel of the Investor Forum, having advised on its establishment, and has authored several publications on subjects relevant to his practice. Harry heads our international committee which has oversight of our relationships with international law firms. Harry also co-heads our consumer and retail sector group.

Hayley Robinson

Hayley specialises in employment law and heads the firm’s employment group. Hayley advises employer clients on all types of contentious matters, ranging from advising on sensitive or acrimonious disciplinary or grievance procedures to restrictive covenant and other post termination disputes to litigation in the Employment Tribunal. On the non-contentious side, she advises employers on their day-to-day employment issues, helping them to resolve difficult workplace situations in a commercially sensitive way.  She is also experienced in advising on the employment aspects of all types of corporate transactions and restructurings. As well as advising corporate employers, Hayley is experienced in advising LLPs and other partnership structures on partnership and quasi employment issues as they affect them and their members or partners.

Helen Harvey

Helen is a member of the firm’s corporate crime and investigations practice. She advises both individuals and corporates on compliance, pre-investigations, investigations and prosecutions. She has represented clients before a number of regulators, including the SFO, HMRC, the FCA and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). She has been involved in the high-profile bribery investigations into Rolls-Royce and Airbus and the investigation into Barclays regarding the 2008 fund raising. She has particular expertise in sanctions and export control issues, and is currently helping clients adapt to recent shifts in the global financial sanctions framework. She has published numerous updates on sanctions and spoken on podcasts. Helen also assists clients with designing and implementing compliance programmes for corruption, money laundering and sanctions. She delivers training on all aspects of financial crime. Helen is a member of the Fraud Lawyers Association and the Female Fraud Forum.

Howard Corney

Howard heads the firm’s mergers and acquisitions group. He undertakes a broad range of M&A work with a particular focus on cross-border M&A and private equity. Howard also established and leads our Africa practice and is the lead corporate and M&A partner in our industrial and manufacturing sector group.

Iain Mackie

Iain specialises in large-scale corporate and financial services litigation and arbitration for a mix of UK and international corporate clients, private equity houses, family offices and financial institutions. Iain is well known in the market for his expertise in handling complex corporate litigation, including large shareholder, joint venture and post-transaction disputes. He also advises on fraud issues; the rights and obligations of directors; derivative actions and unfair prejudice petitions; insolvency issues and restructuring. Much of his work is of a multi-jurisdictional nature and he has particular expertise in matters involving private equity investments and entrepreneurs. He acts for banks, financial institutions and fund managers in relation to disputes concerning fund and asset management, lending/security, complex financial instruments (particularly derivatives), trade finance and internal investigations. He has extensive experience of regulatory investigations by the FCA and other regulators, both in the UK and elsewhere, and advises on market abuse and compliance issues. He is regularly involved in advising non-UK clients involved in English law disputes, particularly in relation to international arbitrations concerning commercial and corporate matters, and in dealing with complex cross-border litigation. Iain was head of the litigation and dispute resolution group for 12 years, and he is now focusing solely on client work.

Jacob Ward

Jacob specialises in domestic and international litigation, with a particular focus on trust disputes, international succession and estate disputes and fraud. He advises on a broad range of litigation both in England and across the world, including the BVI, Guernsey, Cayman, Cyprus and Hong Kong. He focuses particularly on: trust disputes, including removing or defending trustees, tracing assets, and disputes between beneficiaries; estate and probate disputes, including disputes over the validity of wills and claims against the solicitor who drafted the will; fraud claims, including tracing and recovering assets; and insolvency claims, including claims against former directors and recovering assets for creditors. Jacob edits the Contentious Matters section of the Butterworths Wills, Probate and Administration Service. Jacob is ranked as a leading individual in the 2021 UK Legal 500 guide.  He is a qualified solicitor advocate and sits as a Magistrate in London.

James McCredie

James advises on a wide range of tax matters, including the establishment of private equity, credit, real estate and other investment funds and their deal and investment structuring, the structuring of management incentive plans and partnership tax. James has advised a wide client base on a substantial range of tax matters. He specialises in investment fund tax, and has worked on fundraisings for our key investment funds clients and on a stand-alone basis across the range of asset classes and fund terms (through private equity, property and hedge funds, as well as family office investment structures). He has been involved in examining the structures of a number of fund managers in response to the many changes to personal and corporate taxation (including carried interest changes) which have affected the industry over recent years. He is a specialist in partnership tax across asset management and other professional services firms. James also advises funds and others in the financial services sphere on their acquisitions and disposals of investments (both private equity and property based) and the structure of investment platforms and establishment and disposal of asset managers themselves. He advises on the tax treatment of secondary transactions in fund investments (including a number of recent stapled secondary transactions and GP lead processes) as well as asset manager stake sales. James is co-chair of the firm’s Pride network.

James Popperwell

James is head of the firm’s fraud practice. He specialises in asset tracing and enforcement and the management of complex, international disputes in state courts and arbitration. As well as running disputes at all levels of the English courts, James has significant experience in managing parallel proceedings in different jurisdictions. James has over 19 years of experience acting on disputes relating to Russia, Ukraine and the CIS and has represented clients from these regions in various courts across the world, including in the Eastern Caribbean, the Channel Islands, Cyprus and Hong Kong, as well as in ICC, LCIA and VIAC arbitrations. James has significant experience of obtaining and defending interim injunctive relief in support of proceedings in England and elsewhere. James also advises on corporate and shareholder disputes (including in relation to companies incorporated overseas), bribery and corruption, sanctions, money laundering and insolvency proceedings. He is often asked to represent overseas clients in jurisdictional challenges in England and has done so on the basis of diplomatic and sovereign immunity as well as the more traditional grounds. James combines his fraud expertise with an intricate knowledge of litigation funding in all its forms. James has advised litigation funders on structuring some of the most innovative funding arrangements in recent years. James is a contributing author to the Law Society’s Handbook on Litigation Funding and a regular speaker on funding issues. James is qualified to act as an independent supervising solicitor on search orders. James is a partner champion of our Balance network, a forum providing networking and peer support for all staff managing careers and home lives, to achieve a sustainable work-life balance.

Jat Bains

Jat is head of the restructuring and insolvency group. He specialises in a range of debt finance transactions, acting for credit and special situations funds, corporate clients, sponsors, bondholders and senior and mezzanine lenders in relation to, amongst other things, workouts and restructurings, and real estate finance. He has worked on several domestic and international private and public deals. His international finance experience also includes a secondment to Italy, where he assisted a local firm with the English law aspects of a securitisation and refinancing relating to a major Italian airport company. Jat’s restructuring experience includes a secondment to the restructuring group legal team at a global financial institution, where he was involved in multibillion dollar restructurings. Jat is a member of the Institute for Turnaround and is a contributing editor of the ICLG Restructuring and Insolvency series. Jat is a partner champion of our REACH (race, ethnicity and cultural heritage) staff network, a forum for networking and peer support between ethnic minority staff and allies. Jat is ranked in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame, which highlights individuals who are at the pinnacle of the profession and considered by clients to provide continued excellence.

Jennifer Smithson

Jennifer advises on all areas of personal tax and succession planning, with a particular emphasis on cross border tax advice, especially with a US or French aspect. Jennifer also advises on the establishment and management of international asset-holding structures, has experience in planning for entrepreneurs, fund managers and senior executives, and regularly advises clients in relation to complex HMRC enquiries. In 2013 Jennifer spent six months in New York on secondment to a large international private bank. There she worked alongside US and international wealth advisors on cross-border planning issues, gaining an understanding of US tax, trust and estate planning that assists her in advising US clients resident in the UK. Jennifer advises individuals, trustees and investment managers in relation to the tax treatment of complex structures and investment products. She has extensive experience on advising in relation to family office structuring for both UK resident and non-UK resident families. Jennifer is a regular speaker at wealth planning seminars and events and has contributed to a number of articles relating to the FATCA and Common Reporting Standard automatic information exchange regimes.

Jeremy Moncrieff

Jeremy advises on a broad range of tax and structuring matters with a particular focus on public and private M&A transactions and related reorganisations. Jeremy has extensive experience advising companies, partnerships and individuals on the tax aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. Jeremy’s specialisms include advising on complex M&A, including M&A in the financial services sector and M&A involving LLPs and partnerships. Alongside his M&A work, Jeremy advises on IPOs, corporate reorganisations and restructurings. He also advises corporate groups (including REITs) on their corporate tax planning. Jeremy is a member of the international tax sub-committee of the Law Society of England & Wales and contributes to consultations with HM Revenue & Customs and HM Treasury on developments in tax legislation.

Jessica Adam

Jessica works for a range of clients from private equity houses and asset managers to large corporate groups. Jessica is a corporate and M&A lawyer focusing on private equity and private M&A. As well as acting for private equity sponsors, Jessica heads up the management team advisory practice. Alongside her private equity practice, she advises key corporate clients on a range of matters including private M&A and complex group reorganisations. Jessica also has considerable experience of acting for clients in the professional services sector, particularly in the context of law firm mergers. Jessica has featured in recent press articles such as The Lawyer’s “Female Private Equity Stars” and Legal Business’s “Female Deal Stars”. Jessica is a partner champion of our Balance network, a forum for all staff managing careers and home lives, enabling discussion, support and the exchange of the information and ideas, to achieve a work-life balance.

Jessica Yu

Jessica provides specialist UK immigration and nationality advice to a range of clients including high-net-worth individuals and corporates. For private clients, Jessica regularly advises on the Investor, Entrepreneur, Start-up/Innovator, Representative of an Overseas Business and Global Talent categories. She also advises on complex family and personal matters involving relocation to the UK, Indefinite Leave to Remain (also known as Permanent Residence or Settlement) and British citizenship. For EEA nationals, this involves advising on the EU Settlement Scheme and their UK immigration permission post-Brexit. For corporates, Jessica supports them through the sponsor licence process and subsequent sponsorship of skilled workers. She also advises UK businesses to ensure that they are compliant with their sponsor licence duties and responsibilities and the law in relation to the prevention of illegal working. Jessica was appointed to the immigration seat of The Law Society Council in October 2021 and sits on The Law Society Immigration Law Committee.

Joanna Constantis

Joanna has extensive experience in a range of contentious matters for both international and domestic clients. She specialises in corporate and international commercial litigation including fraud litigation and investigations. She has extensive experience of advising on company and partnership law and shareholder disputes. Joanna has cross-sector experience and her clients include corporate entities, banks and financial institutions, private equity and high-net-worth individuals. Joanna was seconded to the litigation & investigations team of an international bank between August 2014 and March 2015. Joanna also works on contentious employment disputes. Joanna is a qualified solicitor-advocate and a member of the Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association.

Jonathan Arr

He acts for high-net-worth individuals from the UK and around the world, trustees, protectors, wealth managers and multinational businesses. Jonathan has a wealth of experience litigating in both UK and international courts, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, BVI, Jersey, Guernsey, Singapore, the Isle of Man and Mauritius. He acts on the full range of matters affecting private clients and their structures, including: applications to deal with mistaken advice or flawed decisions by way of rectification or revocation; breach of trust claims; fraud claims; disputes between family members regarding their interest in family trusts and the operation of underlying corporate entities; trustee directions and court approval/blessing applications; advice about and disputes involving loss of capacity by family members or fiduciaries; challenges to wills and Inheritance Act claims; and art and cultural property disputes. He has particular expertise resolving difficult and long-running disputes between beneficiaries of both English and offshore family trusts owning large multinational businesses. As well as acting in court and arbitration proceedings, he has also advised clients in numerous successful large-scale settlement negotiations and mediations, particularly in the context of family disputes. Jonathan is a member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists. His work helping clients resolve mistakes and undo their consequences means Jonathan frequently acts for claimants on professional negligence claims. He also regularly acts for clients in commercial litigation, with particular expertise in disputes involving breaches of fiduciary duty and conspiracy, including high-value employment disputes in the High Court and employment tribunals, and associated internal investigations.

Justin Hope

Justin advises on all aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including acquisitions, disposals, restructurings and joint ventures, with a particular focus on private acquisitions and private equity. Justin has advised on a wide range of private equity transactions, acting for sponsors, management teams and portfolio companies at all stages of the investment cycle.  Justin works closely with the firm’s real estate practice on corporate transactions involving real estate assets and businesses that are heavily asset-backed.  A member of the firm’s Africa group, Justin has also advised on a number of transactions across Africa, with a focus on transactions in the midstream and downstream oil and gas sectors. Having trained and qualified at Macfarlanes, as an associate Justin also spent time on secondment at a leading law firm in New York, an international commodities trader in Geneva and a private equity firm in London specialising in turnaround and growth investments. Justin is a partner champion of our REACH (race, ethnicity and cultural heritage) staff network, a forum for networking and peer support between minority ethnic staff and allies.

Kirstie Hutchinson

Kirstie acts for private equity sponsors and portfolio companies, corporate borrowers and issuers, credit fund and bank lenders, special situations investors and speciality finance providers on a range of financing transactions including investment grade, hybrid and leveraged financings and acquisition financings, dividend recapitalisations and capital restructurings. She has extensive domestic, European and global cross-border experience. Kirstie is a member of the Banking Law Committee of the International Bar Association and of the British-German Jurists Association. She is ranked by Chambers & Partners and by Legal 500 2021 as a “Leading Individual” for both “Acquisition Finance” and “Bank Lending: Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated Loans”; and was named in “The Lawyer” magazine’s “Hot 100 2021” as “one of the City’s go-to banking and finance lawyers for private equity sponsors, corporate borrowers and credit funds”.

Laura Bretherton

Laura advises sponsor, lender and borrower clients on a range of real estate finance transactions, with a particular focus on commercial investment and development financings. Her sector experience includes build-to-rent (BTR) and private rented sector (PRS), offices, industrial, student accommodation, and hospitality and leisure – with a focus on hotels. In addition she increasingly assists clients with sustainability and ESG-linked lending in real estate transactions. Laura sits on the Board of Advisers of CREFC (Commercial Real Estate Finance Council Europe) helping shape content for its members.

Lois Horne

Lois advises financial institutions, corporates and entrepreneurs on a broad range of complex, cross-border commercial matters in High Court and international arbitration, with particular experience in corporate and shareholder disputes, contract disputes, banking litigation and financial crime. Lois has broad experience in acting for corporates, or individuals with corporate interests, across a range of sectors, including private equity, financial services, aviation, energy, retail, beverages and commodities. Lois' High Court and arbitration experience includes complex post-deal warranty and indemnity disputes, claims for fraudulent misrepresentation, valuation issues, shareholder rights and unfair prejudice claims, banking disputes concerning complex financial products and breach of commercial agreement claims. She also advises on directors' duties and employment issues with respect to senior officers, team moves and breaches of confidence. As well as advising on the resolution of disputes, Lois advises on the prevention of and investigation into financial crime, including bribery and fraud. Lois is often involved in dealing with highly sensitive matters which go to the heart of a corporate's commercial objectives. She understands the importance of resolving disputes in the context of broader commercial, reputational and often regulatory contexts. Her breadth of experience enables her to deploy a smart strategy to achieve her client's objectives in a pro­active manner. Lois' work is cross-border, often advising a foreign party on English law disputes, including India, Africa, US, and Asia, as well as throughout Europe. She has expertise in High Court and international arbitral trials, as well as expert determination and alternative dispute resolution. She is a qualified solicitor-advocate and a Committee Member of the London Solicitor Litigation Association, City of London Law Society Litigation Committee and the Commercial Litigation Association.

Lorna Emson

Lorna is experienced in a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters, with a particular focus on matters involving fraud and financial crime, both for corporates and individuals as well as conducting investigations. Lorna has been involved in several significant and high profile cases in these fields, working for banks, interdealer brokers, oil & gas companies and private individuals including senior executives, politicians and UHNW individuals based both in the UK and internationally. Lorna is a Solicitor Advocate.

Luke Powell

Luke is the firm’s managing partner, having been appointed in May 2022. From 2018 to 2022, Luke was the co-head of our corporate and M&A team and he remains a partner in the group advising on all aspects of M&A transactions. Luke has experience in many sectors but particularly specialises in financial services, asset management and private equity (both buy-outs and secondaries). Clients for whom he acts regularly include Chrysalis Investments, Federated Hermes, Glendower Capital, Goldman Sachs, Keyhaven Capital, Legal & General and Permira.

Malcolm Walton

Malcolm is head of the firm’s competition group and his experience covers a broad range of competition work. Malcolm has represented a number of clients that have been the subject of investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) (and its predecessors), the FCA and the European Commission into suspected price-fixing or cartel activity and regularly advises interested parties, including complainants, in abuse of dominance cases. He also provides competition law compliance advice, programmes and seminars to both corporate clients and trade associations. Malcolm regularly deals with the European Commission and the UK’s CMA in merger cases, advising clients from a variety of industry sectors as well as several private equity investors, and manages clearance requirements in respect of many other foreign competition authorities on large cross-border transactions. Malcolm advises clients on the regulatory requirements in a number of industry sectors including pharmaceuticals and aviation. He also advises clients on a wide range of competition related issues such as licensing and distribution, franchising, parallel importing, commercial joint-ventures and strategic alliances. Malcolm is recognised as a leading individual in competition law by Chambers. He is a regular contributor to legal journals and speaks at conferences.

Malcolm Hitching

Malcolm is a debt finance expert, and specialises in leveraged finance, specialty financings, restructuring and debt advisory work. He has considerable experience acting for sponsors, lenders, borrowers and financial advisers, and over the past 25 years has been involved in a great many deals across a wide range of industry sectors and geographies.

Mark Baldwin

Mark's practice spans a broad spectrum of corporate tax work. His particular areas of expertise are the structuring of collective investment vehicles (particularly domestic and pan-European private equity and real estate funds) and associated carried interest and co-investment structures, real estate investment, development and finance and indirect tax (particularly VAT). He has advised on a number of strategic transactions for private equity houses. Mark is chairman of the BVCA Tax Committee and a member of the Tax Committee of the Association of Partnership Practitioners (APP).  He regularly speaks and writes on a wide variety of tax topics.

Mark Slade

Mark works on a broad range of corporate matters but with an emphasis on advising quoted clients. Mark has considerable experience in equity capital markets transactions and advising on matters in the listed funds, real estate and asset management sectors. Mark’s primary interest is in transactions advising or involving quoted companies. He has advised on a large number of initial public offerings and secondary fundraises, acting for a mixture of issuers, sponsors / underwriters and selling shareholders. Mark regularly advises on M&A transactions involving listed clients, including those that are subject to the Takeover Code. He also fulfils an advisory role for a wide range of listed companies, providing advice on, among other things, compliance with the Listing Rules / the AIM Rules, the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the Takeover Code. Mark also has a significant private M&A practice where, among other things, he has been active in the asset management, financial services and real estate sectors and, more generally, advises private companies on all aspects of company law. Mark regularly publishes articles and book chapters on M&A and capital markets matters.

Mark Lawrence

Mark acts for a wide range of clients, including commercial developers, PFI project companies, house builders, financial institutions, investors, landlords and tenants. He has extensive experience of advising in relation to construction and engineering, infrastructure, real estate and professional negligence disputes. Mark has acted for clients in claims in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, as well as in domestic and international arbitration and adjudication. He has also acted on a number of cases in the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). He regularly facilitates the resolution of his clients’ disputes through negotiation, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. He has particular expertise in guiding clients through technically, legally and factually complex disputes and works closely with the leading barristers and experts in the field. His recent disputes experience spans infrastructure, power stations, hotels, data centres and large residential and commercial developments. He is a member of the Society of Construction Law, the Adjudication Society, the Property Litigation Association, the Young International Arbitration Group and the International Bar Association.

Mark Hunter

Mark advises on a broad range of tax, trust and estate planning issues for individuals, trustees and family offices. He has extensive experience working on complex matters with a cross-border element. Mark advises on the development of family governance, the creation and operation of asset-holding structures and the creation of family office structures for both UK and non-UK based families. He has also been involved in family trust matters with a litigious or a potentially litigious element. Mark has particular experience in advising on matters with a US connection. In 2016 he spent six months on secondment with the trusts and estates group of a leading New York-based law firm and has developed a good understanding of the tax and succession issues for US citizens and residents.

Matt McCahearty

Matt’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and arbitration, white collar defence, regulatory enforcement and internal investigations. Matt leads the litigation and dispute resolution group. He regularly advises global corporations and financial institutions in relation to some of their most significant and sensitive international disputes, investigations and enforcement matters, working frequently with leading independent firms around the world to provide a comprehensive international strategy. Matt has particular familiarity with litigation, arbitration and regulatory enforcement matters in the US having been seconded to a leading New York law firm and worked extensively on transatlantic cases. Matt is a member of the firm’s International Committee, the International Bar Association’s Litigation Committee and regularly speaks at international conferences. He is also a Solicitor-Advocate.

Max Hobbs

Max is a member of the firm's corporate crime and investigations team. He advises clients on white collar defence and investigations, with a particular focus on the UK's anti-money laundering and bribery regimes. He regularly deals with the FCA and SFO on a range of matters. Max also advises firms on their anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and Criminal Finance Act compliance programmes and provides training in these areas.

Nicholas Harries

Nicholas started his career as a barrister, practising from 10 Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn (a leading set of traditional Chancery chambers). He subsequently joined Macfarlanes in 2003. He continues to hold Higher Courts rights of audience. Nicholas’ current practice draws on both the detailed trust law and drafting experience gained at the bar and the technical tax experience gained later in his career. It embraces the full range of tax, estate and succession planning advice for individuals resident in the UK (UK and non-UK domiciliaries). It also includes advice for internationally-based individuals and their families, often where there is no significant connection with the UK. He works closely with our private client disputes team (drawing on his contentious experience at the Bar) and with our tax team (to deliver co-ordinated advice where both personal and business tax issues are at stake). Nicholas also heads up our charity and probate practices. He has many years' experience advising on all probate related matters.

Nick Barnes

Nick has experience of a broad range of commercial real estate work, including development and investment work, joint ventures, commercial lettings (acting for both landlords and tenants) and debt financing.

Nigel Price

Nigel leads our environmental practice and specialises in environmental law. He has a broad range of experience advising corporate, commercial real estate and energy and infrastructure clients on the environmental aspects of transactions, regulatory issues and disputes.

Oliver Court

Oliver advises individuals, families and trustees based in the UK and abroad on UK tax, estate planning and asset structuring. His clients range from UK families and executives to European and US entrepreneurs and their structures. Oliver specialises in advising on UK/US situations and spent time on secondment with the trusts and estates group of a leading New York law firm. He also works with families to establish and reorganise international family office and asset-holding structures and put in place family constitutions. Oliver is a member of the firm’s trust and probate litigation group and has worked on large-scale trust litigation both in England and overseas.

Paul Keddie

Paul advises on a broad range of corporate restructuring and recovery issues. His clients include companies in financial difficulties, their directors and shareholders, insolvency practitioners appointed over such companies, lenders to and other major creditors of troubled entities, investors interested in a “loan-to-own” strategy and buyers of businesses where there is an insolvency aspect. Paul’s experience also includes a secondment at Warwick Capital Partners LLP. Paul is a qualified insolvency practitioner, having passed the Joint Insolvency Examination Board examinations in 2013. Paul is the co-author of the Insolvency and Restructuring Manual, 3rd Edition, published by Bloomsbury Professional Ltd, the "England" chapter of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Corporate Recovery & Insolvency 2020 and the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, also published by Bloomsbury Professional Ltd.

Peter Baldwin

Peter specialises in advising clients on a broad range of innovative special situations, distressed, private equity and joint venture transactions. His principal clients include leading credit funds, private equity funds and the special situations investing groups at the global investment banks. Peter also advises on a wide cross-section of corporate finance, shareholder, public M&A, corporate governance and restructuring issues.

Piers Barclay

Piers is the head of private client. Piers specialises in succession, tax and estate planning advice for individuals and their families as well as related advice to trustees and other private client service providers, such as family offices. In addition to UK-based clients, much of his work has an international element, including structuring multi-jurisdictional estates, using trusts in civil law and Shari’a law countries and advising non-UK trustees on tax and fiduciary matters. He has experience in UK pre-arrival planning for non-domiciliaries, remittance basis advice and the implementation of trusts, wills and associated mechanisms on arrival, both for entrepreneurs and for other high-net-worth individuals.  Piers is also involved in the post-death administration of estates, both in the UK and in the international context. Before becoming a partner, Piers spent six months on secondment in the trusts department of a leading international law firm. Piers is ranked as a Tier One adviser in the UK and Global editions of the independent Chambers guide and as a leading individual in the UK Legal 500 guide. He has been recognised in the eprivateclient 2021 50 Most Influential list and is recommended in the 2021 Private Client Global Elite guide.

Rachel Serene

Rachel advises a wide range of UK and overseas-based clients on regulatory matters across the investment management, banking, insurance, corporate finance, consumer credit and the private funds sectors. Rachel advises on a broad range of regulatory matters with a focus on regulatory issues regarding the conduct of business regime and systems and controls requirements. Her expertise includes advising numerous clients on the impact of regulatory changes (for example, MiFID II, AIFMD and the Senior Managers Regime) as well as helping them to prepare for implementation. Rachel also regularly advises clients regarding day-to-day compliance issues including liaising with the regulator. Rachel completed a secondment to an investment bank to assist with its preparation for the Senior Manager Regime. She has also undertaken a year in the firm’s banking and finance team where she worked on a wide range of commercial lending transactions, including asset backed finance.

Rasmus Berglund

Ras is a partner in the remuneration practice. With more than 15 years’ experience, he specialises in all aspects of UK and international employee and executive incentive arrangements. Ras’s practice includes the design, implementation and operation of a wide range of employee share plans and executive remuneration arrangements as well as the treatment and negotiation of incentives in the context of corporate transactions. He advises on all share plan-related matters including individual and corporate tax and structuring, global regulatory compliance, trust and nominee arrangements, plan administration, data protection and employment issues. Ras has a particular focus on corporate governance and remuneration disclosure for listed companies and, having spent time on secondment with one the largest UK banks, also advises on UK and European remuneration regulation within the financial services sector. Ras is a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group and on the Steering Committee of the Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) Centre. He is also qualified as a US Certified Equity Professional (CEP).

Richard Fletcher

Richard advises financial institutions and corporates on a range of financing matters. He focuses on fund finance, speciality finance and structured finance including the structured finance and debt capital markets aspects of project finance, infrastructure finance and restructurings. His work includes advising on: leverage facilities and investor call bridge facilities; receivables financing, asset based lending and speciality finance; structured financings and structured products; RMBS, CMBS, CLOs / CDOs and whole business securitisations; debt capital markets issues, including bonds, MTNs, high yield bonds, convertibles and exchangeables; project bonds and infrastructure financings; and refinancings and restructurings.

Richard Giangrande

Richard advises on all aspects of estate planning and personal taxation and focuses on cross-border tax advice. Many of his clients are individuals with a presence in multiple jurisdictions, and who originate from jurisdictions in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Richard also advises on the establishment and management of international asset-holding structures, focusing both on international taxation and asset protection. He has extensive experience in planning for international families, entrepreneurs, finance professionals, and regularly advises clients in relation to complex HMRC enquiries and disputes relating to tax or succession matters. Richard advises individuals, trustees, family offices and investment managers in relation to the tax treatment of complex structures and investment products, and has advised a number of banks and investment managers on the structuring of their investment platforms and the selection of appropriate investments for non-UK domiciled clients. He spent six months in New York on secondment to a leading New York law firm, where he worked alongside US lawyers, gaining an understanding of US tax, trust and estate planning that assists him in advising US clients who are resident in the UK or own UK assets. Richard is a regular speaker at wealth planning seminars and events and has written for Trusts & Trustees.

Richard Burrows

Richard has a broad practice across all fields of company and corporate law, including capital markets transactions, public takeovers, private capital raising and private acquisitions. With over 15 years of corporate law experience, Richard has acted for institutions and individuals in a variety of transactions across the corporate sphere. Much of Richard’s work has a cross-border element, and Richard spent nearly two years on secondment at a leading law firm in New York. Richard has a particular interest in tech and is co-head of our technology practice. With this broad background Richard writes about many areas of corporate finance - with a particular focus on capital markets, shareholder activism and corporate governance.

Robert Boyle

Robert is active in all fields of corporate law, advising on a broad range of corporate transactions, particularly for listed clients. In addition to transactional work, Robert advises a number of issuers in respect of their on-going corporate advisory work, including on governance, controls and risk management issues and in respect of investigations. Robert is a member of the City of London Law Society Company Law Sub-Committee and of the Securities Sub-Committee of the International Bar Association.

Robert Collard

Rob specialises in employee share schemes and incentives and heads up the Macfarlanes remuneration practice. He advises both listed and unlisted clients on the design, operation and implementation of option plans and other employee share schemes (including the tax and regulatory aspects). Rob also advises management teams and deals with the share schemes aspects of M&A transactions. Rob has a wide range of clients but has a particular focus on the financial sector. His team covers all aspects of law relating to employee share schemes and incentives, including employment, tax, trust law and regulatory issues.  He has particular experience in tax efficient plans, including SAYE option plans, EMI options, CSOPs and SIPs. Rob also advises on the share schemes aspects of high profile international transactions. Rob is a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group.

Robert Daniell

Rob specialises in derivatives, securities finance and prime brokerage. He has considerable experience of trading, custody, brokerage and clearing agreements for derivative products, repos/stock lending and physical commodities. Rob advises brokers and buy-side clients across a wide range of asset classes, and on the associated regulations and issues of market practice. Rob advises investment and hedge funds, banks, pension funds and insurers, high-net-worth individuals and corporates on a broad range of documents and transactions. These include equity and credit derivatives, OTC derivative clearing and exchange-traded derivatives, prime brokerage, repo and securities lending, custody, margin financing, FX and commodities. Prior to joining Macfarlanes, Rob worked for investment banks in London for 17 years, most recently for UBS, where he was a Managing Director and Head of the European Equity Derivatives and Prime Brokerage legal teams. Prior to UBS, Rob worked for Nomura International and Lehman Brothers; and for the New Zealand Securities Commission prior to arriving in the UK. Rob has been involved in contributions on numerous regulatory initiatives, including OTC derivatives clearing, short-selling, safe custody, client money and shadow banking. Rob has been the lead drafter of a number of industry-standard OTC derivatives template documents that are now widely used by market participants.

Robert Porter

Senior consultant

Sam Brooks

Sam primarily represents sponsors of both closed-ended and open-ended alternative investment funds, with a particular focus on hedge funds and credit funds across the liquidity spectrum, advising on diverse fund issues such as structuring and terms, marketing regulations and documents, investor negotiations and service agreements. He also advises on upper-tier matters such as management entities and compensation arrangements. Prior to joining Macfarlanes in 2013, Sam was employed as counsel in the investment funds group of a US-based international law firm.

Seán Lavin

Seán led the firm’s employment group for over a decade and has over 25 years’ experience advising employers on all aspects of employment law. Seán advises corporate clients on TUPE, collective and union issues, the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions, team moves and restrictive covenants, boardroom and executive disputes and Employment Tribunal claims.

Sebastian Prichard Jones

Sebastian specialises in advising wealthy families on tax and succession issues. Much of his work has an international dimension and many of his clients have no connection with the UK. He advises on the creation and operation of asset-holding structures and family offices. He also advises on tax investigations and litigation involving family trusts. Sebastian advises many UK and non-UK based families on their tax position, both in the UK and internationally.  In 2003 he spent six months on secondment with the trusts and estates group of a leading New York law firm and, as a result of this experience, much of his work has a US dimension. Sebastian has lectured in the UK, the US and further afield. Sebastian became senior partner on 1 May 2020.

Simon Day

Simon specialises in competition litigation and other complex multiparty disputes, and has extensive experience of advising in relation to both High Court trials and alternative forms of dispute resolution. He has particular experience of group litigation, both in the context of general commercial disputes and in private damages actions for competition law breaches, and high-value trust disputes. His practice includes co-ordinating and advising in relation to English law issues arising out of overseas proceedings, as well as in proceedings brought in the English Courts, and he advises corporates, international banks and private wealth funds as well as certain high-net-worth individuals. Simon is a member of the Financial Services Lawyers Association and is recommended in the Legal 500 directory as “a rising star with substantial litigation experience”.

Simon Nurney

Simon specialises in large scale corporate, commercial and construction disputes for a range of UK and international clients. He has also acted on a number of high profile group litigation disputes – both in the UK and abroad – relating to environmental, employment and data protection matters. Simon acts in relation to court and arbitration proceedings and he also advises in relation to mediation and other forms of dispute resolution. Simon has an MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration from King’s College, London.  Simon is also a Solicitor-Advocate.

Simon Perry

Simon undertakes a broad range of domestic and international M&A and private equity work across a number of sectors involving acquisitions, disposals, restructurings and joint ventures and advises on transactions in the hotel and wider real estate sectors. Simon acts for a number of private equity clients in relation to acquisitions and disposals in the UK and overseas as well as the acquisition and restructuring of assets for turnaround investors. Simon also has significant experience in advising on deals in the hotel and wider real estate sectors, having acted for operators, developers and investors on the acquisition and disposal and related joint venture arrangements of numerous hotels and real estate projects. Simon is a member of our hotels group.

Stephen Drewitt

Stephen specialises in private equity, acting predominantly for private equity sponsors and other institutional investors. He is the author of a chapter in both “The Private Equity Review” and “Private Equity Exits”.

Stephen Robinson

Stephen advises a wide range of investment managers, fund sponsors and investors on the structuring, establishment and operation of investment funds and related activities. He specialises in structuring private equity, venture capital, infrastructure and credit funds. Stephen advises across the full range of investment management and fund related activities and advises clients in all aspects of their business including the establishment, raising and ongoing operation of numerous types of private investment funds.  In addition he advises on complex co-investment and carried interest arrangements and has expertise in fund formation across all major fund jurisdictions including Luxembourg, Ireland and the Channel Islands.  He also advises clients on house related matters such as internal governance, spin-outs and client restructurings. He also advises major institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds and global asset managers on their investment activity across primary, secondary and co-investment transactions.

Stephen Pike

Stephen is a partner in our corporate and M&A group. Stephen practices in corporate law and advises clients in relation to private equity transactions, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, fund formations, secondary transactions and co-investments and general corporate advice.

Tom Pedder

Tom’s practice encompasses a wide range of commercial real estate matters, including transactions involving corporate property, the financing, acquisition and disposal of investment property and property portfolios, the negotiation of commercial leases for both landlords and tenants, and development-related work. Tom’s clients include corporates, private equity houses, property investors and property developers. He has particular expertise in relation to the real estate aspects of the domestic and cross-border sale and purchase, financing, restructuring and reorganisation of businesses and of public and private companies. Tom is a member of the City of London Law Society Land Law Committee.

Tom Rose

Partner

Tom Usher

Tom advises on all aspects of EU and UK competition law including competition compliance, merger clearance, the treatment of vertical agreements and abusive practices, cartels and other horizontal agreement between competitors and state aid, acting for financial institutions, retailers, manufacturers, broadcasters, collecting societies and content providers. Tom has a particular focus on the financial services sector and other regulated industries and has considerable expertise in advising on sectoral inquiries in relation to financial services, broadcasting markets, extended warranties and pricing issues. He has brought and defended a number of actions based on competition law and wider EU and public law issues, before the UK domestic courts and in Europe and has been involved in leading cases in the betting and gaming and broadcasting sectors dealing with collective selling, exclusive licensing arrangements, database rights and regulatory issues.

Will Hedges

Will’s practice encompasses commercial contracts, outsourcing, intellectual property and wider commercial matters. Will has a broad commercial practice which is centred on advising on a wide range of commercial contracts and arrangements, with a particular focus on clients operating in the financial services, technology, media and hotel and leisure sectors. Will has a particular interest in outsourcing and has acted on a wide range of mandates, predominantly acting for customers. He has considerable recent experience acting on outsourcings for clients in the funds, asset management and broader financial services sectors. In addition to Will’s stand-alone commercial contracts work, he also advises on the commercial aspects of M&A and other corporate transactions, working closely with the corporate and M&A team to advise the firm’s wider corporate and private equity client base. Will also specialises in advising clients on the exploitation and commercialisation of their intellectual property assets, in particular in relation to brand licensing, sponsorship and franchising arrangements.

William Sykes

Will is head of our derivatives and trading practice, and advises investment and hedge funds, banks, pension funds and insurers, high-net-worth individuals and corporates on a wide spectrum of trading, hedging and financing transactions. This covers the full range of derivatives, as well as prime brokerage, repo, commodities and clearing. Will has a broad experience of trading, custody, brokerage and clearing agreements for derivative products, repos / stock lending and physical commodities. He advises sell- and buy-side clients across a wide range of asset classes, and on the associated regulations and issues of market-practice. He has a particular focus on buy-side trading arrangements for investment managers and has clients in the US, the UK, Europe, Hong Kong and Australia. He advises on global trading issues, and has extensive knowledge of local requirements in markets such as India and China. Like most of the derivatives and trading practice at Macfarlanes, Will has spent time in-house in leading financial institutions, spending six months at The Royal Bank of Scotland and ten months in the Securities Division of Goldman Sachs International. He acts for many of the largest pension funds, hedge funds and asset managers in the world, and advises a leading global prime broker on its client documentation.