Keystone Law

Adam is an experienced dispute resolution lawyer who advises on a wide range of commercial litigation and arbitration matters. He has represented clients including FTSE100 corporates as well as private individuals on both domestic and cross-border disputes. Adam is particularly well known for his expertise in IT and banking.

Adam Cornbloom

Adam specialises in commercial property transactions and began his career practising in New York as in-house counsel for a real estate investment fund. He advises on all aspects of property investment, development, leasing, management and financing.Adam acts for a broad range of clients across all asset classes, from pension funds and sovereign investors to hotels and technology start-ups.Adam also advises restaurants and leisure facilities on alcohol and entertainment licencing, assisting with new licence applications, variations and general licensing matters.

Adam Perry

Adam is a property law specialist with many years’ experience advising on a wide spectrum of property-related matters including development, investment, finance, and landlord and tenant matters. Many of his clients are established owners, users and/or developers of commercial property to whom he provides a broad range of advice. He also has considerable experience in managing significant projects centred around acquisitions, disposals, lettings, property management and funding.

Alan Spiers

Alan has more than 33 years’ experience as a commercial property lawyer, primarily working on investment and development projects. He also has experience working with art galleries, castles, and corporate demerger of real estate companies. These matters are often complex and at times also involve working collaboratively with litigators or corporates. Alan is an experienced negotiator who acts for landlords (acquisition, preservation, enhancement and ultimate disposal of investments) and also enjoys working with corporate tenants, helping them to achieve the desired outcome when negotiating leases. In addition, he has excellent knowledge of landlord and tenant law.

Alan Owens

Alan has over 25 years’ experience as a litigation and regulatory investigations lawyer, latterly to the global online betting and gaming industry and related sectors, including operators, personal management licence holders, technology providers, advertisers, affiliates and online platforms. He is often appointed by global brands in disputes with strategic impact, navigating an external or governmental regulatory enquiry and co-ordinating internal investigations. He also has significant experience in complex technology disputes, often tied to long-term strategic partnerships. Alan also has significant experience working on disputes in the film, TV and online media industries, particularly concerning the failed funding or delivery of major film projects. Alan also works with clients in the preparation for and in the urgent management of significant data breaches and cyber security incidents, providing a co-ordinated response across multiple disciplines.

Alan Gar

Alan is a highly experienced restructuring and insolvency lawyer whose practice is focused on advising debtors, creditors, restructuring professionals and intermediaries as well as shareholders, buyers and other stakeholders in the restructuring process. He has acted on a number of market-leading matters (in particular, cross-border mandates), providing advice on English insolvency law, schemes of arrangement, and standstill agreements, as well as the acquisition and enforcement of debt and reorganisations. Alan has particular expertise in advising debtors, creditors and advisory clients on restructuring mandates in Africa in the energy, mining and commodities industries. He also has special expertise in solvent restructuring and capital returns, particularly in relation to fund dissolution and redemption.

Alasdair Taylor

Alasdair is a technology lawyer who has spent over 20 years working at the interface of law and IT with expertise spanning IT and ecommerce law, data protection and privacy, contract law, copyright and other intellectual property rights and consumer protection law. His clients include UK-based and international cloud services providers, online platform operators, ecommerce businesses, software and website developers, systems integrators, resellers, managed services providers and digital media companies. The heart of Alasdair’s practice is helping these businesses manage legal risk and exploit commercial opportunities, by: advising on legal compliance, including providing practical advice relating to data protection, product design and development, marketing systems and sales processes; creating contract documentation, including drafting contracts for customers, licensees, resellers, referral partners, suppliers, subcontractors and business partners, each tailored to the technology, brand and risk tolerance of the client; negotiating contract terms, shepherding contracts negotiations from handshake to signature, advising clients on strategies and tactics, and providing smart solutions to overcome roadblocks.

Alex Heaton

Alex is a commercial property lawyer of over 20 years’ experience. He advises on all aspects of real estate transactions, including landlord and tenant matters, sales and acquisitions. For landlords, Alex frequently advises on property portfolios, leading lease negotiations, preparing template documents, managing tenant logistics, and disposing of surplus property. He also has significant experience representing tenants, particularly in the financial and professional services sectors, guiding corporate real estate occupiers through office relocations and complex lease negotiations. Alex has acted for tenants moving into some of London’s newest high-profile buildings.

Alex Mosson

Alex is a construction and engineering law specialist. He has been involved in UK and international construction and engineering projects for over 25 years, having spent a decade in the construction industry working as a civil engineer and project manager, prior to becoming a lawyer. With a practice that is evenly split between contentious and non-contentious matters, he can advise on all aspects of construction law including risk identification and management, contract negotiation (upstream and downstream), contract drafting, compliance issues, corporate issues, claims and disputes. Alex can also advise on power generation and distribution, major infrastructure and building projects, and has additional expertise in dealing with planning and environmental matters.With a career history at a number of leading law firms in the UK and Australia, Alex has advised clients across a broad range of sectors including rail, building, heavy civil engineering, power generation and transmission, transport, infrastructure, health, education, mining, and oil and gas projects. He also spent a number of years working in-house including as Senior Legal Counsel for Samsung C&T Corporation in Seoul, Korea, providing counsel to the Power Plant Division with a portfolio of projects with a value in excess of US$38 billion, and Legal Counsel for Sydney Trains in Sydney, Australia. AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Power generation and distribution projects Major infrastructure projects Building and development projects Compliance Construction Law Contract drafting and negotiation Dispute Resolution Collateral warranties, bonds and guarantees Professional team appointments IPP, PFI and PPP Standard Forms FIDIC, JCT, NEC, and ICE Planning and Environmental Law

Alex Boothman

Alex is a private client solicitor who specialises in advising private individuals in relation to all aspects of their personal affairs. Alex regularly advises on traditional UK tax planning, wills, trusts and estates. However, his particular expertise lies in advising high- and ultra-high-net-worth non-domiciled individuals and their advisors in relation to onshore and offshore tax planning, trusts, asset protection, wealth preservation, estate planning, and complex cross-border probate and estate administration.

Alex Ferrari

Alex has a diverse litigation practice derived from his practical underwriting experience in the City and commercial background in retail prior to qualifying as a solicitor. His practice covers various sectors and encompasses both domestic and international disputes.

Alexander Carter-Silk

Alexander has over 30 years of experience as an intellectual property lawyer and has appeared as the lead advisor for a number of seminal technology, IP and commercial court cases. His main area of expertise involves resolving complex technology and IP disputes and advising on the closure of complicated commercial agreements. As a litigator, Alexander has an excellent history of resolving cases involving sophisticated technology, digital, IP and competition law. Alexander is also experienced in dealing with cross-border cases involving multiple jurisdictions.Alexander is a trusted advisor to companies from a range of market sectors including the digital technologies, software, life science, insurance, manufacturing, FinTech, creative and fashion industries. He also regularly advises entrepreneurs, celebrities and politicians.

Alexandra Carn

Alexandra is an employment lawyer with a specialism in the financial services sector, often acting for PRA and FCA regulated individuals and companies. She is highly experienced in advising on all employment-related claims, including whistleblowing, discrimination and equal pay. She also advises on High court litigation including breach of contract, post-termination restrictions, and shareholder and board disputes. Alexandra also assists with the employment-related elements of corporate transactions such as collective redundancies and TUPE.

Alexandra Von Westernhagen

Alexandra is an internationally recognised EU & Competition legal expert with more than 20 years’ experience gained in international private practice (of which 12 years in the UK), international organisations and academia. Her services are particularly appreciated by those who are seeking high-quality EU/Competition law advice that is also, at the same time, commercial and practicable. She is passionate about helping businesses of whatever size to succeed in a highly regulated UK and EU legal environment that applies to every business providing services or goods in the UK and/or the EU. Alexandra is one of the very few legal advisers specialised in the legal aspects of trade under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (‘TCA’), the Digital Services and Markets Acts, and how these laws impact on large online as well as smaller digital service providers, as well as the UK subsidy regime. She also regularly advises on the compliance of commercial agreements with UK and EU competition rules and has special expertise in dominance issues. Alexandra’s experience further includes advising on the compliance of public fund structures with state aid and general EU law, the EU Green Deal and how it applies to businesses, as well as bringing institutional challenges under EU law, with a focus on EU citizenship and other issues of fundamental EU law. Alexandra is dual-qualified (solicitor in England & Wales, as well barrister at the Berlin Bar, Germany), and holds post-graduate degrees in EU business law from Panthéon-Assas University, Paris, France (distinction), as well as Lausanne University, Switzerland (PhD, Summa cum Laude). Alexandra also holds diverse visiting professorial/lecturer roles around the globe, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA; the International School of Management, Berlin, Germany; and the European Rights Academy, Trier, Luxembourg. She is also an expert course tutor for leading legal seminars provider MBL. Alexandra has published two books on EU and competition law, one of which won a book prize from one of the largest publishers for German-speaking legal publications.

Alexandra Miller

Alex advises on a wide range of property transactions with a particular focus on commercial development transactions, and the acquisition and disposal of assets for domestic and overseas investors. She is also experienced in landlord and tenant matters, asset management, property finance and the property aspects of corporate transactions.

Alexis Petrou

Alexis is an experienced commercial marine/trade and offshore lawyer, advising on both contentious and non-contentious matters, covering commercial contracts, the sale of goods, commodities finance, charterparties, bills of lading, marine insurance and offshore matters. For the offshore sector, Alexis has advised on and amended a number of standard-form and bespoke contracts, as well as handling complex litigations. Alexis also advises on and represents clients in arbitrations under various arbitration rules and with a number of arbitral bodies, including LMAA, LME, UNCITRAL, FOSFA, GAFTA, the Swiss Arbitration Centre, and the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. His clients include shipowners, insurers, charterers, commodity traders and companies in the offshore sector.

Alicia Videon

Alicia is a corporate finance lawyer with particular experience in real estate, acquisition finance, energy and infrastructure. She advises on secured, unsecured and general corporate lending and credit derivatives, with a focus on leveraged deals.Alicia specialises in restructuring and insolvency, where she often advises funds, international banks and corporate clients on the restructuring of complex financial agreements. She has extensive international experience dealing with the financial arrangements of distressed corporate borrowers, to achieve an overall business restructuring, and with distressed M&As. She also assists with negotiating and documenting debt trades, especially distressed debt.Alicia is admitted to practise law in England and Wales, Hong Kong and South Australia.

Alina Smidre

Corporate lawyer Alina advises clients on company transactions, including sales, acquisitions and reorganisations in the case of private companies, as well as a range of other general corporate matters. She also has extensive experience in the business aviation and marine sectors, with a particular focus on luxury business aircraft and high-value yacht sales, purchases, financings, leasings and charterings. As a fluent Russian speaker, much of Alina’s client base is dedicated to companies and high-net-worth individuals based in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Alison Jones

Alison is an aviation solicitor with both private practice and in-house experience, having worked at two international law firms and three major airlines in the Middle East and Asia. Her main area of expertise involves advising airlines on all aspects of their aviation business including purchases, banking and asset finance matters, such as pre-delivery financing, the purchase, financing and leasing of aircraft/engines and all related onboard equipment and technology. Alison also advises on a range of aviation contracts: procurement-related contracts (including GDS/IT-related), ground handling, catering, jet fuel supply, security agreements. Alison also has experience in advising on passenger regulatory matters and customer relations matters.

Alison Bradley

Alison is a commercial litigator with over 11 years experience of a broad range of domestic and international/cross-jurisdictional High Court litigation. She provides commercial, risk and strategic advice as well as legal and dispute resolution advice, and acts for high-net-worth individuals, financial institutions and companies. She also advises on smaller matters, such as property repossessions, debt and smaller County Court disputes. Alison’s key achievements include (i) a £1.8bn claim in misrepresentation against an Icelandic bank in the Reykjavik Court and UK High Court for the Tchenguiz Family Trust, (ii) acting for Patek Philippe in a case involving breach of its authorised distribution network, (iii) successfully defending £30m breach of contract claim.

Alison Moore

Property litigator Alison is an expert in landlord and tenant law and a specialist in the retail sector. She is experienced in advising on high-value asset management issues relating to shopping centres, retail portfolios and office buildings across a range of sectors, acting for owners and occupiers. Alison advises on various property disputes including dilapidations claims, service charge and rent review disputes, unopposed and contentious lease renewals, possession and forfeiture proceedings. In addition to landlord and tenant work, Alison also advises on development disputes, real property issues including restrictive covenants, adverse possession, rights of way and other easements including rights of light, property-related insolvency, breaches of covenant, removal of squatters and residential possession claims.

Alistair French

Alistair is a seasoned adviser to individuals and businesses on the full spectrum of work-related issues. On the individual side he has long experience of working for senior executives in disputes with banks, hedge funds, asset managers, private equity houses and insurers. He gets optimal results for employees, partners and LLP members in law and accountancy practices. His work is not limited to the City: he has achieved successful outcomes for tech entrepreneurs, developers, advertisers, fashion designers and retailers, actors and dancers. On the business side, Alistair advises employers in a broad range of sectors on all manner of workplace matters. Primarily his work for business is non-contentious: drafting and advising on contracts, policies and putting in place structures to avoid Tribunal.

Alper Deniz

Highly experienced in transactions relating to international financing transactions, debt capital markets and debt restructurings, Alper often represents arrangers, issuers and trustees on debt capital market and structured finance transactions. Alper also advises companies, investment funds and financial institutions on a variety of corporate and commercial work. He assists UK and international clients with corporate finance, acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures. In addition, Alper’s practice focuses on asset management, including the structuring of investment, real estate, hedge and private equity funds. He advises fund managers on compliance, financial services regulation and custody matters.

Alyona Antonenko

Alyona is a commercial lawyer with specialist experience in the hotel industry. She has 20 years’ experience working for top international law firms and in-house for the largest hotel companies in the world. Her clients include the world biggest hotel operators (such as Marriott and Wyndham), owners, developers and sector-focused lenders with projects in the UK, Russia/CIS, Europe, Turkey and India. Alyona advises on a wide range of development and operational legal issues. She structures, negotiates and drafts franchise and hotel management agreements, key money, development and joint venture agreements and related contract documentation and wholesale distribution agreements. She also advises on any operational issues arising during the full hotel project’s lifecycle. She provides training to in-house legal teams and develops boilerplate and templates of management and franchise agreements. Alyona is multilingual and is a dual-qualified solicitor in England & Wales and Russia.

Aman Sehgal

Aman is a restructuring and insolvency lawyer with more than ten years’ experience working on high-profile corporate and personal insolvency cases that include multi-million pound bankruptcies and fraud investigations. With expertise that covers dealing with contingency planning, insolvency filing requirements, debt restructuring, financing and reschedulings, acquisitions/sales, credit bidding, formal insolvency proceedings, restructurings, refinancings, and debt trading, his career has seen him advise an array of insolvency practitioners on various complex, public-interest litigation cases. Aman has significant experience in acting on behalf of The Insolvency Service in relation to all aspects of directors’ disqualification, from investigation through to prosecution and enforcement.

Amanda Lloyd

Amanda is a residential property law expert. She has a particular interest in the various property issues arising from matrimonial proceedings and in addition advises on freehold and leasehold property sales and purchases, property finance and residential tenancy agreements. Amanda has wide experience in undertaking the property-related elements of matrimonial orders or agreements, such as transfers of equity and deferred charges, as well as advising at an early stage on the protection of non-owner interests. Amanda also has long experience dealing with probate sales, trust sales and purchases, declarations of trust, and private financing arrangements.

Ana Gresa Pico

Ana is a corporate and commercial solicitor with experience advising alongside tax advisors and accountants. She works for a range of domestic and international clients, dealing with a wide variety of matters including corporate transactions, corporate governance, financing, EMI, joint ventures, shareholder agreements and corporate restructuring projects. As a native Spanish speaker, Ana is a trusted adviser to Spanish-speaking clients wishing to expand their business into the UK. Commercially, Ana is also well placed to advise on an array of commercial agreements, as well as IP protection and data protection compliance.

Anastasia Papadopoulou

Ship finance lawyer Anastasia advises shipowners and financial institutions on term loan facilities for the acquisition of newbuilding or second-hand ships, on debt finance restructurings, on revolving credit facilities and lease finance transactions. In addition, she advises private equity funds and shipowners on the structuring of joint ventures for the acquisition of ships and related shareholders' issues as well as on the acquisition of distressed shipping assets. Highly experienced in dealing with a wider range of commercialshipping matters, Anastasia is regularly instructed to provide guidance to owners on ship sale and purchase and ship registration, on bareboat charterparties and flagging, on shipbuilding contracts, on settlement agreements, on pool agreements and on ship management agreements. She also assists operators with their commercial agreements, freight forwarding agreements and logistics contracts.

Andrea James

Andrea is a noted expert in professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law. The main focus of her work is defending professionals at fitness to practise proceedings before their regulatory bodies, where her experience includes successfully defending doctors before the General Medical Council, dentists before the General Dental Council, paramedics and other allied health professionals before the Health & Care Professions Council, pharmacists before the General Pharmaceutical Council, teachers before the Teaching Regulation Agency, veterinary surgeons before the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and architects before the Architects Registration Board. Andrea has also represented many student professionals in university fitness to practise investigations and qualified professionals in local-level processes including MHPS (Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS) and ICB/performers list proceedings. In terms of her healthcare regulatory work, Andrea represents healthcare professionals and providers who work in both the NHS and private sectors in connection with a wide range of non-disciplinary matters including Inquests, Public Inquiries, Care Quality Commission registration and enforcement action, patient complaints and claims, NHS England market entry processes, CESR applications and appeals, MHRA compliance and investigations, ARCP appeals, Judicial Review proceedings and LADO and Disclosure and Barring Service referrals. Her LADO, safeguarding and DBS expertise has also led to instructions from both schools and universities. Andrea’s experience includes over 18 years acting for clients including medical and dental defence organisations, insurers, the NHS Litigation Authority (now NHS Resolution), the UK’s largest independent pharmacy chain and many individual professionals. She also spent three years as in-house legal adviser to the General Medical Council itself, giving her a unique insight into the workings and priorities of regulatory bodies. Andrea is qualified to practise in both the jurisdictions of England & Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Andrew Thompson

Andrew is an experienced Australia-qualified solicitor specialising in all aspects of commercial construction law. He advises funders, developers, landowners, contractors, tenants and professionals on the drafting and negotiation of the full range of construction contracts, such as building contracts, consultant appointments, bonds, guarantees, collateral warranties and associated agreements, both standard form and bespoke. Andrew advises on construction projects and developments for a variety of industries such as housing, education, retail, healthcare, hotels and hospitality.

Andrew Langan-Newton

Andrew is an Isle of Man advocate who specialises in resolving commercial disputes on behalf of a wide range of local and international clients. He is experienced in advising on commercial disputes involving alleged fraud, professional negligence, insolvency, and commercial debt recovery. Andrew also has a particular interest in trust and corporate disputes. Andrew has argued cases before the Isle of Man High Court and Appeal Court, and also has experience of advising clients in relation to claims before the Isle of Man Employment and Equality Tribunal. He often provides data protection advice and prepares non-contentious applications to the Isle of Man Court and to the Isle of Man Companies Registry.

Andrew Terry

Andrew is a tax solicitor who specialises in advising clients in Russian/CIS markets. He is an experienced international tax practitioner who advises on all aspects of international and UK domestic corporate tax law. Andrew advises ultra-high-net-worth individuals on trust and foundation structures, and the businesses underlying such structures. He also assists with the creation of offshore trusts and provides UK personal tax planning advice to private individuals and families based outside the UK. Andrew’s corporate tax work also involves advising on the restructuring of international groups of companies including prior to an IPO, debt capital issue, private equity investment or trade sale. In addition, he considers tax issues in relation to intellectual property. As well as Russia/CIS, clients from other jurisdictions such as Asia, Africa, Australia and South America turn to Andrew for tax advice. His clients come from a range of sectors including mining, oil and gas, construction, shipping, mobile telecoms, food distribution and pharmaceuticals.

Andrew Gardiner

Andrew is a corporate lawyer who specialises in corporate finance and private equity. He assists private equity firms and corporates with legal advice relating to floating on the Premium Market of the London Stock Exchange and AIM. He also has expertise in dealing with international exchanges such as TISE and TSX.

Andrew Bretherton

Andrew is an experienced UK and US qualified corporate and commercial lawyer who advises on UK and international capital markets, M&A, private equity and venture capital investments / exits. Andrew also acts as legal counsel for entrepreneurs, investors and businesses in relation to strategy, risk, regulatory compliance, corporate governance and constitutional issues. Andrew has advised clients across a range of sectors including financial services, healthcare and life sciences, hotels, hospitality and leisure, retail, technology and telecoms.

Andrew Watson

Andrew is a corporate finance and project development lawyer with a specialisation in the oil and gas, telecoms and infrastructure industries. He advises on a range of corporate finance transactions, such as general and unsecured lending, financing to funds, asset-based lending (ABL), restructuring and credit enhancement arrangements in relation to United States infrastructure. Within the oil and gas industries, Andrew advises oil majors, independents and start-ups on a wide range of corporate and corporate finance transactions. Generally he advises on the selling and financing of oil and gas assets, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and commercial contracts. He also specialises in the exploration, development, transportation and storage of hydrocarbons. Andrew works with sponsors, international banks and multinational companies on complex project financing for projects such as motorways, tunnels, high-speed rail, wind farms, student accommodation and crude oil pipelines. Andrew is dual-qualified in Australia and England and Wales.

Andrew Darwin

Andrew is an experienced litigator who has acted in cases of all kinds involving property, including landlord and tenant and freehold owner disputes, professional negligence against solicitors, architects and other building professionals, and insolvency disputes. Andrew also has extensive expertise in both non-contentious and contentious planning work. Over the last few years Andrew has developed a transactional expertise in outdoor media where he acts for a number of significant operators, and in the educational sector Andrew acts for an expanding academy chain. Andrew’s clients include multinationals, public companies, high-net-worth individuals, property and leisure companies, property developers and landowners.

Andrew Stilton

Andrew joined Keystone as a consultant in May 2014 as part of the corporate team specialising in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance transactions, including the establishment of investment funds, public and private fund raising, venture capital and private equity investments, takeovers, mergers, reconstructions, and joint ventures. As a member of the Law Society’s standing committee on company law for 15 years, Andrew led various Law Society working parties involved in responding to DTI and other consultation documents and was actively involved in the consultation process that culminated in the enactment of the Companies Act 2006. He also chaired working parties dealing with share capital issues and SMEs, and this role included regular meetings with the civil servants responsible for piloting the Bill through Parliament and advising on the specific drafting of the Act.

Andrew Irvine

Andrew is a commercial litigator with a wealth of experience in several areas of contentious law. His career has seen him act in numerous types of disputes and an array of high-profile cases. His practice currently focuses on company, partnership and shareholder disputes, civil fraud and professional negligence. Andrew is also an experienced insolvency lawyer and regularly advises insolvency practitioners on both corporate and personal insolvencies. He is also well versed in advising directors and individuals through the ramifications and difficulties of the various insolvency regimes.

Andrew Niblock

An experienced corporate and commercial lawyer, Andrew advises a wide range of clients from business start-ups to large multinational companies. He has considerable experience in running corporate transactions and negotiating commercial contracts of all sizes, with particular focus on intellectual property licensing. He also has extensive knowledge from working with businesses in the waste management sector. The areas in which he specialises are sales, acquisitions and mergers (business and shares); corporate finance; corporate reorganisations and reconstructions; joint venture and shareholder agreements; partnership and LLP; share option schemes; agency and distribution agreements; outsourcing and logistics agreements. Andrew's key achievements include advising Yamaha/Kemble Music group in relation to their recent transfer of production out of the UK. The Section 110 reconstruction of the London based Pioneer Film and Television Group. The restructuring of the Grunfos Pumps group and advising on numerous contractual issues. The disposal of Oxfordshire based Hytec Information Security Limited and advising Northampton based Otago Healthcare regarding the launch of pharmaceutical products into the UK market.

Andrew Marshall

Andrew advises and acts on a broad range of commercial and civil litigation and has a distinct specialism in complex trust and property disputes, as well as matters relating to fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty in respect of directors and trustees. He also has experience in liquidations and high-value estate disputes, having represented executors, administrators and beneficiaries. Andrew is skilled in applications to register and enforce foreign judgments, and also deals with applications for Norwich Pharmacal Orders and interim relief, including freezing injunctions. Andrew has represented numerous clients faced with regulatory proceedings and proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act, including restraint and confiscation proceedings. He has also represented clients in the High Court, the Appeal Court, the Privy Council, and in the criminal courts, in addition to the Employment Tribunal, Advocates Disciplinary Tribunal and the Licensing Court.

Andrew Wong

Andrew is an established top tier rated licensing lawyer and has developed a following of renowned restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, art galleries and museums. His clients include Tate Galleries, Chiltern Firehouse, Gaucho, Busaba, Barworks, and Alan Yau. Where firms do not have a licensing department, they regularly ask Andrew to advise their clients on the best licensing strategy. Andrew has worked on some of the highest-profile cases and always aims to secure licenses without the need for an appeal. He excels in managing large portfolios for clients and helping them to expand across the UK.

Andrew Tugwell

Andrew is a dual-qualified senior solicitor and chartered surveyor. He is also a qualified arbitrator and an experienced mediator. He has particular expertise dealing with property management issues and disputes. His clients include major corporate occupiers/tenants with large portfolios as well as institutional investors/landlords and private owners. Andrew acts for many well-known companies such as leading estate agents and surveyors.

Andrew Brown

Andrew is a property lawyer specialising in renewable and clean energy projects with a particular focus on solar, battery, biomass, anaerobic digestion and other waste-to-energy projects. Andrew has acted for landowners and landed estates, developers and funders in the development, financing and acquisition of a variety of projects including large (NSIP) solar schemes and portfolio financing and disposals

Angela Message

Angela is a Licensing Coordinator and manages applications for a range of licences, as part of Keystone’s Licensing team. Over the years, Angela has managed the licensing process for a number of leading organisations including Spearmint Rhino, Weatherspoon’s, Mitchells and Butlers and many UK music and dance festivals.

Angharad Harris

Angharad has over 25 years of experience working in a City law firm with 15 years as a partner. She advises on all aspects of employment law across a wide range of industry sectors across both the public and private sectors, acting for individuals and firms. Her practice is varied and she is particularly experienced at dealing with sensitive strategic employment law issues, including matters that involve reputational risk. This includes dismissals, board-level disputes, negotiating new contracts, employment aspects of commercial transactions, large global reorganisations, collective consultation issues, the Transfer of Undertaking Regulations and outsourcing issues, and employment litigation (including discrimination and whistleblowing, restrictive covenants and bonus issues). Her work often includes an international element involving corporates in multiple jurisdictions or individual clients with cross-border employment issues. She also advises businesses and individuals in relation to UK immigration matters.

Anna McGill

Anna is a corporate solicitor with a wide range of experience in corporate transactional work, including M&A, fundraisings, joint ventures and group reorganisations. She also provides governance advice, as well as advising on commercial contracts and terms and conditions. Anna works with a range of different businesses and intermediaries such as accountants, IFAs, SMEs and start-ups.

Anna Fouracre

Anna is an experienced planning law specialist who advises on a broad range of planning matters. Her sector focus includes residential development, strategic land, build to rent, energy and infrastructure. She regularly negotiates complex planning and infrastructure agreements and has a wealth of experience in planning inquiries and judicial review proceedings. An area of real enthusiasm for Anna is energy and infrastructure (including nationally significant infrastructure projects). Anna has led many clients through the consenting process for such projects and has acted for both acquiring authorities and landowners in relation to compulsory purchase, with extensive experience of dealing with cases being heard at the Upper Tribunal (Land Chamber). Anna is also heavily involved in sustainability, advising on matters relating to planning reform and the journey to net zero and how this impacts upon all stakeholders in the development process. She also helps clients engage with new regulatory frameworks and deal with the legal implications of changes in corporate strategies and business models.

Annabel Clark

Annabel handles dispute resolution cases across a wide range of areas including family and employment law, where she helps people resolve potentially life-changing issues. Acting predominantly for private individuals, but also for companies and other organisations both in the UK and overseas, she is an experienced collaborative practitioner and a trained family mediator, which assists in successful resolution of disputes particularly those involving families, estates and neighbours. Earlier in her career, she was on the Personal Injury Panel for The Law Society, having successfully settled many claims, particularly for motorcyclists.

Anne-Marie Rugeris

Anne Marie is an experienced solicitor specialising in healthcare regulation and fitness to practise cases, with significant experience in acting for healthcare and other regulators in respect of professional disciplinary investigations, including on behalf of the Health and Care Professions Council, the General Dental Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Pharmaceutical Council, the Teacher Regulation Agency, and the General Chiropractic Council. Anne Marie also has particular expertise in acting on regulatory cases both in the First-tier Tribunal and the High Court, as well as advising and supporting clients in relation to inquest proceedings, CQC enforcement, safeguarding and a variety of other regulatory issues. In addition, Anne Marie has niche expertise in healthcare contractual disputes and performers list cases, including advising in respect of the performance management of healthcare professionals, commercial contracts, and NHS dispute resolution proceedings.

Anthony Morton

Anthony is an experienced finance lawyer focussing on domestic and cross-border leveraged finance, investment-grade finance, infrastructure finance, recapitalisations and restructuring transactions. His clients include leading investment banks, sponsors, direct lenders, borrowers, and development agencies across the UK, EU, United States and Asia in a range of sectors. Anthony is a fluent German speaker.

Anthony Misquitta

Anthony is an established commercial, intellectual property and technology lawyer, specialising in both contract negotiation and litigation. He advises SMEs and institutional clients across sectors that include software and technology, tech start-ups, media, disruptive music businesses, fashion, schools, charities and cultural institutions. Anthony lectures on IP and related subjects for Queen Mary College’s Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), the Institute of Art & Law, UCL’s Commercialisation of Intellectual Property Law programme, London Business School’s Diploma in Fashion & Luxury, and the London School of Economics’ (LSE) Executive Summer School. He is also a regular contributor on IP and data law for a range of publications and bodies, including the Association for Cultural Enterprises.

Antonia Shield

Antonia is a commercial property lawyer with over 25 years of experience focussed particularly in the retail, leisure and development sectors. She has assisted with clients’ strategies relating to commercial acquisition, development and disposal of pubs and hotels, offices, retail and warehouses (including acquisition and forward funding as well as straightforward growth by multiple unit acquisition). Antonia has worked with a number of well-known retail, leisure and logistics brands over the years, most notably Superdry, Pure Gym, Soho Coffee, Golden Tulip Hotels, Blooms of Bressingham, and Wyevale.

Antony Colman

Antony is a highly experienced commercial and product liability specialist, handling primarily disputes that arise from international trade. His practice focuses on acting for insurers and manufacturers in product liability claims. Antony has lectured in England and Germany and is a contributor to Product Liability: Law and Insurance, published by Informa. He is also an accredited mediator.

Anya Bloom

Anya is an experienced litigator with particular expertise in Chancery and Commercial Court litigation, with a notable reputation in all aspects of contentious property work, and a history of considerable success in the resolution of disputes at mediation and other forms of ADR. She also has significant experience in tax cases and international arbitrations. She brings over 25 years’ experience to a practice that has been founded throughout upon the close relationship that she develops with her clients and her availability to them at all times. In addition to her litigation practice, Anya provides non-contentious advice in the dedicated areas of property and shareholders’ agreements. She also provides advice and support within the recruitment sector and in respect of which she is a ‘preferred supplier’ to industry organisations such as Elite Leaders.

Arwel Lewis

Arwel is a property and estates lawyer with expertise in advising individuals, companies, charities and trusts on all aspects of residential, agricultural and commercial property transactions, including landlord and tenant matters. Arwel has considerable experience of acting for overseas clients and dealing with the off-shore element of a transaction.

Asha Kumar

Asha is an employment lawyer providing day-to-day employment law advice to corporates and senior executives, with particular expertise in TUPE, redundancies and reorganisations. Her client base is varied, ranging from companies within the energy (particularly windfarms) and maritime sector to advertisers and technology. She has worked on a number of matters relating to the application of TUPE on conclusion of operation and maintenance agreements (OMAs) and service and warranty agreements (SWAs). She also has expertise in TUPE within the outsourcing context. Asha also assists in implementing large-scale redundancy exercises and advising on collective consultation requirements. Asha has worked on a number of high-value and high-profile corporate transactions, and has a wealth of experience drafting and negotiating directors’ service agreements and non-executive agreements. She has also assisted with a number of high-profile senior executives’ departures. Additionally, Asha is a regular speaker on employment law matters for clients as well as for other organisations, including ILAG (the trade body representing members from the Life Assurance and Wealth Management Industries) where she recently presented to its Non-Executive Forum on the legal aspects of whistleblowing affecting the financial sector. She also speaks on behalf of the CIPD and at client events hosted by Michael Page Plc. She is the author of the ‘Employment Law’ chapter of the UKTI’s publication, Business Guide to the UK.Areas of expertise: Non-contentious TUPE and outsourcing Redundancies Reorganisation Restructuring Settlement agreements Directors’ agreements and non-executive agreements Director disputes Dismissal, disciplinary and grievance procedures Employment documentation including terms and conditions of employment, staff handbooks, directors service agreements, consultancy agreements Employment law training and workshop Contentious Defending and bringing Employment Tribunal claims Discrimination claims including disability and age discrimination Redundancy, restructuring and outsourcing, and TUPE claims Unfair and wrongful dismissal

Ashton Davies

Ashton has over 25 years of experience and is a contentious trust and probate specialist, dealing with trust and estate disputes. His practice covers a broad range of matters, including challenges to the validity of wills, maladministration of trusts and estates, 1975 Inheritance Act claims, financial abuse of the elderly and the vulnerable by attorneys and deputies, misappropriation of estate and trust assets, and applications for removal of trustees and executors. Ashton acts for both professional and lay clients including trustees, executors, attorneys, deputies and beneficiaries in different sectors including private HNW individuals, charities and the financial services industry.

Audrey Williams

Employment law expert Audrey advises on sensitive HR and recruitment issues, senior executive appointments and exits, restructuring and redundancies. She advises many large organisations and household names, varying from global corporates and PLCs to charities and chartered entities on the full hiring process, from onboarding to exits. Audrey is also very experienced in appearing at Employment Tribunals working alongside expert bodies such as ACAS, CBI and CityHR on diversity and inclusion, gender and ethnic issues to defend many cases relating to pay discrimination.

Barry Adamson

Barry is a private individual lawyer with over 30 years’ experience. His practice focuses on advising high net worth individuals and their families how best to arrange their affairs to best protect and organise them for future generations. This often involves advice on tax planning, wills and trusts (including their planning, creation, administration and winding-up). Barry also deals with the administration of substantial estates, often with an international element.

Belinda Solomon

Belinda has over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of commercial real estate and acts for all types of real-estate clients including property companies, occupiers, joint ventures and funds. She is particularly well known for her occupier experience, acting on all types of premises including offices, retail units, aparthotels, data centres, warehousing and industrial properties. Belinda is also a member of the Model Commercial Lease (MCL) committee which launched in July 2014. She was instrumental in the creation of the “Clearlet Lease” for Land Securities, a product which has proved to be a popular market-leader and forerunner to the MCL.

Ben Hughes

Ben has advised on pensions and employee benefits for fifteen years. He has a broad range of experience in occupational and personal pension schemes, both domestic and international. Ben provides legal counsel on corporate transactions as well as the establishment, maintenance, restructuring, and insolvency of pension schemes. His clients include major multinationals and publicly listed corporations, insurers, banks, pension providers, and leading UK and American law firms as well as the Isle of Man Government.

Ben Garbett

Ben is an experienced planning law specialist who deals with a broad range of planning, highways and compulsory purchase matters, acting on behalf of developers and landowners.

Benjamin Maltby

Benjamin has over 15 years’ experience in yachting and luxury asset law, specialising in finance, construction and purchase, and operational matters including taxation, insurance and employment. He also advises in relation to private aviation and art. Benjamin’s impressive client base includes some of the most prominent and prolific superyacht owners, as well as finance providers, yards and key suppliers. He is also frequently recommended to clients by leading brokers, owners’ representatives, project managers, captains and lawyers from other jurisdictions.

Bledi Albri

Bledi is a disputes specialist who advises on international arbitration and commercial litigation. He has worked on a wide range of disputes, including banking, corporate, construction, intellectual property, oil & gas, and fraud disputes. Many of the disputes Bledi has assisted with have been multi-jurisdictional or cross-border, involving multiple jurisdictions such as the UK, EU, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the US. He has appeared before the High Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and Supreme Court. His clients are companies, state entities and high-net-worth individuals. Bledi can speak English, Italian, Albanian, and conversational Spanish and is currently learning Russian.

Brian Palmer

Brian is a hugely experienced employment lawyer who regularly acts for firms in a range of sectors but in particular finance, banking, insurance, legal, charity and education. He also advises senior executives and partners on leaving and entering employment/partnerships as well as firms and boards dealing with such matters and internal issues. Brian is an expert in team moves and restrictive covenants as well as director and shareholder disputes. Should a negotiated resolution not be possible, Brian is an expert litigator with extensive expertise in Employment Tribunals, the High Court and above. Brian is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and the London Solicitors Litigation Association. He is also Secretary of the City Law Club. AREAS OF EXPERTISE - • Recruitment; • Contracts of employment; • Disciplinary procedures; • Discrimination claims; • Terminations and dismissals; • Employment aspects of acquisitions and reorganisations; • Unfair and wrongful dismissals; • Employment Tribunals and the High Court; • Partnership issues and disputes; • Director and shareholder disputes.

Bryan Rickman

Bryan is a highly experienced corporate and commercial lawyer, handling the full range of corporate transactions including M&A, private equity, corporate restructures and joint ventures. He is also an employee share schemes specialist. Bryan’s areas of specialism are M&A – shares and assets; corporate finance; reorganisations and reconstructions; loan and security documentation; joint ventures and shareholders agreements; partnership and LLP; general commercial agreements; company secretarial. Bryan’s key achievements include Tullo Marshall Warren Ltd: advising the sellers on the £38m sale of this direct advertising company to Creston plc. Negotiated all sale documentation and commercial issues and successfully completed the deal within clients’ budget and timescale. Target MCG Ltd: advised on the formation of this media and communications group and the simultaneous acquisition of three sets of companies (Cooler King Ltd and subsidiaries, OTM (UK) Ltd and White Label Productions Ltd) for a mixture of cash and shares. Drafted and negotiated the huge set of documents required, including all financial assistance paperwork, all banking documents and all shareholder arrangements going forward. Quiller Associates Ltd: Acted as lead lawyer for Huntsworth plc (a leading listed PR group) on the £10.7m purchase of this communications company. Drafted and negotiated all deal documentation including complex consideration provisions. Energy & Power Ltd: Advised the sellers on the £7m sale of this energy and power consultancy group to the German owned ThyssenKrupp UK plc. The deal threw up a number of complex earn-out and share consideration challenges, all of which were successfully resolved.

Camilla Bishop

Camilla is an experienced lawyer who specialises in all aspects of estate planning with a particular focus on Inheritance Tax. As an expert in will drafting and the use of trusts along with trust administration, she provides practical tax-efficient solutions and deals with everything from everyday family needs to the very complex. Camilla is experienced in estate administration and probate, advising on reliefs and exemptions (including Business Relief and Agricultural Relief) and post-death planning using deeds of variation. Camilla’s expertise also extends to assisting elderly and vulnerable clients with lasting powers of attorney, deputyship applications and other Court of Protection matters. Camilla is a full member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) and is on the committee of STEP Sussex. She regularly writes topical articles and gives webinars/seminars on estate planning to a wide audience of financial advisers and accountants and is well recognised for complementing the services they offer with a joined-up approach for mutual clients.

Caroline Graham

Caroline is a corporate lawyer with highly-regarded expertise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions including management team investment structures and cross-border corporate reorganisations. With significant experience advising alongside tax advisers and accountants, she acts for a range of clients including private companies, entrepreneurs, management teams and (on corporate reorganisations in particular) multinationals and listed groups.

Carolyn Bane

Carolyn is a general commercial lawyer with extensive experience in advising retail businesses, particularly within the FMCG sector. Having worked in-house at Cadbury Schweppes and at Ocado as Head of Commercial Law, Carolyn has acquired a broad range of skills and a deep understanding of the sector, the challenges which can arise and how to quickly overcome them.

Carolyn Bertin

Carolyn has a wealth of experience in commercial law and specialist skills in IT law, particularly focused on cloud computing and data privacy. She provides business-focused solutions on a broad range of commercial transactional matters and helps companies to address compliance issues particularly in regard to data privacy. Currently Carolyn is working with a range of clients in the technology sector including a global security software vendor, a leading cloud computing services provider and a rapidly growing cloud storage service provider.

Carolyn Bottomley

Carolyn deals with all aspects of family law with a particular emphasis on the resolution of high-value, complex financial disputes arising from divorce and relationship breakdown as well as arrangements for children. She has a wealth of expertise in dealing with clients from the entertainment industry who have a public profile to protect. An accomplished negotiator, Carolyn fights her client’s corner and achieves results with and without the court’s intervention. Carolyn is also experienced in drafting pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements and resolving issues between unmarried couples with the utmost of discretion.Carolyn is dual-qualified with experience practising in England and Wales as well as Australia and as a member of Resolution she is committed to dealing with family matters in a non-confrontational manner where possible.

Catherine Williams

Catherine is an experienced corporate lawyer who has a particular focus on advising entrepreneurs, management teams and investors of venture backed, early-stage-growth companies. She has a broad sector focus (including technology, life sciences and clean tech) and has significant experience in venture funding, private equity, joint ventures, buying and selling private companies and corporate restructuring. Catherine has provided training in ‘Introduction to Venture Capital’ course and is a member of the European Astia Advisory Board, an incubator for women-led high-growth tech companies. Catherine lived and worked in Brussels and Moscow before qualifying as a lawyer in 1999. Catherine’s areas of expertise are early-stage financing debt and equity, joint ventures, shareholders’ agreements, partnership agreements and LLP agreements, private equity and corporate venturing investment, mergers and acquisitions, asset and share sales, company and group restructuring and MBO and MBI transactions. Catherine’s key achievements include (i) UK investments; (ii) in various funding rounds; (iii) management team in the sale of a company; (iv) institutional investors in the sale of a company; (v) listed Australian company in an acquisition; (vi) financings and acquisition; (vii) launch of advisory corporate venturing business and corporate restructuring; (viii) venture tech fund in the set-up and management of a fund; (ix) management on a pre-pack sale of a clean tech company; (x) lead investor into Skysites Americas Ltd (telecoms); (xi) global bio-tech company in its co/com activities and restructuring.

Charles Rix

Charles Rix is recognised as a leading corporate and regulatory advisor with over 20 years' experience in the insurance industry. His practice covers domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate reorganisations as well as insurance business transfers under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Charles Frank

Charles is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer who advises businesses, shareholders, directors and investors. His specialisms include mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions, reorganisations and joint ventures. Charles also regularly advises on non-transactional matters, such as shareholder/partnership agreements, business succession and a wide range of commercial agreements.Charles’ clients range from start-ups to listed companies and he often advises clients who are based outside the UK.

Charlotte Cuevas

Charlotte is a family lawyer with over a decade of experience in all aspects of divorce and separation, of varying complexity, including situations where there are children involved. Charlotte worked alongside leading Family lawyer, Lady Helen Ward, for over eight years and gained a wealth of expertise in dealing with high-net-worth financial applications, often with an international element and frequently involving trust structures, tax issues, business valuation issues, and arguments of pre-acquired and inherited wealth.

Chidi Egbochue

Chidi is a construction lawyer with a specialism in major construction projects across the infrastructure and energy sectors, domestically and internationally. He is highly experienced in advising on construction contracts and has drafted and negotiated various bespoke contracts for high speed rail, power, infrastructure, and oil and gas projects. Chidi has acted on some major projects in the UK, including for HS2 on the High Speed Two project, TfL on the Northern Line extension project and EDF on its new nuclear development programme in the UK. As well as his non-contentious expertise, Chidi has advised on many disputes. He has dealt with a range of adjudications, mediations, settlement agreements, claims under the Pre-Action Protocol for Construction and Engineering Claims, court proceedings and arbitrations, including professional negligence claims.

Chris Bannister

Chris is an experienced solicitor who specialises in corporate and commercial law and advises businesses of all sizes and in various business sectors in relation to their business transactions and contracts. He helps businesses and their owners and management teams to manage and complete corporate mergers, demergers, acquisitions and disposals, and is also an expert in advising on management buy-ins and buy-outs. Chris also helps businesses to negotiate and implement a range of commercial contracts including NDAs, co-operation and joint venture agreements, distribution, agency, franchise and licence agreements. He also regularly provides businesses with advice and assistance in relation to brand protection, data protection and GDPR matters.

Chris Botsman

Chris is an internationally qualified financial services lawyer with particular expertise in regulation, litigation/disputes, investigations and white-collar crime. Advising businesses around the world but in particular the UK, US and Australia, he has a wealth of insight and knowledge gained from working at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and defending high-stakes Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) proceedings in New York. Chris also advises financial services organisations on how best to adapt to the highly digitised ‘new normal’. This includes: using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to help secure digital data; and using simplified regulation to reduce regulatory arbitrage, decrease compliance costs, and more clearly delineate the regulatory perimeter. It also includes advising on the challenges that cryptoassets and smart contracts pose for traditional legal frameworks. Qualified as a barrister and solicitor, Chris has the written and oral advocacy skills to represent clients at any level required.

Chris Hill

Chris is a property litigation specialist who works primarily on commercial property disputes. He advises on a wide range of matters including all things relating to landlord and tenant law, real property and contract disputes. He has extensive experience in areas including business lease renewals, enforcement action, alienation issues, break options, possession actions, occupational status disputes, and dilapidations. In the real property arena, Chris advises on issues such as restrictive covenants, adverse possession and easements. He also has a wide range of experience in residential property matters. Chris has clients across a range of different sectors. Chris deals with cases in a variety of court and tribunals including the High Court, County Court, First Tier and Upper Tribunal (Property Divisions) and has dealt with cases in the Court of Appeal. He is a strong proponent of ADR and regularly uses mediation and other forms of ADR in order to successfully resolve disputes.

Chris Worthington

Chris advises property investors, housebuilders, strategic land professionals, property traders and property occupiers. He has worked with a wide range of clients, from small independent property companies to multinational listed corporations. For housebuilders and developers, Chris deals with option agreements, conditional contracts and planning agreements. He has particular experience working with small and medium-sized developers on deals with larger, more established landowners. For property investors, Chris deals with purchases, sales, asset management and assists with property strategy. Chris has worked with a wide range of investor clients, from large listed regeneration specialists to small pension scheme investors. For occupiers, Chris handles the acquisitions of leases, freehold purchases, and disposals, and assists with property strategy. He has worked across numerous sectors but has particular experience in the insurance, aviation and consumer electronics sectors. Chris is equally comfortable advising household names and small, single-site occupiers.

Chris Willison

Chris works with both lenders and borrowers, advising on all aspects of financial facilities. His regular clients include asset-based lenders, finance houses, banks, trade financiers, platform funders and their clients. Chris is experienced in asset-based lending, supply chain finance, factoring, invoice discounting, commercial lending, syndicated lending, trade finance and back-to-back finance. He is an expert in documenting financial facilities, securing these financial facilities, bespoke documentation relating to them, their structuring and variation. Additionally, Chris also assists SMEs with business funding for sales and purchases, as well as offering general commercial contract advice. He has particular expertise in issues relating to finance in the recruitment sector. Chris is also an experienced litigator and has a wealth of experience of enforcing financial facilities, fraud containment and asset recovery.

Chris Goodwill

With over 30 years’ experience as an employment lawyer, Chris acts for multinational corporations, international financial institutions, UK public and private companies, professional partnerships and senior individuals. Chris specialises in a wide range of employment matters including whistleblowing, dismissal and discrimination claims, restrictive covenants and the protection of confidential information. He also regularly advises on corporate governance and boardroom matters, the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions, and collective consultation issues. Chris has extensive experience in the financial services sector.

Christine Chiew

Christine is an immigration lawyer specialising in both private-client (including high-net-worth individuals) and corporate immigration. She also advises on all aspects of relocating to the UK and UK business generally. Christine has a wealth of experience and knowledge in corporate immigration and sponsor licence applications for organisations who wish to employ foreign workers. She frequently advises Tier 1 (Investor), Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and overseas clients wishing to establish themselves in the UK. Christine has expertise in advising private clients and their families (unmarried/civil partners, spouses, children, and domestic workers) on full immigration/relocation, from leave to enter/remain applications and extensions, to settlement and obtaining citizenships. Christine speaks English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay.

Christopher Gabbitas

Christopher is a commercial lawyer specialising in the media and music sectors, working with performers, musicians, management companies and record labels on the legal aspects of touring, performance and recording. He also advises photography and other creative agencies on all aspects of their contractual relationships. Christopher has extensive in-house experience advising Grammy Award-winning group The King's Singers, which he was also a member of from 2004 to 2018. Christopher also advises members of the International Artist Managers' Association (IAMA) on a wide range of issues. His general commercial experience centres on small business advice including confidentiality agreements, franchising and licensing agreements.

Claire O"Flinn

Claire joined Keystone Law in 2013. A family law specialist, she is a highly skilled collaborative lawyer as well as a regular contributor to family law journals and the legal press. Claire has over a decade of experience in resolving complex financial and practical issues. She also advises parents when there is a dispute about their children. Her straightforward approach is reflected in her efforts to ensure that family issues are resolved as amicably as possible. Claire’s clients are based both in this country and abroad with many of those coming to her through recommendations from former clients.

Claire Trotel

Claire is an experienced Private Client solicitor who specialises in inheritance tax and estate planning, will drafting, and the administration of estates for UK and non-UK-domiciled high-net-worth individuals. She also has experience dealing with Lasting Powers of Attorney, trusts, and the charities sector.

Claire Shaw

Claire is a highly experienced business crime specialist with over 25 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of White Collar Crime. This includes responding to and defending SFO cases and other Government and Regulatory investigations, the review of and/or implementation of anti-bribery policies and practice, corporate internal fraud and corruption investigations, and providing advice on directors’ liability under the criminal law.Uniquely placed as a lawyer who has worked in defence practice, as an SFO prosecutor and as specialist in-house counsel at a corporate target of multiple investigations, Claire has therefore seen large-scale investigations from all sides and has a deep understanding of the Government agency approach to investigations, as well as having been the client in such a crisis situation.She has an in-depth knowledge of complex international cases, instigated against corporates and individuals by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), other UK and European Government agencies, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and has advised both corporate and individual clients extensively, from dawn raids and police station attendance through to negotiated settlement or trial and appeal. She has handled cases involving various multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, and is familiar with the sanctions proceedings conducted by those bodies. As a result of this wide-ranging experience, Claire has extensive expertise in corporate strategy, particularly in cross-border situations and managing teams of investigators and large quantities of forensic evidence, as well as negotiating case resolution.Claire provides Boards with advice on business continuity and corporate governance, not only in the context of companies being targeted by a judicial authority but also on a pre-emptive and preventative basis. She has also run large, urgent and extensive internal investigations on behalf of corporate clients.AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Fraud and corruption investigations Representation of individual executive corporates from police station/dawn raid advice to trial Conduct of internal investigations for corporate clients Anti-bribery advice to Boards Compliance health checks and reviews Due diligence investigations and advice Investigation management Crisis management Change management ABC and ethics training

Claire Blewett

Claire has extensive experience advising on contentious and non-contentious matters involving the protection and exploitation of intellectual property. Her deep knowledge of intellectual property and commercial law enables her to advise on the optimisation of clients' positions across multiple industry sectors, in particular technology and brands. Claire has represented numerous clients in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, English High Court, Court of Appeal and the Court of Justice of the European Union. She also has extensive knowledge and experience of litigation in the US Courts, from the District Court up to the Supreme Court. Claire has also represented many clients in successful mediations, many of which have concerned failed technology projects. Outside of the courtroom Claire is highly experienced in advising companies of all sizes on the franchising and licensing of their intellectual property including copyright, particularly in computer software, pharmaceutical patents and know-how and brand trademarks.

Clare Lucas

Clare is an experienced commercial lawyer with particular expertise in telecoms and technology transactions. She has typically worked on strategic, complex and high-value negotiations, often involving an international element, and has significant experience advising senior management teams. Clare has a practical and business focused approach, having spent a number of years advising at a senior level in house. The areas in which she specialises are: commercial contracts, including agency and distribution agreements, sales and supply agreements, managed services and outsourcing agreements, cooperation and teaming agreements; technology and telecoms contracts for the sale or purchase of complex technology solutions, equipment, services and/or software; software development and licensing agreements. Recent major work includes advising in relation to a complex licensing transaction in the field of telematics, advising in relation to an IT outsourcing project, negotiating a contract for the supply of broadband services to a major UK operator, acting for an internet retailer in connection with the outsourcing of its warehousing and logistics function, advising Motorola in connection with multiple key strategic contracts for the supply of technology equipment, services and software to global technology and telecommunications companies.

Claudia Otto

Claudia advises on construction and property development projects, particularly in the student accommodation and hotel sectors. She advises clients in all areas of commercial property and construction law, beginning with the acquisition of development sites and site assembly, through to the planning process and the drafting and negotiation of various construction and engineering contracts and professional appointments. Claudia works with a range of businesses, landowners, property investors and property developers. Claudia is also qualified to practise in Germany and is admitted to the Duesseldorf Bar.

Clive Howard

Clive is an expert in employment and partnership law, with particular expertise advising individuals on contentious exits, whistleblowing and discrimination claims, often within the financial sector and professional services. In addition, he has extensive experience advising senior individuals in the media sector. Throughout his career, Clive has gained outstanding results and is well known for representing female senior executives and partners on discrimination cases relating to hostility faced as they seek to advance their careers, for example after maternity leave. He also acts for partners, and partnerships, in profit share disputes or in respect of individuals moving between firms. Clive advises on both domestic and international cases with cross-border issues including in dealing with US whistleblowing ‘bounty’ claims.

Cordelia Rushby

As a specialist in personal injury litigation with over 20 years’ experience, Cordelia represents insurers and their insureds in a broad range of public and commercial sectors. Cordelia also advises on risk management and safety issues drawing upon her detailed knowledge of the claims process and her experience of accident investigations and analysis. She works with clients who wish to undertake proactive audits, review systems and introduce changes following liability exposure. She is often called upon to deliver safety training across entire businesses from the boardroom down to the shop floor. Cordelia’s areas of expertise are employer, public and occupier liability, transport and aviation claims, commissioning and analysis of medical evidence, claims and risk management and health and safety consultancy. Cordelia’s key achievements include: (i) advising port authorities, harbours and marinas on occupier liability including maintenance regimes for estates and safety issues connected with land bordering water; (ii) advising local authorities on liability issues including; property damage, highways, injury, occupational disease, abuse, bullying and education claims; (iii) advising retail and manufacturing clients on employer and occupier liability claims, including upper limb disorders, occupational disease, stress and bullying; (iv) advising clients in the utility sector on liability giving rise to personal injury and property damage; (v) advice on risk management initiatives and development of highway strategy and claims management; (vi) forensic analysis and interpretation of medical evidence for HR managers in connection with tribunals and litigation; (vii) complex catastrophic injury claims.

Corinne Parke

Corinne has been advising clients on family law matters for over 20 years and has particular expertise in applications under the Children Act 1989, complex financial applications upon divorce, and issues involving cohabiting couples. She also regularly advises on the completion of pre-/post-nuptial agreements. Much of Corinne’s work involves an international element, including relocation of children to another jurisdiction or foreign assets upon divorce. Corinne frequently works alongside a variety of other professionals including financial advisers, pension specialists and therapists to ensure clients are fully supported during and, perhaps even more essentially, after the case has concluded. Additionally, Corinne is a collaboratively trained lawyer and an active member of the central London “We Can Work It Out” POD group.

Cory Bebb

Cory is a leading insolvency lawyer and one of around 100 dual-qualified Solicitor Licensed Insolvency Practitioners in England & Wales, with over 20 years’ experience. He advises any party affected by insolvency with a particular emphasis on advising and defending company directors facing claims by office-holders, HMRC, creditors and the Insolvency Service. Dealing with both contentious and non-contentious matters, Cory has been involved in cases involving anything from £50,000 to over £25M and has a particular interest in litigation funding. In 2016 Cory was appointed as an independent solicitor by the High Court in relation to the BHS Administration, one of the largest insolvencies of recent times.

Craig Bayliss

raig is a highly regarded licensing lawyer, with standout capabilities in alcohol and gambling regulation. He routinely advises clients on the full spectrum of licensing issues arising from the hospitality sector, including the obtaining of licences for new premises, licence valuation, and dealings with operator tenants and landlords. With over three decades of experience, he has garnered a substantial client following, encompassing an abundance of major hotels, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and casinos. Craig’s established close relationships with a range of local authorities and regulatory agencies gives him a significant edge in securing quick and commercial results. Craig also offers clients the benefit of further expertise in food safety and health and safety.

Dagmara Selwyn-Kuczera

Dagmara specialises in both commercial and residential property law and is highly experienced in investment transactions and landlord and tenant issues. Property companies and trustees of pension schemes turn to Dagmara for her advice on portfolio acquisition, disposal and management. She also acts for occupiers across a variety of sectors and regularly assists them with the acquisition, renewal and regearing of leases and general management. Dagmara also acts for banks and other financial institutions, in relation to secured lending transactions. On the residential side, in addition to advising on conveyancing transactions such as property sales, purchases and mortgages, Dagmara assists with the transactional aspects of enfranchisement and lease extension claims.

Dale Williams

Dale is a corporate and commercial partner who advises on high-level negotiations and contract drafting for businesses. He specialises specifically in advising his clients on restructuring, project finance, share options, MBOs, and disposals and acquisition

Dan Tozer

Dan is a technology and data law expert who advises a range of clients from start-ups to multinational organisations on data and technology issues, including advising on GDPR, UK DPA, ePrivacy, technology creation, licensing/provision and implementation.He advises clients in the technology, health, media, conference, travel, education, retail, hospitality and fashion sectors.Dan also advises on intellectual property law and complex commercial transactions, such as franchising and outsourcing.

Dan Cowley

Dan is a commercial property solicitor who specialises in property development work, acting for landowners and developers. He regularly advises on legal agreements relating to planning, such as conditional contracts, option agreements, promotion agreements, and joint venture agreements. Dan advises on the management of property portfolios including acquisitions and disposals, with a particular specialism in the education and life sciences sectors. In addition, Dan frequently acts for landlords and tenants in relation to commercial leases and acts for banks and lenders on securitisation.

Dan Hyde

Professor Dan Hyde is recognised as a leading lawyer and business coach with a first mover practice in innovation, modern financial regulation, fintech, DLT/applied blockchain, cryptoassets (fungible and non-fungible/NFTs) and emerging technology regulation. He combines his legal, academic and business acumen to align innovation and regulation. He has represented a number of the Fortune Nfty 50, was a special adviser to the UK Government with its review of information security legislation and authored the first books on cyber law and the international regulation of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Dan also advises governments, banks, universities, entrepreneurs, startups, SMEs, and large blue-chip companies. An entrepreneur in his own right, he has founded various ventures including Iconiq, a startup tokenising iconic art and artefacts. Dan has delivered talks around the world and commentated on legal developments for major national and international news channels including Sky, BBC and ITV.

David Bennett

David is a corporate solicitor specialising in fund raising, M&A, joint ventures and public markets transactions. He acts for companies, investors, brokers, corporate finance advisers and NOMADs. David advises on transactions of all different sizes, including cross-border transactions but specialises in transactions under £50 million.

David Poddington

David has specialised in employment law for nearly twenty years and has comprehensive experience in advising on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment law and industrial relations issues. He has particular expertise in organisational change including collective redundancies, changing terms and conditions of employment, and the application of the TUPE Regulations. David advises well-known brands in the engineering, energy, media, advertising, education and leisure sectors.As well as mainstream employment law advice, David has significant experience in advising on data protection and on the interrelationship between pension issues and the employment relationship.David is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and is recognised as a leading individual in employment law by the Legal 500.AREAS OF EXPERTISE: All day-to-day HR advice (e.g. disciplinary, grievance and absence issues) Contractual disputes TUPE and outsourcing Reorganisation and collective issues Drafting contracts, directors’ service agreements and staff handbooks Employment Tribunal claims Restrictive covenants and confidentiality Discrimination and equality issues Executive severance and settlement agreements Employment issues on corporate transactions Employment and HR training Advice on LLP member issues Data protection

David Sutherland

David is a residential property lawyer with over 20 years of experience in buying and selling leasehold and freehold properties across England and Wales. He is adept at handling the full spectrum of conveyancing transactions, including sales, purchases, re-financing procedures, transfers of equity, and lease extensions and variations.

David Thomson

David is a Scottish-qualified property/corporate lawyer with a distinct specialism in structuring and promoting tax-efficient property transactions. He is well known for his expertise in Enterprise Zone syndicates, BPRA LLPs and capital allowance strips. David advises numerous hotel and data centres investors, tending to focus on specific asset classes. He acts for a number of promotors of tax-efficient private equity investment into property either directly or indirectly through SIPPs and SSASs. David is familiar with all manner of SPVs from formation, trading through to dissolution and distribution.

David Heard

David is a corporate lawyer of 35 years’ standing who specialises in advising businesses within the financial and insurance sectors on a range of transactional and BAU issues, including in particular as regards mutual societies. His work in these sectors encompasses FCA and PRA regulatory issues, finance and leasing, banking and security, derivatives, investment management and funds, long-term and general insurance and reinsurance, mortgage funding, consumer credit and data protection. David also advises across a board range of business sectors on general corporate matters including mergers and acquisitions, business transfers, reorganisations and restructuring, joint ventures, shareholder agreements and various commercial contracts (particularly in relation to IT – outsourcing, software and platform licensing, cloud computing and SAAS). As well as being qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, David is also a New Zealand-qualified barrister and solicitor. He advises in both English and French languages.

David Evans

David is an experienced planning lawyer with particular expertise in residential, mixed-use, office and leisure projects in London and the South East. He advises on a strategic and detailed basis on all types of planning applications and appeals; the negotiation of planning and highways agreements; managing court challenges; and advising on blight and compulsory purchase issues. David has a proven track record in obtaining valuable planning permissions, securing costs awards, advising on environmental statements, and resisting village green applications.

David Jepps

David is a very experienced employment lawyer advising employers and employees in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters. He also advises on employment law aspects of corporate insolvency matters.

David Wise

David is a property litigation lawyer and Solicitor Advocate with more than 20 years’ experience advising in disputes involving land and property within both the private and public sector. As a former transactional property lawyer, David has detailed knowledge and understanding of land transactions and the landlord and tenant relationship – proving invaluable in quickly and decisively identifying solutions for his clients. David readily undertakes advocacy, having many years’ experience of cases in the courts and tribunals. In addition, David’s practice extends to representation at mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Whilst David’s practice incorporates a very wide spectrum of disputes concerning property and land, he has developed a particular expertise in business lease renewal litigation (1954 Act claims) and in trespasser (‘squatter’) evictions. In addition, his practice extends to defending environmental prosecutions and to professional negligence claims and contentious probate.

David Gwillim

David is a construction lawyer and solicitor advocate of the Senior Courts, specialising in resolving disputes through arbitration, mediation, adjudication, expert determination, and complex litigation. He has expertise in risk management, dispute avoidance, and resolution for a broad range of clients involved in building and engineering projects worldwide. David also represents clients before the courts and professional bodies such as ARB and RIBA. David also advises on crisis and reputation management and his experience covers fatalities, construction collapses, and urgent court applications for injunctive relief.

David Farnell

David is a financial services disputes solicitor with more than 30 years’ experience, both in private practice and in-house (at RBS and CYBG). He has acted for many banks and other commercial lenders, principally those engaged in asset finance. David often helps recoveries managers or in-house counsel to formulate an early strategy for avoiding litigation. Such advice may concern an individual facility or lease, multiple agreements or portfolio management. When litigation is required, David pursues the process best suited to achieving the client’s desired outcome quickly and cost-effectively, using forms of ADR where appropriate. Common issues that David deals with include civil fraud, contractual termination, cross-border/jurisdiction, delivery-up or preservation of goods, enforcement of related security, guarantees and indemnities, quality of goods and services, broker/alleged secret commission, title disputes, liens and wrongful interference with goods. He also takes action to enforce settlement agreements and judgments, both in England and overseas.

Deborah Yam

Deborah acts for banks, accountancy firms and corporates in relation to all aspects of restructuring and insolvency. She is experienced in advising boards of directors in relation to fiduciary duties in times of financial distress. Deborah also acts for purchasers and vendors in relation to purchase/sale of assets from companies facing financial difficulties including advice on the use of a pre-pack sale.

Deborah Brown

Deborah specialises in transactional construction, with a particular focus on collaborative working in both the contract negotiation phase and setting up provisions for collaboration between the client and the construction team during the project itself using both bespoke contracts and common industry standard forms such as JCT, NEC, ICE, and FIDIC contracts. She works in the private sector for clients, consultants and contractors and previously worked in-house at the Ministry of Defence Private Finance Unit.

Dee Sian-Bieleman

Dee is a corporate lawyer with over 20 years’ experience, specialising in venture capital, private equity and M&A transactions. She advises financial institutions and companies on their investments, refinancings and shareholder arrangements as well as acting for corporates and individuals on mergers, acquisitions and disposals. Dee has extensive experience advising on EIS and VCT investments and on M&A transactions in the healthcare sector.

Denham Bell

Denham is an experienced employment lawyer in all aspects of employment law advising employers and employees throughout the UK. His client base is diverse, ranging from large corporations, professional practices and SMEs through to senior executives, managers and startup businesses. Denham has successfully defended and pursued substantial claims for unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and sex discrimination and has represented professional sportsmen and clubs in respect of contract disputes and employment issues.

Dharmendra Nair

Dharmendra is a disputes lawyer specialising in shipping, commodities and commercial litigation. He primarily represents companies and individuals based in India, Singapore and Bangladesh. Dharmendra has also advised and represented various oil companies, ship-owners, charterers, steel manufacturers, commodity suppliers, banks, software companies and wealthy individuals in relation to various disputes in London, India and Singapore.

Dhruti Thakrar

Dhruti has over 28 years of experience as an immigration solicitor/advisor and is a highly regarded expert in both corporate and business immigration, as well as in assisting individuals in enabling them to make the UK their long-term home. Dhruti’s corporate immigration practice covers advising and successfully assisting multinationals, blue-chip companies and start-ups in applying for Sponsor Licences in the skilled worker or intra company transfer categories as well as advising Sponsors to ensure they are compliant with their obligations as Sponsor Licence holders. Dhruti also regularly assists HNWIs, entrepreneurs and individuals with business visas such as Tier 1 Investor, Innovator, Start-Up visas, Sole Representative visas and Youth mobility visas. Dhruti has extensive knowledge of second citizenship applications as well as highly complex elderly dependent relative applications, overturning visit visa and other visa applications which have been refused, indefinite leave to remain applications, spouse visas/unmarried partner applications, EU settlement scheme applications, citizenship applications and Human Rights Act applications. She often advises on difficult matters where the outcome is uncertain or because it is particularly complicated.

Diederik van Lede

Diederik is a corporate and commercial lawyer with vast transactional experience and a profound understanding of entrepreneurial needs in businesses. He has acted for a wide range of clients including individuals, start-ups, and Fortune 500 and multi-national companies, advising on many large-scale M&A transactions and several IPOs.Diederik’s extensive expertise also includes cross-border M&A work, multi-national (re)structurings, substantial investment deals, and corporate finance transactions across Europe, the Americas and Asia with transactional values ranging from under a million to multiple billions. A Belgian national, Diederik is based in London and travels extensively for his clients. He is fluent in five languages.

Doug Rofe

Doug’s practice covers both corporate and banking work. He advises public and private companies and financial institutions on a wide range of corporate and commercial transactions including mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and joint ventures, commercial agreements lending and other financing arrangements, as well as general corporate and securities law issues. Doug’s client base spans a number of industry sectors including financial services and insurance, life sciences and healthcare, and real estate. He has considerable experience of cross-border transactions and regularly advises US and other overseas clients on doing business in the UK and Europe, helping them to understand and manage the differences in corporate law practice between North America and Europe. Doug has authored a number of industry publications, including the UK chapter of the American Bar Association guide to international share purchase transactions and the ABA guide to international asset purchase transactions.

Douglas Howie

Douglas is a corporate lawyer who specialises in providing both transactional and regulatory advice on transactions relating to the insurance markets. He acts for insurers, insurance intermediaries, and buyers of insurance. He has been involved in many outsourcing arrangements and has assisted in various start-ups and authorisations. He regularly advises on regulatory matters, particularly in the insurance sphere. He has a strong track record of persuading regulators to modify their position to a client's benefit. Most of his work is for businesses active in the London insurance market (or those which buy commercial insurance in the London insurance market). That market is international so many clients are either based, or owned by people, outside the UK so he has extensive dealings with non-UK clients, particularly people in South-East Asia (Singapore and Hong Kong), Europe (Germany, Switzerland and France), USA and Australia. In addition to his UK-based international experience, he has practised as a solicitor in Hong Kong for two years.

Duccio Faraoni

Duccio represents a wide number of high-net worth individuals and families, as well as entrepreneurs and owner-managed/family businesses. A particular area of emphasis is advising clients operating in high-profile sectors (sports, entertainment, fashion), often in an international setting. Aside from general private client work (including advice in relation to wills, trusts, estate planning and domicile issues) Duccio works with his clients in reviewing private wealth, commercial and asset ownership structures (including setting up and administering image rights companies), as well as advising on ancillary commercial and corporate matters. He also advises on charitable law, particularly in the context of family grant-making foundations, private charitable entities or other philanthropic activity.

Ed John

Ed is an experienced real estate disputes lawyer with particular expertise dealing with developers in relation to building defects as well as the hotel and hospitality industry. He often acts on multimillion-pound disputes for clients including developers, investors, landlords, tenants and funders, as well as insolvency practitioners. Ed acted for the developer and landlord in the leading fire-safety building defects case in the High Court in relation to liability for defective cladding and insulation. In the hospitality sector, Ed is recognised as an industry expert and has acted for or against almost every global hospitality brand.

Edward Judge

Edward is a highly experienced restructuring and insolvency lawyer advising clients on both contentious and non-contentious matters. He is seasoned in the representation of diverse clients, insolvency practitioners, creditors, directors and distressed companies, as well as bankrupts and their families, with standout expertise handling large-scale, complex disputes.

Edward Dawes

Edward is a corporate solicitor with over 30 years’ experience advising companies on how to effectively plan and execute a variety of corporate transactions. Throughout his career, Edward has worked on many high-value acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations, mergers and takeovers, with many involving cross-border issues and significant commercial aspects. He also assists companies with, or seeking, a stock market listing, with UK equity market fundraisings and regulatory compliance. Edward acts across all industries but has extensive experience in advising those in the retail, hospitality, and food and beverage sectors as well as manufacturing businesses. Edward has been a contributing editor to Sweet & Maxwell’s Company Directors: Law and Liability for over a decade, and assisted with the development and publication of the CBI’s Practical Guide to Corporate Governance.

Edward Bond

Edward acts principally for SMEs, assisting with both commercial and employment law issues. He also frequently handles the acquisition and sale of private companies and businesses. Areas of expertise include employment law, employment documentation, outsourcing and TUPE regulations, corporate and commercial contracts, the acquisition and sale of companies and businesses.

Elaine Chan

Elaine is an expert in commercial and insurance litigation and is extremely experienced in managing high-value product liability claims on behalf of insurer and corporate clients. Many of the disputes Elaine advises on are multi-jurisdictional, and a number of them have carried commercial and reputational implications which she has dealt with. As well as product liability, Elaine also deals with a range of other disputes such as insurance, construction, contracts, subrogated recoveries, jurisdiction, property damage, occupier’s liability and nuisance claims. Where a client does not want to go to court, Elaine is experienced in methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Eleanor Richardson

Eleanor is an experienced property lawyer and is able to advise on all aspects of Real Estate, using a highly commercial approach tailored to each client’s individual needs. Her practice has recently focussed on site acquisition for residential developers, but also includes acting for both landlords and tenants as well as dealing with all aspects of property matters for operational companies. Eleanor regularly speaks at client conferences and writes articles on a wide variety of subjects including contributing to the World Bank’s Doing Business report.

Emma Wayland

Emma has 20 years’ experience advising a broad range of employers from start-ups to multinationals on day-to-day employment matters which may include advice on employment agreements, senior executive exits, restrictive covenants, redundancies and employee relations matters. She is frequently involved in global projects, such as cross-border reorganisations and HR initiatives, coordinating advice with overseas lawyers and ensuring consistency and compliance. Emma also advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions such as private equity transactions, mergers, acquisitions and outsourcing (including TUPE transfers). Emma has advised employers across a variety of sectors including clients in the finance industry, media, hospitality, recruitment and central government, but with a particular specialism in advising technology companies.

Emma Clark

Emma is an employment and partnership lawyer with extensive expertise in employment litigation, corporate transactions and advisory work. She has advised organisations and senior individuals for over 16 years and works with clients across a range of sectors and jurisdictions (including legal, financial, property, education, advertising and energy). Her employment specialisms include advising on strategic HR projects, redundancy-related issues, employment contracts and handbooks, sensitive terminations, team moves and restrictive covenants, performance management, unfair dismissals, discrimination law and whistleblowing. She is also an expert in advising on maternity law and family-friendly rights.Areas of expertise: Strategic advice to overseas companies setting up in the UK Advising SMEs on all areas of employment law Executive and partner appointments including new contract reviews Termination packages, settlement agreements and restrictive covenants Internal HR processes and investigations including disciplinary and grievances General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Employment law in corporate transactions and TUPE obligations Discrimination and whistleblowing litigation Restructurings Assisting overseas senior executives on all aspects of their moves to UK positions

Emma Harte

Emma is a specialist family and matrimonial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience advising on all family matters, including complex and financial disputes, children matters and prenuptial agreements. She has particular expertise in cases with an international element and/or substantial assets or acting for clients who live abroad or wish to relocate to another jurisdiction. Emma’s clients include business professionals, those in the public eye, members of British and foreign aristocracy and their spouses/partners. She also has a wide-ranging network of financial advisors, pension and tax experts, forensic accountants and lawyers in foreign jurisdictions with whom she frequently works. Emma is a Resolution accredited mediator, a mediation consultant (PPC), a trained collaborative lawyer and past Chair of Resolution’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.

Eric Lim

Eric Lim Partner Jurisdiction: England & Wales T: 020 3319 3700 E: [email protected] Eric is a private equity real estate specialist. He advises on complex domestic and cross-border transactions involving assets and businesses that engage with the built environment. These include M&A and joint ventures; formation of, and investments into, private funds or co-investment platforms; secondaries and GP stakes; and bespoke investment management and operating partner arrangements. Eric actively advises both users and providers of capital in the real estate space, and regularly works with real estate private equity funds, asset managers, operating partners, multi-managers, and institutional investors. Eric has notable experience in structuring and executing operational real estate investments, such as investments into operating asset classes, platform strategies, and asset manager transactions.

Fara Mohammad

Fara is a specialist adviser to international companies and individuals on their inward investments into the UK, Europe and MEA. She works with businesses, funds and individuals on the financing of their investments and often acts as external general counsel for all legal aspects related to the investment. Fara specialises in Shariah-compliant matters. She is an expert in many types of Shariah-compliant transactions covering a range of asset types, investment classes and industry sectors. She advises on a range of financial products and has developed them for many financial institutions in Asia, the Middle East and the UK. Fara has also assisted with the establishment of institutions in a number of jurisdictions. Fara has been recognised as one of the most influential women in the Islamic Business and Finance global industry. She was not only recognised for her professional expertise but also her contribution to the wider industry and the place that women have within it. She speaks regularly at international events and is a regular contributor to journals and magazines.

Fei Mao

Fei is a disputes lawyer specialising in shipping, commodities, aviation, and cross-border litigation and arbitration. Within the shipping industry she often advises on charterparties, bills of lading, international sales of goods, and shipbuilding contracts and disputes. As an experienced litigator, Fei regularly handles litigation and arbitration in London and elsewhere, and has run many international arbitrations under the auspices of LMAA, FOSFA, GAFTA, HKIAC, LCIA, ICC, etc. She also advises on non-contentious matters, such as drafting various transportation agreements, charterparty terms, sale and purchase agreements, shipbuilding contracts and the ancillary documents, share purchase agreements, and joint venture agreements. Fei’s clients include shipowners, charterers, trading companies, shipyards, banks, P&I clubs, insurance companies, airlines, leasing companies and other types of commercial entities. She regularly advises many PRC state-owned companies as well as multinational corporations. Fei is an alumnus of Oxford University, Xiamen University, and South-Central University of Economics and Law. She is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Fiona Macdonald

Fiona is an employment lawyer who specialises in representing individuals, predominantly senior executives, in the financial services sector. She has particular expertise in contractual disputes relating to bonus and incentive schemes and post-termination restraints, and discrimination and whistleblowing claims in the Employment Tribunal. Fiona also advises in relation to FCA regulatory matters, and advises businesses in respect of contentious and non-contentious HR and employment issues. Her practice encompasses the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious employment and partnership matters, advising both employers and employees across a wide range of sectors.

Fiona Callanan

Fiona is an experienced investigations and dispute resolution lawyer who has been resolving disputes and managing regulatory enforcement matters, crises, and internal investigations in the UK and Asia-Pacific (APAC) region for over 20 years whilst at the same time protecting client reputations. She also has extensive experience identifying emerging compliance risks and then establishing suitable, proportionate and cost-effective processes, policies and procedures to mitigate these risks. Fiona represents a wide range of clients across all jurisdictions globally, with a particular focus on the UK, the US and the APAC region where she also holds strong relationships with a wide network of advisers. When required, Fiona is well placed to recommend and appoint/work alongside lawyers throughout the APAC region for any litigation, arbitration or regulatory matter, ensuring they are managed efficiently and to international standards. In addition, Fiona has in-house experience, having led the investigations teams at Barclays, Bank of America and McKinsey & Company

Florian Albert

Florian is a corporate lawyer with experience acting for companies on international and domestic mergers, acquisitions, disposals, funding rounds and joint ventures; and for issuers and banks on IPOs and secondary fund-raisings. Florian has also worked for in-house legal departments through secondments at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs in London, and Airbus Group in Paris.Areas of expertise: Mergers & acquisitions Disposals Joint ventures Fundraising Private equity Company restructuring and disposals

Frank Maher

Frank is a regulation and insurance lawyer with over 40 years’ experience of advising law firms, their insurers, and other professions on anti-money laundering compliance, professional regulation, and professional indemnity insurance coverage disputes. He also advises on law firm and ABS authorisation and partnership issues, as well as in conduct and discipline, conflicts, data protection, and privacy.

Fraser Younson

Fraser is a skilled employment lawyer, with over 35 years’ experience in his field, having been called to the Bar in 1976 and going on to qualify as a solicitor 11 years later. He is well placed to advise on all employment disputes, boasting particular specialisms in discrimination claims and prevention, European Works Councils, union recognition and disputes, and whistleblowing. Fraser also advises on redundancy and restructuring, data protection and employee privacy, and European Works Councils. In addition to his UK practice, Fraser is able to advise on cross-border employment law issues. As well as being frequently cited by the business press, he regularly speaks at major labour and employment law conferences.

Gabe Harley

Gabe is a restructuring and insolvency lawyer, with significant experience advising debtors, creditors and management teams on cross-border debt restructurings and insolvencies. She has expertise in complex cross-border recapitalisation transactions, UK restructuring and insolvency processes such as restructuring plans, schemes of arrangement, administrations and Company Voluntary Arrangements as well as out-of-court, consensual transactions in distressed scenarios. Gabe regularly advises investment funds, hedge funds and private equity houses in their credit reviews and diligence of European stressed and distressed opportunities, including assessment of restructuring, liability management and new money options. Throughout her career, Gabe has acted for large institutional clients, REITs and global corporations across a number of industry sectors. She is particularly experienced in advising in the retail and consumer sector and previously acted on the restructurings of WeWork, Toys “R” Us, Mothercare, Ann Summers, and Mamas & Papas.

Gabi Olson-Welsh

Gabi advises private companies and entrepreneurs on a broad range of corporate law issues, as well as on some general commercial matters. She has vast experience advising on multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, which are often very large-scale. Gabi’s expertise also covers international joint ventures, shareholder agreements, company restructurings, and compliance audits. Gabi’s commercial work includes assisting with the majority of commercial contracts and working with businesses that wish to start a franchise. Gabi is Swedish, and therefore works well with companies based in Sweden or those that are interested in the region. She can also understand German, French and Italian, meaning she can work with clients from multiple jurisdictions with ease.

Gareth Hughes

Gareth is a skilled barrister who acts for an impressive portfolio of clients in the hospitality and entertainment sectors on both licensing and planning matters. He regularly acts as an advocate on behalf of clients before licensing committees all over the country and on appeal to the Magistrates’ Court, having dealt with cases right up to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords on major points of law.

Garry Turkie

Garry is a Solicitor in our Dispute Resolution team. He has a broad litigation practice, encompassing commercial, property, and finance disputes. Garry draws his clients from a wide range of businesses, whilst he enjoys particular experience in the property and banking/finance sectors, and in the publishing industry.He is also known for his skill in dealing with professional negligence claims, particularly against solicitors and surveyors and is a member of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association.Garry regularly acts for overseas clients, including working with local lawyers and is accustomed to working with clients based in the USA, and in the Russian Federation.

Gavin Ballance

Gavin joined Keystone in August 2014 and has a wide range of experience in resolving commercial, corporate and property disputes. He has acted for many highly regarded clients such as the trustees of a city bank pension fund, a large UK institution, a large UK developer, licensed insolvency practitioners, professional footballers, employees of a large city bank and high-net-worth private clients. His areas of expertise include; commercial disputes, professional negligence claims, shareholder and partnership disputes, insolvency disputes including liquidations, bankruptcies and advising interested third parties and creditors, rent recovery, possession actions, service charge disputes, commercial lease renewals under the 1954 Act, section 25 and 26 notices. Notable achievements include: £3.9m claim concerning a telecommunication company; £40m claim involving the supply of catering services to American and British troops in Iraq; £2.5m building dispute claim concerning the construction of eight properties in Esher valued at £10m; acting for an offshore open-ended investment company in connection with a portfolio of 1,200 properties which were subject to lifetime leases with an investment value of £73.65m; and advising on sponsorship rights for Moto GP contracts.

Gemma Lally

Gemma is a commercial lawyer with more than 15 years of experience working and consulting in-house in a range of industries. Gemma has dealt with a wide variety of matters including SaaS agreements, sponsorships, brand ambassador agreements, E-commerce, IT service agreements, agency and distribution agreements, logistics agreements, reviewing advertising materials for legal compliance, and consumer terms.

Geoff Kermeen

Geoff is a Manx Advocate with a practice that includes a wide range of Isle of Man corporate and structured finance work. He has particular experience in advising lenders, investors and developers in the UK and European commercial real estate sector, and in recent years has advised upon many high-profile CRE transactions for blue chip clients relating to prime assets (mainly located in London). Geoff is a regular attendee at real estate industry events and is a member of the Investment Property Forum. He also works closely with leading advisors in London in developing the Isle of Man’s important role in attracting international business and investment to the City and the UK.

Geoffrey Davies

Geoffrey has been a corporate lawyer for over 40 years, and has during that time provided corporate finance and M&A advice to a wide variety of clients, from multinationals to entrepreneur-owned private companies, across a variety of sectors. His recent work has included advice on bank and other fundings, share buy-backs and commercial contracting. In addition to his main practice, Geoffrey has been deeply involved in acting for charities which operate academies, establishing the first multi-academy trusts. He spent eight years as a trustee of United Learning, which was then the largest operator of academies in England. He is also a trustee of New Schools Network, a charity which supports the establishment of new state-funded schools in England.

George Lambrou

George is an international dispute resolution specialist who resolves high-value and complex multijurisdictional disputes. He is a Solicitor Advocate who spends most of his time involved in arbitration and as a negotiator and overall problem solver. Throughout his career, George has advised and acted for (and against) governments, commercial entities and individuals from a wide range of countries. His unique background and language skills in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have proven particularly valuable in that part of the world. George has extensive English High Court experience as well as international arbitration experience with the ICC, LCIA, LMAA and ICSID where he has acted as either counsel or arbitrator. He also has a very strong maritime background, having been a partner for many years in a leading London-based shipping law firm.

Gerard Cukier

Gerard has been advising high-profile individuals in the political, sports and media world, along with high-net-worth individuals, for over 30 years. A trained litigator and experienced commercial lawyer, Gerard is extremely well placed to advise clients on a range of issues from defamation, blackmail and extortion to sponsorship agreements and music licensing deals. Gerard also enjoys advising on high-profile international commercial disputes often leading to international arbitrations and enforcement of international judgments and awards. Gerard’s reputation in the market has led to clients from across the world (in particular, Monaco, France, the US and Israel) turning to him to protect their business and personal affairs. Gerard is UK-based but he speaks fluent French and frequently travels to meet with clients.

Gianna Lisiecki

Gianna is an experienced family lawyer and trained mediator who advises on all family-related issues including divorce, financial relief, cohabitation, schedule 1 applications, and complex children disputes. She has expertise in navigating complex situations, including dealing with narcissistic personalities in divorce and children proceedings, divorces with substantial assets, and addressing children cases involving domestic abuse, alienation, and alcohol and drug abuse. Gianna’s clients are largely based in the Cheshire and Wirral regions and she has a diverse range including business owners, medics, lawyers, bankers, stockbrokers, and former partners of sportsmen.

Gillian Cordall

Gillian is an IT, intellectual property and commercial lawyer who advises on commercial arrangements and the protection and exploitation of intellectual property. She has extensive experience in technology, digital media and marketing services contracts and particular expertise in IT and business process outsourcing, software development and licensing and issues affecting online businesses. She also has specialist knowledge of privacy policies, online terms and conditions and end user licence agreements, acceptable use policies, website development and hosting agreements. Gillian is recognised for her work in interactive media, particularly videogames.

Graham Goldspink

Graham is a property lawyer who delivers commercial advice to businesses and high-net-worth individuals/entrepreneurs. He has a broad range of experience with particular focus on investment property, property development and landlord and tenant work.

Grainee Fahy

Grainne is a highly experienced divorce and family lawyer who represents married and unmarried medium-to-high-net-worth individuals going through separation or divorce. She also provides advice and assistance to those wishing to enter into nuptial agreements. Many of Grainne’s cases involve an international element: overseas assets, pensions, property structures such as usufructs, employment, and parties who live abroad or wish to relocate to another jurisdiction. Her clients include business professionals, those in the public eye, heads of international corporations, British nobility and ‘silver separators’. Grainne also has an extensive network of financial advisors, wealth managers, pension experts, forensic accountants, tax experts, private investigators and lawyers in multiple jurisdictions who she frequently works alongside.

Grainne Fahy

Grainne is a partner and national head of family law. She has practised family law exclusively since 2005 and was an equity partner in a London firm before joining BLM.Grainne specialises in all aspects of private family law, including divorce and dissolution, financial remedies, private children matters, trust of land matters, cohabitation agreements, separation agreements, nuptial agreements and enforcements. Her client base is medium to high net worth and her cases often include international aspects.Grainne’s focus is on matrimonial and non-matrimonial finances and she has a wealth of experience in cases with extensive assets, both in value and quantity.She also acts in Children Act matters and currently has an extremely high success rate in international relocation cases. Grainne is accredited by Resolution as a specialist family lawyer with particular specialisms in Private Law Children and Advanced Financial Provision 1 and is currently training to become a mediator.She is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Grainne Fahy

Greg Barnbrook

Property litigation specialist Greg advises on a wide range of both commercial and residential property disputes. Together with his general commercial property litigation work such as 1954 Act lease renewals, forfeiture and dilapidations, Greg is an expert in the casual dining industry and works with large national restaurant chains and landlords in the sector. This has included specialist advice to retail and leisure landlords relating to the effect of the Coronavirus Act 2020 on rental income and enforcement, and negotiating and drafting rent variations across large portfolios. His advice also includes property development issues such as conditional contracts, rights to light and retention of deposits. In relation to residential property, Greg assists with landlord and tenant issues, high-value land disputes, rights of way, adverse possession, residential possessions and professional negligence claims against property professionals. Greg is also experienced in beneficial interest TOLATA claims including multi-million-pound claims across national and international portfolios. Greg uses alternative dispute resolution wherever possible to resolve cases and has extensive mediation experience. Greg is a qualified solicitor-advocate with Higher Rights of Audience (civil), with rights of audience in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Greg Scott

Greg is a corporate lawyer with over 25 years’ experience of M&A and equity capital markets transactions and advising companies from start-up through to mid-market, to IPO, with fundraisings at all stages and ultimately, exits, including public takeovers. He also has a particular niche in advising management teams on sales of companies to private equity. Greg’s work encompasses a variety of sectors, but he has particular expertise in natural resources, financial services (including regulatory compliance software) and sports, and his clients include listed/public companies through to private companies, high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Greg also assists overseas law firms who require assistance with transactions which are subject to English law.

Guy Hitchin

Guy acts for and is a trusted commercial property law adviser to national and international property businesses with a client base that includes property investment companies, banks and corporate occupiers, predominantly in the office, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. Clients with commercial and residential property portfolios benefit from Guy’s extensive experience in advising on landlord and tenant law and his balanced, commercial approach to negotiations. He also often advises on complex agreements for lease conditional on development works and planning consents. Banking clients turn to Guy for his expertise when it comes to secured lending transactions, particularly in London and Manchester

Hannah Cornish

Hannah is a skilled family lawyer who advises on complex disputes concerning both children and financial matters.Hannah’s practice consists of disputes involving children, such as residence, contact arrangements, parental alienation, international custody disputes, international child abduction, adoption and international surrogacy.Hannah also advises on issues relating to divorce, financial matters, cohabitation and domestic abuse. She is an expert in negotiating divorce financial settlements, especially those involving businesses, complex pensions and foreign property.Hannah has been regularly quoted in the national media, spoken on national radio and frequently appeared on Sky and BBC News talking about family law.

Hannah Sisk

Hannah is an expert in family law and has experience working with a range of clients on cases relating to finance and children. She has dealt with many high-value, complex divorce cases, helping them to reach final settlement over finance and assets. A number of the child cases she has advised on have involved international elements, including South Africa, Germany and America. Most recently she has handled a complex acute alienation case enabling a child to re-establish their relationship with the alienated parent. Hannah is also a psychotherapeutically qualified mediator and has trained with Regents College and also with the National Family Mediation organisation.

Hazel Dawson

Hazel is a corporate and commercial lawyer who advises Isle of Man companies listed on the AIM, LSE Main Market, NEX Exchange and TISE capital markets in relation to IPOs, reverse takeover, restructuring and rights issues. As part of her varied practice she also provides corporate advice on complex Isle of Man company law issues and commercial advice to clients in relation to a wide variety of transactional work. Other areas of expertise include acquisition and asset finance, corporate banking and finance, business and asset sales, and joint venture arrangements. Hazel also advises on regulatory and compliance issues, offering expert advice to clients on their legal obligations under the Island's financial services legislation. She is also an accredited Data Protection Practitioner, and often advises on data protection and GDPR, with a focus on corporate matters and contractual obligations with third-party service providers.

Helen Gavin-Brown

Helen is a corporate solicitor, and expert in international mergers and acquisitions, specifically within the technology, medtech, media, entertainment and sport sectors. She also advises clients on joint ventures and equity funding, and is experienced in negotiating transactions on behalf of large multinationals, smaller corporates, owner-managed businesses, founders and VC investors. Helen acts for companies at all stages of their life cycle, from incorporation and commercial set-up, through early-stage financings, through scale-up and to sale/exit. Helen often works with high-growth companies that are involved in disruptive technologies, operating at the cutting edge of their industry. Within the sport sector, Helen has also advised on various not-for-profit projects aimed at safeguarding players and enabling social change through sport.

Helen Calcutt

Helen has extensive experience in advising on a wide range of Private Client work. Her practice predominantly focuses on lifetime tax planning, simple and tax planning wills, lasting powers of attorney, and probate and trusts, including personal injury, other lifetime trusts and will trusts. In addition, Helen has a sizeable Court of Protection practice acting as a professional deputy. She also advises lay clients on the deputyship process as well as statutory will applications.

Helen Sherborne

Helen’s is a highly skilled and experienced employment lawyer with over 30 years of experience. She advises CEOs and board directors and leaders across many industries, including board members of premier football teams, heads of banks, heads of film studios and senior television executives. Helen’s particular area of expertise is in acting for individuals in the negotiation of their new employment contracts and in terminations as well as in issues of discrimination and harassment. She is known for her very personal bespoke service, being a firm believer that one size does not fit all and that her role is to look at all options to achieve outcomes that are often considered unachievable by others. She is known to be extremely dedicated to her clients and highly empathetic. Over the years, she has carved a real niche/reputation in the media and social media space and counts many senior executives and board directors amongst her impressive client base. Helen has also acted against Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company for over five years on behalf of employees both here and in the US.

Helen Wyatt

Helen is an experienced employment lawyer with a comprehensive practice that spans all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment work, in addition to the employment aspects that are associated with corporate transactional work. She advises on the range of issues that occur throughout the employment process from recruitment through to termination.

Henry Kikoyo

Henry is a solicitor whose areas of expertise include debt and corporate restructuring/turnaround, corporate refinancing and debt trading acting for bank and non-bank lenders, development finance institutions, bondholders, distressed investors, governments, state-owned entities and private/ public companies. Henry’s specific focus is on restructuring and turnaround in emerging markets, particularly those occurring in Africa and Eastern Europe. He also has significant experience advising on the restructuring of airlines and on aircraft operating leases. Henry has extensive experience in matters concerning complex cross-border restructuring transactions and has been a key advisor in major transactions across Europe, North and South America, as well as Australia and Africa.

Hermes Marangos

Hermès is a leading international disputes lawyer having litigated, arbitrated or mediated in over seventy countries complex matters, including international coverage and underlying commercial litigation, particularly in the Americas, Mediterranean basin, MENA, West Africa and Asia. He is regularly instructed as defence counsel on infrastructure, product and third party liability accounts for major corporates. Hermès is also acknowledged as a leading expert on issues of political violence and cyber risks, having been involved on such matters from the development of relevant laws and regulations (from NMA464 onwards), litigating and arbitrating these risks internationally. He has qualified both as a barrister and solicitor of England and Wales. Hermès has led teams handling major litigation relating to financial institutions, liability, construction, engineering and energy. He also advises clients on regulatory and corporate matters. Hermès is fluent in seven languages, including Spanish and Portuguese. He is a Vice President of the Insurance Institute of London and drafts critical wordings for the international market. He also works closely with various bodies, including the Ministry of Justice, the Bar Council and the Law Society, in promoting English law and jurisdiction worldwide. Hermès is a main co-author of a leading textbook on Reinsurance Practice and the Law, co-author of the book War Risks and Terrorism, and contributor to textbooks on conflicts of law, property risks and Mass Torts in Europe. He has also contributed to the Getting the Deal Through: Insurance Litigation 2021, and a further Guide on Frustration of Contracts. He regularly writes on issues relating to private and public interational law and cross-border litigation, cyber disputes as well as continuing on publications on political violence, including war risks and terrorism. Hermès lectures and publishes widely on significant international conflicts of law matters and on specialist risks and legal and forensic investigations.

Heros Leask

Heros is an experienced transactional lawyer with extensive in-house and private practice expertise in complex cross-border debt and equity transactions, and in advising regulated entities on a range of commercial and regulatory matters across Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. Clients include corporates, founders and investors in corporate finance (including funding rounds), mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, shareholders rights issues, intellectual property, and regulatory matters. He also advises lenders and borrowers in corporate, collateral and asset-based debt transactions. Heros is a dual-qualified Manx Advocate and English Solicitor.

Hilary O'Connor

Hilary advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law and has wide-ranging experience in advising on people management issues, litigation, restrictive covenants, board restructures and business reorganisations. She acts for clients across all industries, with particular experience in the retail, media and finance sectors.

Howard Waterman

Howard is an experienced finance lawyer with a diversified practice that includes banks and financial institutions throughout the world, borrowers and other users of banking products, fund managers and funds. He deals with structured finance and derivatives, banking transactions, the provision of finance to support overseas projects, export credit-supported financings and trade finance, as well as other complex transactions of this type. The majority of his work focuses on international and cross-border transactions where the documentation has an English-law element, one or more parties are established in England, or the transaction is funded in the London financial markets. More specifically, he acts as a transactional lawyer for clients across a range of matters. Howard has published articles and spoken at seminars and conferences over the years, primarily on subjects in the field of trade finance.

Hugh Murphy

Hugh specialises in acting for clients on a wide range of private-client-related property matters. He acts for private individuals, landed estates and institutional clients in relation to all aspects of property law and has particular expertise in guiding clients through the process of both buying and selling country houses, London property, sporting estates, farms, and agricultural land. Hugh also has a wealth of experience in the equine and bloodstock sector, having acted frequently in the sale and purchase of equine property.

Iain Roxborough

Iain is a highly experienced litigator with over 30 years’ experience at a magic circle firm and is qualified as both a solicitor and barrister. He handles a variety of corporate and commercialdisputes, often with a focus on shareholder and director issues that occur in the course of corporate transactions and joint ventures. Working predominantly with clients across the investment, real estate and technology sectors, Iain is highly experienced in pursuing and defending parties.Areas of expertise: Commercial litigation and arbitration Mediation Minority shareholder, joint venture and family business disputes Fraud and recovery Contractual and company disputes Regulatory and professional disciplinary matters Project failures and professional negligence claims

Ian Down

Ian is a highly-skilled Brand Management and Intellectual Property lawyer with a keen focus on the legal aspects of marketing, advertising, sales promotions, sponsorship and endorsement agreements, lotteries and merchandising. He is a trusted, and long-term, advisor to McDonald's for all manner of marketing activities. During his career he has also acted for a range of household names including HMV, NCP, New Look, River Island, Luxottica and Swarovski.

Ian Taylorson

As a corporate and commercial lawyer, Ian advises small to medium-sized organisations on a wide variety of transactions, both domestically and internationally. He has particularly strong experience of working with companies in the media and entertainment sector. Ian trained at Ashursts before founding a City practice which he managed for 14 years; this practice was merged with Constant & Constant and subsequently TLT in 2007. Ian is currently chairman of the trustees of a company pension fund. Ian s areas of expertise are mergers and acquisitions, assets sales and purchases, company and group restructuring, MBO and MBI transactions, shareholder and investment agreements and advertising and media contracts. Ian s key achievements include: (i) acting for the shareholders of a substantial stationers group in a merger to become the largest independent stationers in the UK; (ii) acting for the shareholders of the leading UK branding company in a sale to WPP; (iii) advising the US shareholders of one of the world s leading motivation and incentive companies in its acquisition by a large UK group; (iv) acting for the management of an MBI in the acquisition of Channel Islands TV; (v) advising a leading freight forwarding company in the oil and gas business on its reorganisation of the worldwide group in eight different jurisdictions; (vi) advising the Government of the Maldives including producing a report on the collapse of its international airline – Air Maldives.

Ian Cooke

Ian is a Private Property solicitor with over 25 years’ experience handling prime and super-prime London residential property transactions. He has advised some of the world’s most powerful people investing in the London prime residential property sector on buying, selling and developing in London. Most of Ian’s clients are international, and have included foreign royal families, country leaders and the owners of successful businesses. As well as advising high-net-worth individuals, Ian advises major property companies. He has also assisted international banks with property finance deals. Ian is dual-qualified in England and Wales and in the British Virgin Islands. He often advises banks, companies and law firms on the ability of BVI companies to enter into property and other transactions. In 2019, Ian was top-ranked in The Spear’s 500, in Chambers HNW and in The Legal 500.

Ilana Swimer

Ilana advises both companies and employees on all aspects of both non-contentious and contentious employment law. As well as advising on day-to-day HR matters, she has particular expertise advising on Employment Tribunal proceedings, restructurings, workplace disputes, discrimination claims, managing sickness absence, restrictive covenants, disciplinary and grievance matters, exit strategies, settlement terms, TUPE and business reorganisations.

Ilona Avramenko

Ilona is an aviation and superyacht law expert, with more than 15 years’ experience working within the maritime sector. Her practice involves advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, companies, and banks on a range of yachting and aviation matters. This includes all manner of transactional and advisory work including, sale and purchase, construction/refit, leasing and asset financing. Ilona also advises on ownership structures, registration, and VAT/importation of yachts and aircrafts. Having an in-depth understanding of regulatory matters in respect of yachts and aircraft, a part of Ilona’s practice involves structuring helicopter operations off yachts. Ilona’s commercial approach and business efficacy stems from her involvement in her family’s ship-owning business prior to her embarkment on a legal career. Having instructed legal counsel regularly, she understands the need for coherent and commercial legal advice always bearing in mind the client’s business needs.

Irit Edri

Irit is a Corporate Recovery and Insolvency specialist with extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters. She regularly acts for office holders as well as companies and individuals advising on all aspects of insolvency law.

Isaac Felberbaum

Partner

Jaan Larner

A business minded lawyer with an MBA from Oxford University, Jaan is a corporate and commercial lawyer with a particular interest in entrepreneurial activity. He advises clients on their corporate structures as well as their ongoing day to day commercial activity. He specialises in drafting, negotiating and advising on all types of commercial transactions involving capital, revenue, debt and equity, for private companies, and managing projects combining different legal and commercial disciplines in joint venture, partnership, agency, sale and franchise environments. His key achievements include structuring a £100m auction process for the sale of a new media company to UK and US bidders, the development and launch of a men’s lifestyle brand involving print media, online portal, online advertisers and commercial partnerships and advising university spinouts on start-up, capital raising and IP exploitation issues.

Jacqueline Brown

Jacqueline is a general commercial litigator with particular experience in sport (including equestrian sports and football) and entertainment (in particular, the music industry). She deals with all forms of dispute resolution; including Alternative Dispute Resolution, High Court and County Court proceedings, national and international sports regulatory and disciplinary hearings. Throughout her career she has represented many high profile clients. Jacqueline was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland in 2017. She is also a CEDR Accredited Mediator.

Jacqueline Mcdermott

Consultant solicitor Jacqueline has extensive experience in all aspects of contentions and non-contentious employment law with a strong track record in acting for respondents in tribunal and high court claims, advising companies and senior execs on exit strategies and restriction covenants. In addition to advising on employment-related aspects of business reorganisations and change management, including redundancy programmes, corporate transactions, outsourcing arrangements and TUPE, as well as contracts, policies, and procedures, Jacqueline acts for clients in a wide range of sector including IT, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, professional services, education and charities, and regularly runs bespoke training workshops for clients.

James Daglish

James is a leisure and hospitality sector expert with over 15 years’ experience advising on real estate and licensing matters. His clients include an extensive and wide-range of restaurants, pubs, cafe chains, nightclubs, and investors. James also has substantial experience advising on all alcohol and entertainment licensing matters, and has more recently developed an expertise in the emerging CBD market.

James Healy-Pratt

James is an international aviation lawyer, with 30 years’ experience of resolving high-profile aviation accidents worldwide. He is a triple-qualified lawyer in England & Wales, Ireland and New York and is a licensed helicopter pilot. James has unrivalled experience and understanding of the aviation insurance market based on his 15 years of working at its heart in London. He has represented families and pilots/crew, as well as aviation insurers in aviation accidents on six continents (including even Antarctica and Hawaii). Airline, helicopter and business jet accidents are his particular expertise, as are catastrophic / burns-related and high-net-worth injuries. He has a track record of achieving swift settlements at record levels. James sits part-time as HM Coroner in Sussex, hearing a wide range of Inquests, often of a complex nature and with juries. He is also an accredited mediator and arbitrator with the Royal Aeronautical Society and JAMS (US Judicial and Arbitration Mediation Services). In addition, James has extensive first-hand knowledge of the following: Helicopters – Agusta 109, Airbus 120, 125, 130, MD 500/600/900 (Notar), Bell 206, Leonardo AW 139, Robinson R22/44; Fixed Wing – Airbus A310, A320 & A330, Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767 & 777, Cessna 172, 205, 208, Hawker Hunter T7 (Jet Fighter), Extra 300 (Aerobatic), Tiger Moth.

James O"Flinn

Specialising in all aspects of commercial litigation and arbitration, with particular interest in intellectual property and franchising.

James Wilkson

James is a highly skilled corporate and commercial lawyer, who routinely advises clients on M&A transactions, capital fundraisings, shareholder agreements and general commercial arrangements. He particularly works with SMEs, high-growth enterprises and owner-managed businesses as they prepare for exits and other significant capital events.

James Lankshear

James is a specialist commercial litigator with 25 years of experience of handling a broad range of commercial and contractual disputes. He acts for a diverse client base and has particular expertise in multi-party and cross-jurisdictional disputes, Russian/CIS-related disputes, civil fraud, domestic and international debt recovery, and disputes involving financial spread betting/CFDs/FX and other derivative products. His cases often involve applications for interim relief, particularly worldwide freezing orders. He has litigated cases in a number of overseas countries including Russia, Switzerland, France, Ireland, BVI, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Isle of Man, Mauritius and Curacao, and has links with the leading lawyers in these places.

James Goff

City-trained James is a senior solicitor specialising in bridging finance, short-term property finance (i.e. remortgages) and wider commercial property transactions. James notably acted as the sole legal adviser for a lender providing a £6mio facility, funding the launch of a new TVR sports car. For over ten years, James has advised a wide range of clients including both large and small businesses on buying, selling, and leasing property of all types (from industrial estates to offices) and on commercial leases, acquisitions, management, and disposals. He has previously acted for the likes of Valad and Workspace in addition to fund managers, property companies, and institutional investors. He has also worked in-house managing all the legal issues for one of the UK’s leading property investors.

James Crabtree

James is an established expert in the insurance and reinsurance field, well known for both detailed legal and strategic advice and for effective problem solving. He has advised numerous major participants in the worldwide insurance and reinsurance markets on insurance and reinsurance claims, coverage questions and disputes, and on the contractual terms and conditions of many varieties of insurance and reinsurance cover. He has also advised corporate buyers of insurance on contract terms and conditions and handled claims and coverage disputes. Over the years, his work has entailed dealing with major international market loss events and situations, such as Piper Alpha, Phillips Petroleum, the 2011 Japanese tsunami, the 2011 New Zealand earthquakes and the stream of exposures resulting from asbestos-related diseases and environmental pollution. His work covers both property and liability coverage and he has dealt with complex insurance situations and exposures arising from significant, widely reported events affecting the financial markets, such as the collapse of Barings Bank, the collapse of WorldCom, film finance transactions, the buyback of stock option grants and the Argentine economic crisis of 2002. He advises on the management of insurance and reinsurance portfolios in runoff and has recently advised on contingency planning in preparation for the UK’s exit from the European Union. He also handles contractual disputes in other areas of commerce and has managed substantial High Court litigation, appeal proceedings, arbitration processes and various ADR procedures.

James Bunker

James is an experienced and client-focused property lawyer who advises on high-value property transactions. He is an expert on the prime and super-prime London residential markets, frequently deals with highly complex and high-profile cases, and is one of the ‘go-to’ property lawyers in London. James’ client base includes high-net-worth individuals from the UK, Central Europe, the US, Canada, and the Middle East.

Jamie Horner

Jamie provides specialist legal advice to the sports, events and entertainment industries. His expertise extends across motorsport, rugby, cricket, golf and football, as well as Olympic sports including athletics, rowing, and alpine and freestyle skiing. He also advises on legal issues connected with a wide range of live events, as well as providing transactional and litigation advice to talent agencies, high-profile actors, television and sports personalities. Jamie’s wider expertise includes advising on legal matters relating to art and antiques and, in particular, classic, vintage and historic cars. Jamie is a CEDR accredited mediator and has wide-ranging experience of High Court and County Court proceedings, as well as national and international arbitration, mediation and national and international sports tribunals. He is also Chair of Snowsport England and an RFU Registered Agent.

Jane Howard

Jane has more than 25 years’ experience as a commercial litigator, with a particular focus on professional liability work for a wide range of leading professional firms where she looks after a full spectrum of legal needs including defending claims, advising on risk management and handling complex and highly sensitive regulatory (FRC) and disciplinary matters, both for individuals and firms. Jane has acted for more than two thirds of the top 20 firms (including three of the Big 4) and for 13 of the top 25 global networks and associations. Her full understanding of the issues faced by global networks extends to advising on all areas of governance and to working with clients to establish or remodel existing structures and/or in relation to mergers. Many of the matters Jane works on have an international or multi-jurisdictional dimension.

Jane Harte-Lovelace

Jane is a commercial dispute resolution lawyer who advises companies, board members and high-net-worth individuals on risk and the avoidance and resolution of disputes both domestic and international. Jane has a particular focus on disputes involving property and trusts and maximising insurance recoveries for policyholders. She also advises companies in relation to workplace safety with experience in dealing with the aftermath of serious and fatal accidents in the workplace. Although Jane prefers to resolve disputes without the need for proceedings, she has extensive experience of litigation, arbitration and mediation.

Jane Wheeler

As an expert in employment law, Jane advises both businesses and senior executives from a variety of different industries such as fitness, advertising and charities. Jane’s experience includes advising senior executives on navigating difficult situations in the workplace, negotiating an exit under a settlement agreement and defending against allegations of breaches of restrictive covenants. She assists businesses with implementing redundancies and restructures, the removal of senior/board level individuals and also deals with employment tribunal claims. Jane also regularly trains HR and line managers on how to deal with difficult issues such as performance management and sickness absence.

Jason Roston

Jason is a property lawyer with a focus on residential real estate. His clients include a broad range of domestic and international individuals and family offices together with developers and private banks who he advises on all aspects of buying, managing, financing and selling residential property. Jason also enjoys working alongside many leading agents, brokers and surveyors in high-value and often complex, discreet and time-sensitive transactions.

Jason Kallis

Jason is a disputes lawyer specialising in insurance, construction, product liability, and property litigation. He acts for blue chip construction and property companies, insurance companies and their Insureds, high-net-worth individuals, retailers and estate managers. Jason has extensive experience advising on product liability and professional negligence claims. In particular he advises on all insurance policy issues that arise out of disputes concerning products and professionals, including the recovery of insurance premiums on behalf of insurance companies and insureds. He also has a wealth of experience of disputes concerning high-end residential properties, office developments, and small to medium sized civil engineering projects. He advises on business disputes concerning small and medium sized companies, particularly in relation to partnership disputes, purchase agreement disputes, shareholder disputes, tax related disputes and general commercial litigation issues faced by such entities. He has provided non-contentious advice on property developments to lenders, landowners, contractors and developers, and has advised on and drafted building contracts, warranties, and professional appointments.

Jayanti Mitra-Valdes

Jayanti is an expert in UK immigration and nationality law. Having advised a number of industry-leading clients and SMEs, Jayanti is highly skilled in advising employers on Tier 2 Sponsorship applications. She also advises on Tier 1 Exceptional talent as well as the recently introduced Tier 1 Start-up/Innovator categories, the points-based system, family immigration, human rights and appeals. As well as corporates, Jayanti’s clients include high-net-worth individuals, including high-profile artists. She has also acted for an ex-prime minister, offering strategic and practical immigration advice. Jayanti provides regular training and advice to UK employers on changes to immigration law. She also undertakes internal audits to ensure compliance with the latest regulations and legislation.

Jennifer Donohue

Lawyer and mathematician Jennifer’s practice focuses on transactional and corporate insurance and reinsurance. She advises insurance firms, (both life and non-life), brokers, banks, hedge funds, private equity, protection and indemnity clubs (P and I Clubs) and financial institutions in, or involved with, the insurance and risk sectors. Advice includes both mergers and acquisitions, including take-over panel work, capitalisations, reorganisations, financial structuring, policy and product development and pre-insolvency strategies, schemes of arrangement and managed exits such as run-off. She also advises Her Majesty’s Government and other governments on insurance legislation and drafting, the most recent being that of insurance-linked securities. Jennifer’s extended experience includes providing advice on financings across the insurance and banking sectors based upon forensic engineering and modelling. This includes the provision of regulatory capital, Solvency II and Basel III technology, and incorporates the use of derivatives, monetisations and securitisations, and debt trading. Because of her mathematics work she also advises on cyber risk, crypto currencies and cryptography, encryption and decryption. This advice spans work in the energy and commodities sectors as well as that of bio-tech and regenerative medicine. She works extensively in the algorithm, AI and Machine learning space.

Jeremy Davis

Jeremy is a corporate lawyer and an expert in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, private equity and joint ventures. He has considerable experience in cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving both US clients investing into the UK and Europe and multinationals expanding their businesses across Europe. Jeremy is a trusted adviser to clients from a wide variety of industries such as manufacturing, packaging, information technology, metals, oil field services, and recruitment. He advises clients ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations.

Jeremy Schrire

Jeremy is a highly experienced commercial lawyer recognised by the legal directories as a leading individual specialising in commercial agreements and related competition and regulatory matters. He advises on a range of commercial and trading issues, including agency, distribution, supply, sale purchase, joint venture and franchise agreements as well as all aspects of the commercial exploitation of intellectual property rights, such as licensing and R&D agreements.With a focus on both national and international work, Jeremy is involved in a range of industries including consumer goods, food and beverages, manufacturing, technology, e-commerce, healthcare, retail, and hotels and leisure.Jeremy is a regular speaker at international conferences on commercial and intellectual property law. He is a member of the editorial board of LexisNexis (Reed Elsevier) and is their general editor on agency. He also sits on the faculty of the Practising Law Institute in New York.AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Commercial law Agency Distribution Supply Sale and purchase agreements Joint ventures Franchise agreements Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Legal audits and due diligence Consumer and regulatory complaints Intellectual property transactions (including content acquisition and technology agreements) Dispute resolution Strategic analysis

Jeremy Woodcraft

Jeremy is a solicitor advocate with 20 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of regulatory law including risk, compliance and enforcement matters. With expertise in health and safety, trading standards, food and fire safety, environmental, road transport, licensing, betting and gaming, he has worked extensively in the leisure and entertainment industry.

Jessica Bent

Jessica is an intellectual property and technology specialist. She deals with the full spectrum of non-contentious and contentious IP, technology and IT law. Jessica’s experience includes advising businesses on all types of IT contracts such as outsourcing, licensing, development, interface agreements, app terms, ecommerce agreements as well as data protection issues such as policies, data processing agreements, GDPR compliance and dealing with ICO requests. Her practice on intellectual property matters covers the full suite of IP rights and in particular: brand management; trade mark searches and domestic/international applications; trade mark infringement, opposition and passing-off proceedings; copyright matters such as licensing, publishing, author agreements, rights acquisitions, TV and audio production agreements, clearance and infringement; design right protection and enforcement; patent and know-how licensing arrangements, R&D agreements, collaboration and PhD agreements.

Jimmy Desai

Jimmy is a commercial lawyer specialising in Internet and technology law, data protection, intellectual property, commercial contracts, and IP/IT in M&A transactions. Jimmy has worked for a range of high-profile clients including BT, Royal Mail, AIG, lastminute.com, Shazam, and Surrey Satellite Technology. In addition, Jimmy acts for funded and fast-growing Internet start-up companies in relation to their fast growth and then sale or IPO. Jimmy is a published author of legal textbooks and writes as a subject-matter expert for LexisNexis on Technology law. He has also written for numerous organisations and publications including the Society for Computers and Law, CIPS, Computer Weekly, Electronic Business Law, The Lawyer, Solicitors Journal, and Freedom of Information Journal.

Joanna Mckenzie

Joanna is a general commercial and civil litigator who deals with a variety of disputes ranging from debt recovery to professional negligence claims to breach of contract claims. She also has a keen interest in intellectual property disputes including copyright, trademarks, design rights and passing off. Joanna represents individuals and companies of all sizes. She has an LLM in commercial intellectual property. The areas in which she specialises are alternative dispute resolution; High Court and County Court claims; contract disputes; consumer contract claims; professional negligence claims; partnership and shareholder disputes and building disputes. Joanna’s key achievements include advising a national business on the intellectual property rights existing in its business name and logo. Working on professional negligence claims against architects, solicitors and financial advisors. Obtaining a vesting order for a company after land went bona vacantia following a negligent property transfer and company dissolution, and advising a house-building company on a potential breach of contract and professional negligence claim.

Joanna Henley

Jo is a solicitor in the family team supporting clients through changes to their family structure. Her experience includes complex finances, child arrangements, child welfare and child relocation (for married and unmarried couples), divorce, domestic abuse, pre- and post-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. Much of Jo’s work features international elements, and her cases have been determined through the Family and High Courts, or settled through lawyer-led negotiations and alternative dispute resolution. Her primary focus when providing legal support is always to adapt to the client’s particular needs, and to ensure the welfare of any children. Where it has been possible to achieve a favourable settlement without the need for court intervention, Jo works hard to achieve this for her clients. Jo is a trained family mediator and is working towards accreditation with the Family Mediation Council. She is a member of Resolution, a community focussed on promoting constructive approaches to family issues that consider the needs of the whole family.

Joanne Staphnill

Joanne is an expert in insurance law, who regularly defends professionals against negligence claims. She offers a comprehensive service, from medico-legal advice, to pre-litigation advice, to representation in high-profile trials. She has particular experience acting for medical professionals, insurance intermediaries and solicitors. Her expertise also encompasses insurance and reinsurance litigation and arbitration. Joanne is frequently sought out by insurers for advice on policy coverage and policy drafting. She has notable experience in medical indemnity and legal expenses insurance relating to specialist healthcare professionals, including having drafted a number of policies herself. Joanne is also adept at providing risk management counselling and professional conduct training to clients, as well as training on many aspects of insurance law and coverage.

Joe Bellhouse

Joe is a Partner in the Construction team specialising in procurement and development of construction and engineering projects. He has particular expertise in advising on property developments (including offices, warehouses, hotels, retail, sports stadia, business parks, residential), energy projects, process plant, highways and bridges, ports, and other engineering projects. Joe is also experienced in providing entirely original drafting or using and amending industry standard form contracts, including JCT, NEC, FIDIC, MF/1 and IChemE contracts. With a background in dispute resolution, Joe is adept at guiding clients through project risks/challenges and developing strategies for any potential issues or disputes before they arise. He also advises on contract claims, negotiation of settlements, and support in connection with formal proceedings including adjudication and arbitration.

Joe Haigh

Joe is a property lawyer specialising in commercial and mixed-use freeholds and leaseholds. His expertise centres on real estate investment and niche property/pension-related transactions (SIPP and SSAS) including acquisitions, asset management, disposals and refinancing. Joe’s client base includes household-name pension and investment companies as well as high-net-worth investors based in the North East and across the country.

John Downing

John is a highly experienced property solicitor advising high-net-worth clients, both onshore and offshore and, where appropriate, their trust companies, on the acquisition and disposal of residential property in the prime central London market. He also advises in relation to the de-enveloping of properties held in corporate vehicles, general landlord and tenant matters, freehold and leasehold enfranchisement, and Stamp Duty Land Tax issues. John also advises clients on the sale and purchase of large country houses and estates, including those with mixed use or agricultural use. Whilst many of John’s clients are high-profile individuals from the world of banking and finance and from the entertainment industry, he has a strong client base drawn from all walks of life.

John Melia

John is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with significant experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, capital markets transactions, restructurings and commercial contracts. He is qualified to practise in England and Wales, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands, and has extensive experience in transactional matters across those jurisdictions. Areas of expertise: Corporate and Commercial Law Flotations (LSE & AIM) Mergers & Acquisitions Joint Ventures Fundraising Private equity Company restructuring and disposals

John Stephens

John joined Keystone in 2013 as a consultant in the firm’s commercial property team. He has considerable experience in real estate and property law in leading City and regional practices at partner level and latterly in a boutique practice in Guernsey. John acts mainly for offshore investors and developers of commercial property in inward UK investment, secured lending and development-related work for financial industry developers and funders.

John Pears

John is an experienced tax and estate planning specialist, with particular expertise in inheritance tax and capital gains tax. John’s work includes complex will drafting, advising on the creation, administration and winding-up of all types of trust, and the associated taxation implications and estate administration. He is particularly experienced in working with high-net-worth entrepreneurs and the agricultural community. John is also a trustee of a number of sizeable private charities. Areas of expertise include estate planning and succession issues; wills; trusts; inheritance tax and charity administration.

Johnny Drysdale

Johnny is a specialist adviser to private individuals on the purchase, sale and mortgage of high-value residential property, particularly in London. Johnny’s clients include high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, overseas investors, trustees, family offices and private banks. Johnny also has experience advising companies on investment acquisitions and disposals, lettings and portfolio management.

Jon Olson-Welsh

Jon specialises in construction and engineering law, with a specific focus on procurement and tendering advice and the drafting of construction and engineering contracts. His experience includes drafting and advising on all aspects of national and international construction and engineering contracts, using bespoke and standard forms such as FIDIC, IChemE, NEC and JCT. Jon advises developers, lenders, contractors and consultants in a variety of sectors, including office, leisure, retail and residential schemes. Jon’s international work has included advising on construction and engineering contracts for infrastructure, mining and energy projects in various countries, including the UK, Afghanistan, Panama, Kuwait, Egypt, Kenya and New Mexico.

Jon Moorhouse

Intellectual property and commercial lawyer Jon has over 20 years’ international experience, many spent in-house with global corporations, providing legal support to senior leaders. Jon has extensive experience in advising businesses on a wide range of IP, commercial and corporate contractual matters, with a keen focus on the energy sector having advised Shell for over a decade as their Senior Legal Counsel. Jon is an expert on how to protect and commercialise technology and creative ideas, software, data, designs and brands, whilst managing the risks presented by the IP rights of competitors, partners and customers, whether operating alone or in collaborations or ventures with others. Jon can advise on creating, licensing and assessing the strength of portfolios of trade secrets, patents, copyright, design rights and trade marks, and works with his clients to develop and implement IP reviews and strategies to support this, along with IP governance and compliance programmes. Jon’s commercial and corporate experience includes confidentiality, supply, procurement and secondment arrangements, and advising on the IP and information sharing aspects of venture capital investments, acquisitions, divestments, projects and joint ventures.

Jon Close

Jon is a Construction and Engineering specialist, handling both contentious and non-contentious legal work. His practice focuses, largely, on acting for employers and their design teams, as well as contractors and engineers. Jon has particular expertise in energy-related issues, infrastructure, precision engineering and cyber security installations whilst most of his casework is concentrated on the drafting of contracts, providing procurement advice and advising on disputes both within the UK and internationally. He can also provide clients with strategic support in rationalising the procurement of their supply chain risk, or advise on risk with regards to where that lies within their own contracts for tender. In addition, Jon can assist with payment and liability issues on current projects, as well as advise on an effective strategy to resolve any issues. Jon is an ADR accredited mediator, which sees him advising clients on alternative ways to resolve disputes, avoiding the litigation process. He is, however, also a TeCSA solicitor and very experienced in litigious matters, whenever the need arises for clients to engage him in a more formal dispute resolution arena.

Jonathan Ross

Jonathan deals with all aspects of commercial and residential property litigation (except enfranchisement). He also frequently acts for claimants on property-related professional negligence claims and fee disputes.

Jonathan Day

Jonathan is a well-known family law specialist who represents a wide range of clients including oligarchs, entrepreneurs, City professionals and celebrities. He also organises monthly divorce well-being walks for individuals going through a divorce or separation. The Essex-based walks are endorsed by local GPs and the mental health charity Mind. In addition to well-being walks, Jonathan manages support groups and encourages individuals going through a divorce to have the ‘right team’ around them.

Jonathan Chibafa

Jonathan specialises in internal investigations, financial crime, ESG compliance and supply chain risk management, whilst also being a highly regarded anti-bribery and corruption risk expert. Jonathan has implemented business integrity programmes for companies under regulatory scrutiny from the US and UK authorities. His expertise extends to advising on sanctions, anti-money laundering, anti-tax evasion, modern slavery and broader reputational risk. Jonathan advises across a multitude of jurisdictions including the United Arab Emirates, China, Cambodia, Italy, Ukraine, Slovakia, Nigeria, South Africa, Vietnam, Poland, Kenya, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, designing risk control frameworks, conducting in-market compliance assessments and internal investigations, and advising on risk mitigation.

Jonathan Erdman

Jonathan is a property solicitor who deals with both commercial and residential property transactions. He often advises on the acquisition of residential blocks, industrial sites, office parks and mixed use developments for either the break-up of investment sales or residential plot sales. Jonathan also advises commercial landlords on lettings and assists with residential lease extensions. His clients include property traders, developers and investors, and he has particular specialism in sub-sales and development sales (including Help to Buy).

Jonathan Watmough

Jonathan specialises in resolving professional negligence claims and has done so for over 14 years. In that time, he has acted on claims against a wide range of professionals including solicitors, accountants, insurance brokers, financial advisers, surveyors, structural engineers, project managers, estate agents, health & safety consultants and IT consultants. Having previously defended such claims for professional indemnity insurers, Jonathan now acts exclusively for claimants and uninsured defendants, both in relation to claims and any policy disputes arising from them. Due to his background experience, and because he acts for both claimants and defendants, Jonathan possesses a rare appreciation of the issues and pitfalls that arise in professional negligence claims. This enables him to provide his clients with intelligent solutions, aimed at resolving claims as favourably and efficiently as possible.

Jonathan Hadley-Piggin

Jonathan is a highly experienced marine specialist, with a broad legal practice that focuses on both the domestic and international yachting sector. His client base comprises banks and private individuals in the yacht and superyacht industry. In addition, Jonathan advises marine businesses, crew and other leisure marine operators such as yacht management companies and marina owners. Jonathan lectures regularly and is an examiner on the MCA Master Yachts course for aspiring superyacht captains. He is a regular speaker at events in the UK and overseas where he provides seminars for the British Marine Federation (BMF), the Maritime Training Academy (MTA) and the International Institute of Marine Surveyors (IIMS) and has written a number of diploma publications for the MTA and for the MCA Master Yachts course. Prior to becoming a solicitor, Jonathan spent twelve years at sea as a navigating officer with BP Shipping and then as a submarine officer in the Royal Navy.

Jonny Williams

Jonny is a financial services regulatory lawyer who advises financial institutions, corporates, PE/VC firms, funds/alternative funds and fintechs on a broad range of regulatory issues covering their commercial and retail activities. Having gained significant experience in-house at Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays on complex restructurings as well as FCA and FOS matters, Jonny is well placed to drive key strategic projects and manage portfolios of complex and reputationally significant cases in the UK and internationally. A jo

JP Irvine

JP is a corporate and commercial lawyer with a wealth of experience gained working with start-up companies, online digital service providers, and larger institutions (like Lloyds of London). JP has blended private practice experience at a Magic Circle firm with 10 years in board-level General Counsel roles. JP’s experience at Keystone includes group reorganisations and M&A transactions, shareholder options and agreements, and GDPR/data protection & cyber security compliance programmes.

Jsmes Tumbridge

James is an intellectual property litigation lawyer with a specialism in data protection, and has litigated all IP rights, before the courts of several countries. He is also a qualified arbitrator and mediator, listed with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office, CIArb, Clerksroom and a number of other ADR providers. James spent two years chairing the International Trade Mark Association’s ADR committee and for ten years he held appointment as a Chairman of Police Tribunals, a junior judicial role. He has experience with IP crime cases and has trained several police forces on data protection matters. James’ practice covers all types of intellectual property disputes, and ancillary issues in commercial litigation, employment, and insolvency affecting intellectual property rights. His work also extends to compliance in regard to data protection for advertising and promotions, as well as issues with data capture for those dealing in virtual currency and customer data. James advised the UK Government on the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Online Safety Act 2024. He also has a sub-specialism in election law. James advises clients in the UK and internationally. He has appeared as an advocate in courts in the USA, Canada and the Falkland Islands, as well as working on disputes in Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Germany, France, Austria and Spain.

Julia Moreno

Julia is a highly experienced family lawyer and divorce coach who advises individuals and couples through the legal and emotional turmoil of relationship breakdown. Her areas of expertise encompass all aspects of divorce and private family law, with a particular emphasis on resolving complex financial matters and issues involving an international dimension. Julia is also well versed in addressing parenting arrangements arising from separation and divorce. Over her career, she has handled a diverse array of cases, including those involving high-value and complex issues such as tracing of assets, businesses, multiple property ownership, trust structures, large pensions, and pre-acquired and inherited wealth. To support her clients, Julia collaborates closely with other professionals such as expert valuers, accountants, financial planners, and pension experts. Julia is also a member of Resolution and, as a dual Spanish and English national, can advise in English, Spanish, and Catalan.

Julie Morris

Julie is recognised in particular for her work advising clients with whistleblowing and discrimination complaints (most notably sex, maternity and equal pay). She is also very well regarded for advising senior executives on all types of employment-related issues, including contractual issues on joining and leaving organisations, particularly those in the financial services and professional services sectors. Julie is a trusted adviser to many charities and not-for-profit employers, and has a special interest in advising those in the social enterprise space on what best employment practice looks like. Julie is also an experienced investigator, commissioned by employers to hear and determine grievances and disciplinary issues.

Julie Morrissy

Julie is an experienced construction and engineering lawyer with a practice that combines contentious and non-contentious work for a range of public and private sector clients. She has particular expertise in advising on procurement strategies and contract preparation, negotiation and administration. Julie works with clients on a number of different contract structures including traditional, design and build, EPC contracts, construction management, consultants’ appointments, guarantees and bonds. In addition, she has been involved in a number of infrastructure, schools, energy-from-waste and rail projects and commercial schemes including office developments, hotels, retail, distribution centres and urban regeneration. Julie also advises on dispute resolution across a range of construction and engineering projects, particularly in relation to commercial developments and PFI/PPP projects

Juliet Carp

Juliet is an experienced UK employment lawyer, with a particular interest in international employment law and global mobility. Juliet’s UK work includes advice on hiring, discipline and dismissal, employment contracts and policies, corporate transactions, TUPE, financial services-related issues, dispute resolution, whistleblowing, family-related laws and a wide range of discrimination issues. Her international work includes advising businesses new to the UK and advice on cross-border relocation, international commuter arrangements, international assignment and mobility policy documents, cross-border employment dispute resolution, mobility training and specialist advice on a broad range of Brexit-related mobility issues. Juliet is author of the leading textbook Drafting Employment Documents for Expatriates. Juliet is currently Chair of the UK Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) and Board Member for England & Wales of the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA).

Kamal Mukhi

Kamal’s practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration, shipping, energy and international trade, and he also regularly advises on trade finance, sanctions, insurance issues, shareholders’ disputes and directors’ duties, commercial contracts, freezing injunctions and asset tracing and committal applications. Dual-qualified in England and India, Kamal has been involved in many matters before the English courts, ICC, LCIA, GAFTA, FOSFA, LMAA, Refined Sugar Association, Sugar Association of London, the Nuts Association and the British Coffee Association.

Karen Fong

Karen is a specialist intellectual property (IP) and commercial lawyer with an abundance of international experience. She is recognised as a leading practitioner by various legal directories and has practised in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Karen has advised well-known international IP owners as well as start-ups and creative individuals on all aspects of business issues which involve the protection and exploitation of IP rights in the UK and internationally in a broad range of industries. She has particular expertise in the fashion and beauty, technology, food and beverage and media sectors. Her non-contentious practice includes work from brand management and protection, product development, IP audits, licensing and sponsorship, to IP elements of business sale and purchase and other exploitation of IP rights. She also provides bespoke IP training to clients. In addition to her non-contentious work, Karen is highly experienced in conducting litigation dealing with disputes at all court levels in the UK, particularly those involving trade marks, copyright, designs, database rights, confidentiality and trade secrets. She has built up considerable experience in the IP Enterprise Court (IPEC) and also advising and managing international disputes on behalf of clients.

Kash Balogun

Kash is an experienced commercial litigator with a particular focus in the construction, oil & gas, and finance sectors. He specialises in the resolution of complex, high-value disputes, usually with an international element, and has successfully advised clients in all forms of dispute resolution including adjudications, international arbitrations, mediations and high court litigation.In addition to advising clients in the UK, over the course of his career, Kash has acquired extensive experience in dealing with disputes relating to or originating from sub-Saharan Africa. He has also built a broad network of contacts within the region.In the construction sector, he has significant experience in negotiating amendments to standard-form construction contracts including ancillary construction documents such as collateral warranties, parent company guarantees, and other related agreements.

Kate Hathaway

Kate is a residential property solicitor experienced in advising on the purchase and sale of property, remortgages and small-scale developments. Her experience includes dealing with prime and super-prime properties, as well as high-value financing. She is also an expert in advising on lease extensions and collective enfranchisement. A range of clients turn to Kate for advice including first-time buyers, overseas investors and high-net-worth individuals. Most of the property transactions she works on are for properties based in Oxfordshire, London and the South East.

Katherine Clark

Katie is an employment lawyer with 25 years’ experience representing businesses from a wide range of sectors on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment matters. Katie has particular experience litigating employment disputes in the Employment Tribunal and High Court, including relating to team moves, restrictive covenants, discrimination and whistleblowing. She has significant experience advising clients on their most challenging and sensitive employment issues, on all aspects of crisis management, internal investigations and grievance/disciplinary processes, including conducting workplace investigations as an independent investigator. Katie also advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, including outsourcing deals and private equity acquisitions, as well as advising clients on restructuring and business change.

Katie Cohen

Katie is a property lawyer who specialises in all aspects of leasehold enfranchisement, a niche area of residential property law. She acts for both landlords and tenants, advising them on a range of real-estate issues including the sale and purchase of residential property, all aspects of voluntary and statutory lease extensions, and freehold purchases and sales under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 and Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Katie also assists clients with the sale and purchase of freeholds under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (Right of First Refusal) as well as the acquisition of freehold ground-rent investment portfolios and statutory collective enfranchisement claims. A keen contributor to many leading specialist publications, Katie is often approached to provide comment on the topic of leasehold enfranchisement. Most recently Katie has been asked to present a webinar on ground rent for a leading legal CPD provider.

Katy Edwards

Katy is an employment lawyer who advises organisations and individuals on contentious, non-contentious and advisory employment matters across a range of sectors. She has a particular expertise in complex and sensitive investigations, senior management terms and exits, the employment aspects of private mergers and acquisitions, and redundancy.

Katy Jones

Katy is a company/commercial solicitor who also specialises in employment matters. This unique blend enables her to act for companies, owner-managers, investors, employers as well as employees.

Keely Rushmore

Keely is an employment lawyer with over 20 years’ experience, advising both employers and employees on a broad spectrum of employment-related matters, with particular expertise in dealing with contentious exits (and associated settlement agreements), discrimination, redundancies and restructuring. Keely’s practice also involves advising on disciplinary and grievance issues, restrictive covenants, employee confidentiality issues and termination of employment. In addition, she deals with employment litigation, resolving through mediation and settlement agreements where possible, but proceeding to the Employment Tribunals when necessary. Keely also frequently advises on the TUPE regulations in connection with sales and purchases of businesses and service provision transfers. Keely’s clients are from a range of sectors, including media, travel, education and retail, and she has an extensive experience and interest in advising charities and not-for-profit organisations on employment issues.

Keith Gilbert

Keith is a corporate lawyer who advises on acquisitions, disposals and other corporate transactions across various sectors, advising corporates, owners, management teams and funders. Several of Keith’s clients are well-known large businesses and therefore he is used to working alongside in-house legal teams to plan and execute transactions and adding value by ensuring a proactive, focussed delivery across all service lines. Keith also advises on high-value commercial contracts and strategic ventures.

Kelly Tinkler

Kelly is a dual-qualified barrister and solicitor with more than 20 years’ experience in commercial litigation and arbitration in City of London firms. His practice has a distinct international focus and includes banking, shareholder disputes, professional negligence, fraud, and money laundering issues. Kelly has extensive experience in dealing with financial services and regulatory issues which has seen him work with an array of high-profile clients, on numerous reported cases. In addition, Kelly often advises on the enforcement of restrictive covenants across the finance, legal, recruiting, insurance and yacht brokerage sectors.

Lance Feaver

Lance is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with over 30 years experience, who advises a wide range of clients from business start-ups, entrepreneurs and SME’s through to large multinational companies. He has considerable experience in running domestic and cross border corporate M&A transactions and has advised companies on AIM and PLUS IPO’s. He also advises on private equity and venture capital transactions and has worked across many sectors, including Natural Resources and Cleantech/Renewables.

Lara Cole

Lara is a property lawyer and provides a full-service offering in relation to real estate matters acting for investors, developers, landlords, occupiers and administrators. With a wealth of private practice and in-house experience including as Group Legal Counsel for the Targetfollow Group, she handles a wide range of matters involving property acquisitions and disposals, including high-value complex transactions, joint venture development sites, construction matters, associated financing and all property aspects of corporate deals. In addition, Lara is skilled in dealing with of all landlord and tenant issues in relation to investment portfolios.

Lara Robson

Lara is an experienced litigator with particular expertise in resolving multi-million-pound disputes for high-net-worth individuals and companies across multiple jurisdictions. She is experienced in managing and coordinating proceedings in other jurisdictions around the world including the USA, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Switzerland, Turkey and Hong Kong. Lara works seamlessly with foreign lawyers, investigators, communications experts and forensic accountants to solve problems and deliver solutions for her clients.

Laura Brown

Laura advises on all aspects of family law with particular expertise in divorce, financial remedy including cross-jurisdictional and substantial complex asset cases, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation and unmarried parents and children cases involving complex matters such as parental alienation, relocation and domestic abuse. She also has experience of acting for trustees (often in relation to offshore trusts) and settlors in matrimonial proceedings and advising lawyers in other jurisdictions in respect of English legal principles. As a trained collaborative lawyer and qualified Resolution mediator, Laura is well placed to help clients work towards a solution without the need to go to court and often works with couples in mediation to find common ground with the aim of reaching a settlement acceptable to both parties which can then be formalised by a court order.

Laura Rogers

Laura is a family lawyer who advises on the various aspects of relationship breakdown, covering both financial claims and children arrangements arising out of separation and divorce. She has experience of complicated financial proceedings where there are trust assets and corporate issues such as jointly owned companies. She also has experience of third-party interventions where the ownership of assets is disputed within divorce proceedings. She works closely with other professionals such as expert valuers and accountants.

Laurence Relton

Laurence has broad national and international experience handling commercial support, company sales and purchases and corporate restructuring. He previously advised McDonalds on its first UK acquisition of Café Aroma Ltd. Laurence is a specialist in the rapid production of shareholder agreements for funded start-ups. Bilingual in Italian. Laurence’s areas of expertise include Sales & acquisitions (business and shares), MBO’s, AIM and private placements, corporate governance and FSMA regulatory, company restructurings. Joint ventures, shareholder/investment agreements, service level and technical services agreements, option agreements and consultancy agreements. Laurence’s key achievements include acquisition of entire issued share capital of Italian brokering company by UK listed company. Acquisitions by major French construction company for entire issued share capital of manufacturer of remote operated vehicles. McDonald’s Restaurant Operations Inc’s first UK acquisition of Café Aroma Limited. Acquisition of German Biotech company involved in the manufacture of technical equipment. Organisation and structuring of network of mixed private and public hospitals/clinics. Distribution agreements for major US film distributor (BuenaVista International) for video titles throughout Italy. Commercial contracts for laboratory testing company for clinical trials testing including template services agreement, service level agreement and global courier agreement. Pan-European model software and hardware master agreement for Sun Microsystems. Agreement establishing distribution network and bespoke sales points for Levis in shops throughout Italy and providing FSMA and FSA advice in relation to regulated activities.

Laurence Gray

Laurence is a skilled property litigator. He has expertise in all areas of property litigation including rights of way and other easements, both commercial and residential landlord and tenant disputes, adverse possession claims, removal of squatters/trespassers, modification of restrictive covenants, boundary disputes and residential possession claims. Laurence is also a certified mediator.

Lawrence Abramson

Lawrence joined Keystone Law in January 2014 as a consultant in the media team. He is one of the leading litigators in the media industries in the UK, advising on both media and commercial disputes. Lawrence has extensive knowledge of all areas of the entertainment and media industries, including music, television, film, publishing, sport and interactive entertainment. His expertise covers a broad range of disputes and he has represented many high-profile individuals and corporate organisations. Lawrence has also advised a number of syndicates and company insurers in film insurance claims in the Commercial Court. Areas of expertise include contractual and other forms of commercial disputes; copyright and trade mark issues and passing off; defamation and reputation management; production and distribution agreements; minority shareholders protection; director’s duties; insolvency; management, recording and publishing agreements; computer games development.

Lawrence Cartier

Lawrence is a widely experienced lawyer with expertise in complex national and multi-jurisdictional matters predominantly concerning the formation and performance of contracts, and, as required, dispute resolution and commercial litigation. He has dealt with substantial matters in terms of value and complexity, including acting for major banks, corporations and high-net-worth individuals nationally and in various parts of the world, including in particular in Europe, the Middle East, South-East Asia and Africa. Lawrence has achieved notable success in some of the largest contentious cases both in England and Wales and abroad.

Lawson Iley

Lawson is an experienced corporate lawyer advising on a range of corporate matters including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, governance, corporate finance, reorganisations and restructurings. He has considerable multi-jurisdictional experience, including six years living and working in Russia, as well as significant periods working in Germany, Denmark and Jersey. Lawson advises a range of clients from early-stage businesses to listed and state-owned companies, as well as high-net-worth individuals and private equity funds, across a number of sectors including technology, digital media, telecoms, fintech, healthcare and energy.

Leigh Hall

Leigh is an experienced international lawyer. Having spent many years as a leader and partner in leading international law firms, as well as in-house, his client portfolio comprises governments, companies and high-net-worth individuals on matters involving international development and project finance, production supply ventures, and commercial and compliance issues. In addition to counselling companies and governments in the development and financing of large-scale projects involving infrastructure, power, oil and gas, and petrochemicals, he acts for a wide range of businesses in building relationships with foreign governments and quasi-governmental entities, with a focus on the Middle East, Africa and China regions and the trade and business relationships between such regions. He also advises companies and professions on roll-outs (and, where appropriate, retractions) in the Middle East and Africa.

Leon Hurd

Leon specialises in digital assets, blockchain, financial regulation, financial crime and related regulation. His practice covers advisory and contentious matters and his clients include disruptive and emerging tech businesses, multinationals, financial institutions, corporate fiduciaries and high-net-worth individuals. Having worked as a specialist financial crime prosecutor for the Government of Jersey in the Channel Islands and also as in-house counsel for a number of blue-chip companies, Leon is able to draw upon first-hand experience and expertise to assist clients with governance, compliance and investigatory matters. Leon also has a keen interest in the intersection between financial crime compliance and blockchain businesses; he conducts regulatory health checks on client businesses and advises clients on the structuring and development of their crypto businesses to strike the right balance between innovation, commercial objectives and regulatory compliance.

Linos Choo

Linos is a lawyer specialising in commercial litigation and arbitration with particular emphasis on shipping, commodities, and international trade finance. Throughout his career, Linos has concluded many successful arbitrations through the ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, LMAA, SIAC, SCMA and CIETAC. He also regularly acts for clients in disputes in the High Court of Justice in London. Linos has extensive expertise of complex charterparty, bills of lading, ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding, ship finance, marine insurance and maritime cross-border insolvency litigation and arbitration. He is also an experienced commodities lawyer, regularly acting for some of the largest commodities trading houses in the world in GAFTA, FOSFA, LME and RSA arbitrations. In relation to international trade, Linos frequently advises banks on complex issues concerning payment obligations and bank-to-bank reimbursements under letters of credit, demand guarantees, performance bonds, and standby credits.

Lisa Raymond

Lisa is a senior commercial property specialist with particular expertise in retail and leisure property. Lisa acts for a wide portfolio of clients including investors, blue chip property companies, household name tenants and smaller start-ups. Lisa’s key achievements include acting for national brand tenant (Chopstix) in roll out of over 20 restaurant acquisitions in Central London and major shopping centres and high street locations nationwide. Acting for portfolio of other restaurants/cafes/leisure operators including advice on making first acquisition, licensing, service charges, lease acquisitions, lease renewals and landlord and tenant matters. Acting for British Land plc in purchase, development and letting of two retail parks including negotiation of purchase, funding and forward letting documents and detailed implementation and drafting of restrictive and non-competition covenants, option agreements and conditional contracts. Acting on nationwide acquisitions by Mark One plc of over 40 shops nationwide from high street stores to shopping centres. Acting on purchase, development and forward leasing of sites for British Land plc to Tesco and J Sainsbury plc.

Lisette Aguilar

Lisette specialises in disputes and transactions relating to art, antiques and the luxury sector, and also has a general commercial litigation background and interest in defamation. During her 12 years as a senior in-house lawyer at Sotheby’s, and subsequently, Lisette has worked on some of the most high profile cases in the art world. Lisette’s auction house background has given her extensive experience of handling issues arising from questions of authenticity and attribution, provenance and ownership, World War II restitution, cultural property claims, export, loss and damage, copyright and fraud. In addition to this, Lisette advises on contracts relating to the purchase and sale of high value art, musical instruments and other luxury goods, both at auction and privately, as well as general commercial agreements. Lisette frequently works with private and corporate collectors, trustees and family representatives, artists including those from the media and entertainment industries, dealers, art advisors, and art experts. Lisette is fluent in French, with a good working knowledge of German and understanding of Spanish

LLoyd Junor

Lloyd is a litigation lawyer specialising in probate and estate disputes with particular expertise in the agricultural sector. His practice covers mediating and resolving contentious trust, estate and probate disputes, advising on professional negligence claims against executors and trustees, and advising on Court of Protection disputes across a broad range of issues. Lloyd represents professional trustees, lay trustees, beneficiaries, fiduciaries and their advisers in addition to charities and HNW individuals.

Louise Bennett

Louise is a disputes solicitor with a distinct specialism in domestic and international civil fraud, cryptocurrency, and asset recovery. The cases she advises on often involve tracing and recovering the proceeds of fraud on behalf of claimants. She has particular experience acting on cases where there are criminal, restraint, or regulatory proceedings running in parallel. Louise is also an expert in company shareholder disputes, corporate and financial litigation, fraudulent litigation, misrepresentation, bribery and corruption. She supports clients caught up in collective investment schemes, Ponzi and advance fee fraud schemes, employee frauds, insolvency litigation, breach of trust, and directors’ duties. Many of the cases Louise works on are multi-jurisdictional and can be high-profile or sensitive investigations. Louise’s clients are leading global businesses, professional bodies and international organisations, as well as ultra-high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurial businesses.

Louise Knight

Louise primarily acts for executors or administrators in the administration of estates where inheritance tax is potentially relevant. She has administered estates with foreign property and administered only the English estate where the deceased was domiciled abroad. She often saves tax for executors and/or beneficiaries during the administration period such as by advising on and preparing deeds of variation.

Louise Madiment

City-trained Louise joined Keystone’s Dispute Resolution team in October 2015 and advises on a range of contentious trust and probate matters including Inheritance Act claims and trust litigation. In addition, her extensive commercial expertise means that she is often called upon to deal with professional negligence issues arising out of contentious trust and probate matters. Louise often advises beneficiaries on claims brought by surviving spouses and co-habitees, adult and minor children, and other dependants and has acted for executors facing such claims. She has also advised testators at the will-drafting stage on considerations to avoid a potential claim in the future, and has advised clients as to whether a will is invalid as a result of the deceased’s lack of testamentary capacity, their lack of knowledge and approval, undue influence exerted by third parties, fraud, lack of due execution, and revocation. In addition to advising private individuals, Louise also advises commercial clients on a wide range of contractual disputes including breach of agency agreements, shareholder agreements and partnership disputes, and has extensive experience in professional negligence claims against surveyors, financial advisors, solicitors and professional trustees. Louise is a member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS).

Louise Garcia

Louise is a consultant in the property and construction team. She is a knowledgeable and respected specialist adviser with over 20 years’ experience of contentious construction and engineering disputes acquired in the road and rail sectors, in PFI, on tunnelling and dredging projects, and in the residential, retail, hotel, education, and health and leisure sectors. Louise has particular expertise in working for clients delivering mechanical and electrical engineering services. Louise advises main contractors and subcontractors, consultants, and employers on all aspects of their construction and engineering needs, from advice on contracts and issues of design and construction, to disputes over payment, performance, and termination. She particularly enjoys advising on complex contract incorporation and interpretation issues, on final and interim account disputes, and on issues relating to delay and disruption, loss, and expense. Her experience includes advising on the usual standard form construction contracts including JCT and NEC, and on PFI and bespoke contracts.

Louise Grendon

Louise is an experienced employment lawyer with expertise in both contentious and non-contentious employment matters. She started her career as a litigation specialist and this experience has given her a wide understanding of handling client disputes. As an employment lawyer, Louise’s work is often advisory in nature. She works alongside clients on an ongoing basis to help them manage their key resources in the best way. This work involves ensuring that clients’ employment and consultancy agreements are up to date and effective. She is experienced in drafting template contracts as well as negotiating individual senior contracts for directors and senior personnel. Louise advises employers on issues that arise in the day-to-day running of a business, whether the handling of an internal dispute or disciplinary issue, negotiating the termination arrangements of a senior employee or advising on a redundancy process. She also advises on employment issues relating to or arising from corporate transactions and corporate contractual arrangements.

Louise Elmes

Louise is an expert in contentious construction, energy and maritime law and professional negligence. She advises clients on construction, engineering, energy and shipbuilding projects and related professional negligence, both domestically and internationally. Louise has acted on disputes in relation to bridges, car parks, commercial buildings, electricity sub-stations, energy-from-waste plants, anaerobic digestion plants, highways, hotels, LNG plants, prisons, process facilities, railways, residential developments, sewage works, tunnels, mines, wind farms, water attenuation facilities, water treatment facilities, cargo ships, drilling rigs, LNG carriers, passenger ferries and superyachts. Louise is experienced in various forms of dispute resolution including litigation, international and domestic arbitration, adjudication and other alternative dispute resolution procedures. She advises on UK domestic forms of construction contract, including NEC and JCT, FIDIC, SAJ, AWES, BIMCO and bespoke contracts in various jurisdictions including England and Wales, Angola, the BVI, the Caribbean, China, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

Lucy Pringle

Lucy is a commercial lawyer who advises businesses of all sizes on domestic and international supply chain contracts and global routes to market. She advises on supply agreements, purchasing contracts, services agreements, contractual joint ventures, distribution, agency, franchising, contract manufacturing, port handling / stevedoring, logistics and warehousing. In addition, Lucy works alongside inhouse teams to provide commercial contract support on matters ranging from day-to-day advice through to business-critical projects, such as complex outsourcing arrangements, procuring and installing new equipment, energy transition arrangements and decommissioning sites.

Lucy Blick-Jones

Lucy is a commercial lawyer with particular expertise in digital media, technology, e-commerce and digital publishing. Her specialisms include the development and publication of apps, games and websites; social media publishing; digital magazines; the digital distribution of content; online partnerships/affiliate deals; and the sale of physical, digital and virtual goods via websites and apps. Throughout her career, Lucy has built up a client base of hundreds of professionals across the TV, publishing, online retail, and music industries whom she advises on a range of commercial legal issues and business affairs. Prior to joining Keystone, Lucy worked both in private practice and in-house for global music and media companies (EMI and BBC Worldwide) which enabled her to broaden her skills, knowledge and commercial acumen.

Lucy Harrold

Lucy is a specialist intellectual property (IP) lawyer and has extensive experience in advising on all (IP) and related rights. She has particular expertise in the protection, exploitation, and enforcement of IP rights as well as in IP disputes, as well as a distinct specialism in copyright issues in the context of software, the Internet, and databases. Lucy's clients have ranged from artists and inventors through to banks, professional service firms, and large airlines. Other sector experience includes shipping, energy, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing. She also specialises in contractual issues related to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture about which she advises international non-governmental organisations.

Luke Trigona

Luke is a solicitor who assists the Private Individual team on a wide range of affairs including trusts, wills, lasting powers of attorney, charities, family offices, asset protection, estate planning and trust structuring.

Mailin Bala

Mailin is a highly experienced commercial lawyer, specialising in copyright, digital, technology and data. She supports clients to bring their project to life, advising on a breadth of commercial matters which pivot around the exploitation of intellectual property rights, the build and use of technology, and digital products and services. She works with clients ranging from start-ups to established global businesses, working across a variety of sectors but with a strong focus on technology, media, creative industries, automotive and retail sectors. Mailin’s experience includes working in-house, including as virtual in-house counsel to a legal solutions SaaS provider, as well as for a number of Pearson-owned companies including the Financial Times, Penguin Television and Pearson Broadband.

Malcolm Mason

Malcolm joined Keystone in July 2015 and is an experienced all-round contentious and non-contentious employment and labour lawyer with over 30 years’ experience. He is dual-qualified with significant legal practice experience in both England & Wales as a solicitor and also in the State of New York as an attorney and counsellor-at-law. Malcolm represents individuals and businesses of all sizes from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies on a complete range of employment and labour issues. He also has extensive experience of advising on UK and EU matters involving US parties or parent corporations.

Mamuna Farooq

Mamuna is a London-based international private wealth and tax lawyer, representing high-net-worth and ultra-high-net worth families in the UK and globally. She has an established client base representing esteemed families throughout the Middle East, the Gulf States and beyond. Mamuna’s expertise includes offering advice on succession planning, wealth preservation, asset protection, tax, cross-border estate administration and the acquisition of UK residential properties. By regularly travelling to meet clients and contacts and hosting industry events, Mamuna has established close relationships with a range of UK and international experts. She works closely with embassies, wealth managers, tax advisors, family offices, property agents, brokers and private banks to offer international families a holistic, bespoke service.

Manan Singh

Manan is a barrister with 12 years’ experience of working with a number of international law firms in the City. His practice focuses on high-value, complex commercial and financial litigation and international arbitration, as well as matters of company law, civil fraud, professional negligence, shareholder disputes and insolvency law. His experience spans a broad range of industry sectors and jurisdictions, with proceedings often being multi-jurisdictional in nature. He also advises high-net-worth individuals and companies on matters of asset structuring and trusts. Manan regularly appears in the English courts and before tribunals constituted under the rules of the ICC in Paris, London and Dubai, the LCIA, the DIFC-LCIA, and SIAC. In addition to his commercial disputes practice, Manan has a wealth of transactional experience in banking and capital markets which gives him a unique expertise in dealing with financial disputes and technical expert evidence relating to such disputes.

Marc Palley

Marc is a very experienced lawyer with over 40 years’ experience in a wide variety of areas, including banking, capital markets, derivatives, real estate finance, restructurings, insolvency and dispute resolution. He has advised a large variety of banks and borrowers and other entities in corporate and real estate and other financings and matters.

Marc Wilkinson

Marc is a senior banking, capital markets, structured finance, regulatory and derivatives lawyer whose experience spans across private practice with top-tier leading law firms in London and Dublin. He has also had both in-house legal roles and front-office roles within a major investment bank and a global asset manager. Marc advises companies, financial institutions, investment funds and asset managers on debt financing, derivatives and structured finance. He also assists corporate clients on regulatory implementation and compliance projects in the area of financial services. Additionally, Marc has cross-border experience advising arrangers, issuers, investors and corporate trustees in the structuring and execution of debt capital markets transactions. These range from simple corporate bond issuances to more complex structured financings, such as asset-backed securities (ABS), collateral debt obligations (CDO) and securitisation, and include both investment products and restructuring of non-performing loans (NPLs). Marc was the head of the Italian desk at a leading law firm in Dublin and has an extensive network of contacts among businesses and law firms operating in Italy, including chambers of commerce.

Marcus Lavell

Marcus is a specialist licensing and regulation barrister of over ten years’ call. He has particular expertise in dealing with premises licensing, with a distinct focus on the hospitality and leisure sector, and the regulations associated with it. In addition, Marcus has a wealth of experience in advising clients at the early stages of the development of new premises. Marcus also provides regulatory compliance services such as audit, system development and fail-safe reporting structures. He excels at solving issues found on review applications to the satisfaction of both the authorities and the licence holder, so that the licensing objectives and business viability can be promoted.

Marcus Collins

Marcus is an IP lawyer of nearly 30 years’ experience with a particular focus in the fields of UK, EU and international trade mark prosecution, trade mark portfolio management, branding and infringement matters. He also advises on internet domain name, industrial design, copyright, defamation and social media platform content issues. Clients include well-known brands in the pharmaceutical, sports franchising/merchandising, social media and financial services sector

Marie-Claire Di Mambro

A specialist in insurance claims work, Marie-Claire advises in relation to claims ranging from professional negligence to complex insurance coverage disputes. Prior to joining Keystone, Marie-Claire acted exclusively for insurers for over a decade. Since then, she has used her considerable experience in this specialist area and now acts for individuals and corporate clients against insurers and in bringing professional negligence claims. She aims wherever possible to achieve a negotiated settlement of her clients’ claims and as swiftly as possible. During her many years acting for insurers she has gained a considerable understanding as to how they operate and she is able to use this knowledge to her clients’ advantage in the claims negotiation process.

Mark Douglas

Mark is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience. Throughout his career Mark has acted for a wide range of clients with a focus more recently on advising owner-managed businesses, high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs as well as providers of venture capital and private equity. He has considerable experience of cross-border transactions and regularly advises clients on doing business in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Mark advises on corporate and commercial transactions including mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and collaboration agreements, corporate reorganisations and restructurings, corporate governance and a range of commercial agreements, as well as general corporate law issues. Mark is qualified in England and Wales as a solicitor, and in New Zealand as a barrister and solicitor.

Mark Machray

Mark advises clients in the SME sector on a range of corporate and commercial issues. Through his network of contacts in the corporate finance world and his relationships within the venture capital, private equity and high net worth community, he is pro-active in introducing finance and business opportunities to his clients. The areas in which he specialises are asset and share acquisitions and disposals; private equity and venture capital investments; incorporations: shareholder/joint venture agreements; MBOs and MBIs; company restructuring; corporate structures for commercial property transactions; company law advice; terms and conditions for the supply of goods and services; agency and distribution agreements; e-commerce; advising clients looking to franchise their businesses; drafting franchise agreements; advising prospective franchisees and buying and selling franchised businesses.

Mark Dent

Mark is an experienced employment solicitor with a career spanning more than 20 years, during which he has gained a wealth of experience working at both international and niche law firms. Mark’s client base consists of employers and senior, often director-level, employees across a broad spectrum of sectors – such the banking, property, legal, pharmaceutical, insurance, retail, and public sectors, including the NHS and local government. Mark is also an accredited Employment and Workplace Mediator and has been involved in a number of high-level mediations, including with a major international food retailer. Such mediations very often result in a binding mediation agreement, involving continuing employment or an agreed exit.

Mark Beer OBE

Mark is a highly regarded commercial lawyer with considerable cross-border experience. He has been a judge; worked in-house; worked in private practice; built hedge funds; advised governments and run private- and public-sector organisations. Much of his career has been spent finding solutions, negotiating deals and developing commercial trust and confidence.Having lived for a number of years in the Middle East, and having worked across South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Mark is well connected with solid policy and multi-industry international experience dealing with stakeholders from the government, judiciary, regulators, legal and business communities, public and media across a number of geographies.

Mark Spragg

Mark is both a civil and criminal litigation specialist who conducts the majority of his work in the area of financial services, often against the state, in particular HMRC, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority. Many of his cases conclude in the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights and involve real points of principle. Mark has been involved in many notable and interesting cases since the establishment of the SFO and he is often called upon by the media to offer comment on matters of national interest. He travels abroad regularly to meet with clients who are unable to travel to the UK. Mark’s areas of expertise are criminal defence of white collar fraud, civil prosecution and defence of white collar fraud, corporate conflicts, contentious employment matters (defence and prosecution), advising employers on detecting and dealing with frauds, fraud prevention techniques, tax investigations and enquiries, extradition law and challenging police search warrants. Mark’s key achievements include: (i) early fraud trials such as Blue Arrow; (ii) long running dispute between Octav Botnar, Nissan UK and the Inland Revenue; (iii) Dame Shirley Porter, leader of Westminster City Council; (iv) commenced rare private prosecution following a death on Everest; (v) acting to resist the controversial and unpopular extradition of NatWest Three; (vi) challenges to high profile police search warrants eg Harry Redknapp; (vii) the expenses row in the Houses of Parliament, an appeal to the Privy Council from the Court of Appeal in Bermuda and litigation concerning BTA Bank.

Mark Harden

Mark is a corporate and commercial transactions specialist with a practice that has a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate and project finance and all manner of commercial agreements. He has significant experience in dealing with clients across a range of industry sectors including manufacturing, railways, aerospace, defence, telecommunications, leisure and financial services. Mark contributes regularly to industry publications and authored five chapters to “Practical Company Law” by Mark Stamp. He is also an experienced public speaker on a range of corporate related topics.

Martin Howe

Martin is a consultant in the Construction team with particular expertise in the interpretation and drafting of construction and related contracts for clients in both public and private sectors. He has authored more industry standard forms of contract than any lawyer currently practising. Martin also advises on procurement strategy and the legal, commercial, and practical issues relating to the delivery of successful projects. He has advised numerous public and private sector organisations including universities, local authorities, central government departments, NHS Trusts, housing associations, and many construction contractors including Costain, Kajima, Hochtief, Bovis Lend Lease, and Wates. In addition Martin regularly advises on the procurement and documentation of highways maintenance arrangements.

Martin Brown

Martin specialises in international finance and acts for a variety of financial institutions, as well as sponsors and corporate borrowers. He has worked on matters spanning the globe for market-leading international financial institutions and companies. Advising on English law, Qatari law, and the laws and regulations of the Qatar Financial Centre, Martin has advised on many conventional and Shari’a-compliant transactions throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council, Africa and Europe.

Martin O'Neill

Martin is a specialist tax litigation and disputes practitioner who represents corporate clients across a variety of industry sectors and specialises in cases involving VAT, Excise Duties and Customs Duties. He frequently advises on complex indirect tax cases and fraud cases, and particularly ”means of knowledge” (also known as ‘Kittel’) cases where HMRC attempt to recover lost tax from others who were not involved in fraud but nevertheless could have known of its existence. Having previously worked as a special investigator for the law enforcement department of HMRC, Martin is very well placed to advise clients on best practices to maintain a good relationship and prevent litigation or disputes. While Martin advises clients in all sectors, he works particularly closely with clients in the consumer electronics, wholesale, import/export, soft/alcoholic drinks, haulage, leisure and entertainment sectors, which are high on HMRC’s target lists and most likely to be on the receiving end of aggressive and disruptive action.

Martin Pearse

Martin is Consultant Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team and has a wide-ranging practice which includes general litigation and property litigation. Experienced at all levels of the court system, he is also well versed in the processes of adjudication, arbitration and mediation. His general litigation practice includes contractual disputes, debt collection, defamation, directors’ duties and fraud, as well as intellectual property – including trademark infringement, breach of copyright and passing off – and matters relating to partnerships and shareholders. Martin’s expertise in property-related matters includes disputes involving landlords and tenants of both commercial and residential properties, as well as boundaries, rights of way, restrictive covenants, rights of light and other easements. He also has experience of planning and building disputes and negligence claims concerning professionals in the property sector. With a flexible approach to funding, Martin has operated under conditional and contingent fee agreements, as well as actions funded by legal expense insurance and third parties

Mary Geraghty

Mary is an experienced General Counsel who has held in-house roles with Starbucks Coffee Company, Arcadia Group (owner of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and other high-street fashion brands) and Harrods Group (owner of Harrods department store and businesses which included Kurt Geiger shoes and Fulham Football Club). She has considerable experience advising businesses expanding internationally (including in the USA, Italy and the UK) and has worked on a number of flagship retail developments. With experience working within retail, fashion, food & beverage, and consumer goods businesses, Mary can step in to provide practical advice, leadership and support on a General Counsel-like basis, managing projects or simply providing an experienced pair of hands to support existing teams.

Matheu Smith

Matheu’s tax litigation practice covers direct and indirect taxes and also customs duties.He advises on all aspects of the statutory appeal processes for the various taxes and customs duties including proceedings before the first tier and upper tier tax tribunals and all levels of the conventional court system. He is happy to work alongside or behind a client’s existing tax advisors to help manage a dispute with HMRC or an investigation, in particular, to help to manage and control the procedural aspects to the client’s best advantage. His recent work includes dealing with disputes arising from failed/attempted tax planning schemes, disputes concerning taxation issues arising from the sale of businesses, advising companies caught up in HMRC’s battle against MTIC fraud and customs issues arising from breach of export controls. His cases regularly include multi-jurisdictional issues and he acts for overseas parties including off-shore trusts/entities. His cases also often feature parallel proceedings running within the conventional court system (e.g. Insolvency Act claims) and the statutory tax appeal process. He also has a broad commercial litigation practice and has conducted litigation in jurisdictions as diverse as China, the USA and Australia. He is a Solicitor Advocate.

Matthew Kichenside

Matthew is an experienced private equity lawyer who specialises in advising management teams and senior executive and non-executive managers in connection with management buy-outs, equity incentivisation plans, reorganisations, bolt-on acquisitions and other corporate activities.

Matthew Hennessy-Gibbs

Matthew is a commercial litigation lawyer with over 20 years’ experience and with specific expertise in commercial disputes and fraud, often with an international element. His client base is both domestic and international, having acted for companies and businesses throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and many offshore jurisdictions, as well as those in the UK. He also advises private high-net-worth individuals and family offices, foreign lawyers, and major lending institutions. An approved Privy Council Agent, several of Matthew’s cases have gone to the Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights. His experience includes claims and disputes concerning commercial contracts, breach of trust, sale of goods, professional negligence, litigation on behalf of insolvency practitioners, fraud and bribery investigations and asset tracing, debt recovery, shareholder and other corporate disputes, and money laundering issues as well as advising clients in coroners’ inquests.

Matthew Tom

Matthew is an experienced employment lawyer specialising in strategic advice on senior-level exits. With almost two decades’ employment law experience, he is skilled in managing conflict situations for employers, to minimise time and costs spent whilst protecting the business, its client relationships and confidential information. He also advises on terminations, as well as contractual and practical measures to regulate staff conduct and restrict defections to rival businesses. Matthew also acts for senior employees seeking financial settlements and career freedom after departure, where appropriate also acting for the new employer to resolve restrictive covenant and confidential information issues.

Matthew Duggan

Matthew advises entrepreneurs on complex commercial legal issues. Throughout his career, he has advised businesses and financial institutions on corporate and commercial transactions in the UK, Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Matthew was founding executive and General Counsel for United Customer Management Solutions, a business process outsourcing company, where he was responsible for negotiating and managing a wide range of international transactions. His blend of private practice and in-house experience makes him particularly familiar with the challenges that organisations face in obtaining proactive and cost effective legal advice.

Matthew Trinder

Matthew is a highly experienced medical malpractice specialist and healthcare lawyer, with a particular focus on private insurance and independent healthcare. In addition to acting on maximum severity, complex brain or spinal injury cases, Matthew also has a special interest in orthopaedic surgery, plastic surgery, dental, cosmetic/aesthetic medicine, genetic or pathology screening claims, and health tech/product liability. He primarily defends compensation claims but also advises on healthcare law, complaints and regulatory law. Matthew’s clients include leading insurers, healthcare providers and individuals, NHS bodies and medical defence organisations representing domestic or international clients.

Matthew Anson

Matthew is a partner in our corporate team with wide-ranging experience advising private equity sponsors on acquisitions, disposals, restructurings, and incentive schemes and has acted for several sovereign wealth funds on co-investment matters. He has also represented clients in respect of several take-private transactions. Matt has expertise in providing fund-level advice in connection with continuation fund transactions. He also has extensive knowledge of advising on customary policy terms and the competitive landscape in the transactional risk insurance market, having worked as an underwriter in the W&I market.

Maureen Kelly

An experienced intellectual property and information technologysolicitor, Maureen works across a wide variety of sectors including life sciences, information technology and education. She specialises in facilitating knowledge transfer between research organisations and industry. In addition to her experience in private practice, Maureen spent three years in-house with Cancer Research Technology. Having been a member of the PraxisAuril training committee for 10 years, she continues to provide training on PraxisAuril’s knowledge transfer courses.Maureen is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional

Max Robinson

Max is an expert commercial litigation and dispute resolution lawyer with substantial experience in a diverse range of matters, frequently acting for well-known private clients and companies and often with an international element. Max has particular expertise in all aspects of commercial litigation, in particular commercial fraud, claims for breach of fiduciary duty and/or dishonest assistance, claims for professional negligence and also substantial commercial debt recovery claims. Max has also developed a sub-speciality in private client litigation to include contested trust and probate claims, wills and probate claims, claims arising under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, and domicile and tax disputes.

Meriel Pymont

Meriel is an experienced commercial and intellectual property solicitor. She trained with Linklaters and subsequently worked in-house for Walt Disney and then again in private practice for Farrer & Co which gives her a commercial pro-active approach to advising clients. Meriel advises media, manufacturing, fashion, sporting and software clients on their commercial arrangements and protecting /exploiting their intellectual property rights. The areas in which Meriel specialises are; advising on all aspects of online commerce including privacy policies (data protection) and distance selling; international licensing; manufacture and distribution agreements; software licensing development and maintenance agreements; terms and conditions of sale and purchase; sponsorship and event agreements; including broadcasting of events; advertising and marketing agreements; international non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements; consultancy agreements; broadcasting; channel and satellite agreements; research and development agreements; book publishing agreements; film option agreements; consultancy agreements; agency agreements; outsourcing agreements.

Michael Holter

Michael specialises in international transactions, in particular cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and complex commercial agreements. Michael advises across a wide range of industry sectors and has particular expertise working with aviation and e-commerce/new media companies. He also specialises in private wealth transactions for family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Bilingual in English and German, Michael often works with German and German-speaking clients. He is also fluent in French and reads Spanish and Italian. Michael also advises on the corporate aspects of large commercial and shareholder disputes.

Michael Fluss

Michael is a corporate tax specialist who advises major financial institutions, real estate and retail companies on effective tax structuring. His advice often involves the tax implications of complex UK real estate transactions. Michael regularly assists with Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and real estate VAT and capital allowances issues, and is also experienced in dealing with property-based securitisations and corporate intra-group asset reorganisations and debt restructurings.

Michelle Last

Michelle is a skilled employment lawyer, with over twelve years’ experience in advising clients on a broad range of non-contentious and contentious employment law matters. She has particular expertise in negotiating and advising on settlement agreements, advising on restrictive covenants and confidential information, employment status, agency workers and TUPE, as well as providing counsel on employment issues relating to insolvency. Michelle is a regular contributor to the press and has been published in The Times and the Financial Times among many others. She is also an avid speaker on employment law issues relating to TUPE, discrimination, restrictive covenants and redundancy.

Milena Radoycheva

Milena is a commercial and corporate lawyer with 15 years’ experience representing businesses of all sizes and high-net-worth individuals on a wide range of commercial and corporate transactions ranging from collaboration, sponsorship and IP licence agreements to joint ventures and share and asset purchase agreements. Milena has particular expertise in the higher education sector, having led the legal team at one of the world’s top ten universities and is uniquely placed to advise on the variety of transactions universities engage in and on the challenges they face in an environment that is highly competitive and becoming more and more heavily regulated.

Minesh Patel

Minesh has over 30 years’ experience dealing with lettings, acquisitions, disposals, investment, development and refinancing of commercial property, particularly in hotels, pubs, restaurants and clubs. He is on the panel of recommended solicitors for a number of pub companies and agents. Additionally, Minesh has extensive expertise in advising the care home and children’s nursery sectors, primarily for owner-operators/family-run businesses. Businesses from a wide range of sectors also turn to Minesh for commercial property assistance with offices and industrial properties, including headquarter offices for multinational companies, UK distribution and freight forwarding hubs, along with petrol stations and retail shops.

Mirjam Schorr

Mirjam is an English and German qualified insurance lawyer and litigator with over 20 years’ experience in conducting and resolving complex disputes, many of which have cross-border elements. Her key areas of expertise are insurance/reinsurance, product liability, construction and general commercial disputes. In addition to her contentious work, Mirjam frequently advises insurers on policy coverage under both English and German law. She also has extensive experience of drafting commercial agreements and standard terms. Mirjam is bilingual (German/English) and also speaks conversational Portuguese.

Monica Ma

Monica has advised on employee benefits for over 20 years, specialising particularly in pensions and share incentive arrangements. She has wide-ranging experience of all types of employee benefits work, including the establishment of share incentive plans and pension plans. She also provides support on the employee benefits aspects of corporate transactions including M&As, flotations, joint ventures, and corporate restructures as well as executive termination. Areas of expertise include benefit designs and changes; compliance; amalgamation; winding-up; trustees/employers’ powers and duties; investment management agreements; deficit issues and pension disputes; ombudsman cases; establishment and benefit changes; compliance; institutional investors’ guidelines; relevant codes and market practice.

Muzaffar Shah

Muzaffar is a leading advisor on data privacy and information governance, as well as commercial transactions. Muzaffar has worked on many international data-related projects, including large-scale compliance programmes, data breaches, engagement with data protection regulators, contentious data subject rights issues, international data flows, innovative uses of data and the introduction of new technologies. In addition, Muzaffar advises on transactions involving intellectual property, and complex technology and commercial contracts, including agreements relating to the creation and exploitation of technology and related services, distribution agreements, manufacturing agreements and ancillary commercial agreements to broader corporate transactions. Muzaffar’s clients have included major social media platforms, private equity funds, technology companies and online service providers.

Nadia Milligan

Nadia has been advising hospitality asset owners, investors and international brands for over 15 years. An experienced commercial property and commercial lawyer with a particular focus in the hotels, hospitality & leisure and retail sectors, she takes a business-focused and proactive approach. Nadia has extensive expertise in advising owners and investors of hospitality assets, their landlords and international brands in the amicable resolution of operational and relationship issues. Nadia also advises on environmental social governance (ESG) aspects in relation to the hotels, hospitality & leisure sector, including advising on ESG requirements in the built environment (‘green’ and ‘social’ provisions in leases, management and franchise agreements) and leading transformational change. Nadia has spent over 13 years in-house, holding senior positions within Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC and more recently Sonder Inc. where she sat on senior leadership teams, collaborating with business partners to help drive strategy throughout EMEAA whilst mitigating commercial, legal and reputational risk. Prior to working in-house, Nadia gained nearly 10 years of private-practice experience at top-tier international firms such as Clifford Chance and Nabarro (now CMS). Nadia also works with lenders and borrowers in banking and finance, advising on the real estate aspects (and where the asset is a hotel, also advising on the hotel operational aspects) of financing commercial property. Nadia is based in London but frequently travels to meet with clients. She speaks fluent Arabic.

Nadim Zaman

Nadim is an experienced corporate lawyer specialising in equity investments, disposals, and mergers and acquisitions. He advises high-growth companies on venture capital and private equity transactions, including seed and series A, B and C investment rounds, convertible loan note investments, and strategic acquisitions and exits (most recently for Accel Partners, Ventech, and founders of Hassle.com). Nadim also advises the venture capital firms and corporate finance houses that serve high-growth companies in the UK and overseas. He is experienced in dealing with direct and indirect overseas investment in UK businesses, having worked closely with Apax Partners for two years on the equity investments by the Chinese, Australian and Singapore sovereign wealth funds. Nadim is well placed to advise on mergers, acquisitions, disposals and investments, joint ventures, shareholder arrangements, and management team mandates, across a broad range of market sectors.

Naomi Hatchard

Naomi is a skilled personal injury and dispute resolution lawyer who has represented corporate and public bodies for over thirteen years, defending employer, public and property damage claims. She also advises clients in the holiday and travel industry on claims involving foreign and multi-jurisdictional issues. Naomi has a unique insight into the various competing HR issues facing employers today and works collaboratively with clients in the management of workforce injury and health claims. She is particularly experienced in responding to multiple claim scenarios and setting the strategy for the management of groups of claims in order to limit ongoing exposure. Naomi regularly provides training to colleagues and clients on a variety of topics including civil procedure and claims handling.

Natasha Forman

Natasha is a highly experienced employment solicitor who acts for both employers and senior executives, including regulated professionals. She has particular expertise in employment litigation and disputes involving complex whistleblowing and discrimination issues. She has a strong track record in helping her employer clients avoid costly court and tribunal proceedings and when acting for senior executives she frequently secures high-value settlements, including a number of seven-figure settlements. Natasha is dual-qualified in England & Wales and Australia and works with clients in a variety of sectors, from financial services, media and entertainment, law firms and other professional services firms, to retail and luxury brands.

Nathan Donaldson

Nathan has two decades of experience in contentious employment law and advises a range of organisations and high-net-worth individuals. He specialises in cases concerning discrimination, whistleblowing, employment matters arising out of Financial Conduct Authority-regulated organisations, and advising clients in the hotel, education, healthcare and charity sectors.

Nia Jones

Nia advises private individuals, personal representatives and trustees. She specializes in helping individuals who wish to provide for dependents with particular disabilities through wills and/or trusts.

Niall McCann

Niall is a licensing, gambling and regulatory specialist who advises on applications pursuant to the Licensing Act 2003, Gambling Act 2005 and all associated compliance and regulatory matters. He regularly appears before the courts and sub-committees throughout England and Wales as an advocate. His expertise also encompasses advising on the impact of insolvency in respect to licensed premises. His clients include pub companies, restaurants, bars, hotels, nightclubs, off-licences and events spaces. He also advises on a wide range of civil litigation matters such as contractual disputes, professional negligence claims, breach of warranty claims and insolvency.

Nicholas Barclay

Nicholas is an experienced corporate lawyer who advises organisations of all sizes, from family offices to international corporates, on mergers and acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, corporate reorganisations, equity investments and shareholder arrangements, and other domestic and cross-border corporate matters (including general company law advice to directors and company secretaries). Nicholas has experience across a wide range of industry sectors and has extensive experience in corporate real estate transactions, including acting for development managers on investment and acquisitions and disposals. Nicholas is an established adviser to clients based in the Middle East, having worked in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Nicholas Robertson

Nick is a very experienced employment solicitor who advises on the full range of employment issues for employers. Since 1988 he has advised employers both in relation to commercial and advisory matters, and matters involving litigation between employers and employees. Nick has represented employers in the Court of Appeal, the High Court, County Court, the Employment Tribunal and the Central Arbitration Committee as well as at ACAS. His experience includes advising on matters relating to individual employees and on collective matters, such as restructuring and collective redundancies. Nick has also represented senior executives joining and leaving employers, or looking to move to new roles with competitors. As a trained mediator, Nick also resolves disputes using alternative dispute resolution methods where possible.

Nicholas Brown

Nicholas is a skilled property lawyer with expertise in all aspects of commercial property practice and, in particular, residential property development work. With nearly thirty years’ experience, he is well placed to deal with site assembly and disposal of both residential and commercial development, conditional agreements and options, as well as Section 106 agreements.

Nicholas Tall

Nicholas is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with particular expertise in rights acquisition and exploitation, IT agreements and general commercial contracts such as agency, distribution and supply contracts. He regularly advises on gambling law issues. Prior to joining Keystone, he was a partner at Speechly Bircham LLP and has previous in-house experience at Gullane Entertainment and the publisher De Agostini. Nicholas is a regular contributor to a number of trade journals and frequently speaks at conferences. Nicholas read law at Oxford University. Nicholas s areas of expertise are media and entertainment; IP (including sponsorship and other forms of exploitation); IT/outsourcing; general commercial contracts (including agency, distribution, supply and logistics); e-commerce; gambling/prize competitions/free prize draws; due diligence and consumer law. Nicholas s key achievements include (i) advising formerly AIM-listed rights owning company on all aspects of various television productions (including rights acquisition, contributors and co-production arrangements), broadcast arrangements, brand management and ancillary rights exploitation programmes, including international licensing and publishing (including e-books) programmes, together with international trade mark filing strategy; (ii) advising on a number of rights acquisition transactions, including full due diligence on complex underlying rights position and exploitation arrangements; (iii) advising international publishing company on variety of publishing arrangements, together with copyright and licensing advice for covermounts, including liaising with foreign lawyers; (iv) advising luxury brands group in respect of co-marketing agreement with major department store and its sponsorship of major golf tournament; (v) advising French costume manufacturer in relation to royalty dispute and licence renewals in respect of Spiderman films; (vi) advising Apple application developer in respect of co-development and co-publishing arrangements, including with major publishers and US rights owners; (vii) advising theatre company in respect of interpolated rights pertaining to well known songwriter; (viii) advising a UK leading greeting cards company on print on demand and licensing and distribution arrangements in general.

Nick Weaser

Nick is an expert adviser to the music and wider entertainment industry on a variety of legal and commercial matters. His expertise, for which he is recognised and respected, includes advising a diverse range of artists, producers, songwriters and managers on all aspects of their careers and across the full spectrum of music industry contracts. He has a particular focus on representing emerging talent. Much of Nick’s work relates to the UK, Europe and the United States but he also has a unique understanding of the Asian and Australasian markets, having represented a number of clients in these jurisdictions.

Nick Robertson

Nick Jew

Nick is an employment law specialist who regularly represents clients in both the Employment Tribunal and in High Court injunction proceedings. He has advised on many high-profile discrimination cases and has acted for a number of household names. Nick advises on executive terminations, injunction proceedings, whistleblowing and discrimination claims. He also works with businesses on TUPE, redundancy programmes and large-scale corporate restructurings.

Nick Scott

Nick specialises in the resolution of complex commercial disputes often with a significant international element, representing clients in both High Court litigation and arbitration (LCIA, ICC, AAA, LME, WIPO) as well as in ADR processes including mediation and early neutral evaluation. Nick is fluent in German and French.

Nick Ellis

Nick is a property lawyer specialising in real estate as an asset with a focus on finance and structures. Nick’s work covers the full spectrum of real estate sectors: offices, residential, hotel and leisure, retail, mixed use and industrial. He has particular experience in relation to acquisitions and disposals, leasing, development, asset management, PFI/PPP, financial structuring and joint ventures.

Nick Watson

Nick is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer who acts as in-house counsel to companies that are not yet ready to make an internal legal appointment. He also works with existing in-house legal and senior executive teams to help them take smart, risk-based decisions quickly and effectively.Nick advises clients on contracts, policy, compliance and disputes. He also helps clients to safeguard their interests in relation to a variety of business-critical concerns such as information security, data protection and insurance.

Nick Owens

Nick is a property lawyer and provides a full-service offering in relation to real estate matters, acting for individuals investors, developers, landlords and occupiers.With a wealth of private practice experience, Nick handles a wide range of matters involving residential, agricultural and commercial property acquisitions and disposals, including high-value complex transactions, residential and mixed-use development sites, construction matters, associated financing and all property aspects of corporate deals.

Nick Tsatsas

Nick is an experienced employment lawyer and acts for domestic and international employers, as well as senior executives and high-net-worth individuals. Although he acts for clients across a wide range of sectors, he has particular expertise in dealing with employment related issues arising in the fashion, media, retail, sports and transport sectors. Nick's practice covers advisory work as well as contentious disputes.Areas of expertise: Bonus and commission disputes Director and shareholder disputes Employment status Drafting and advising on employment contracts and policies Terminations and dismissals Disciplinary and grievance issues Litigation in the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and High Court Restructuring and redundancies Breach of contract and wrongful dismissal claims Bullying or harrassment Sickness absence and performance management issues TUPE Unfair dismissal claims

Nicola Thatcher

Nicola is an experienced media and intellectual property lawyer, who specialises in giving commercial advice to publishing clients on pre-publication issues. She also has extensive litigation experience. Nicola s areas of expertise are defamation (libel and slander), privacy, breach of confidentiality, copyright, trade marks, passing off, contempt of court and litigation. Nicola s key achievements include: (i) extensive experience in providing pre-publication legal reports and clearance to book publishers, magazine publishers, film production companies and broadcasters working directly with authors, editors and producers; (ii) advising major news content provider on a regular basis, giving pre-broadcast clearance from the newsroom, working directly with journalists and editors; (iii) extensive experience in dispute resolution, including applications for injunctions, acting for claimants or defendants, in matters relating to defamation, privacy, infringement of copyright and contempt of Court (numerous cases have been reported); (iv) handling large-scale libel litigation for publishing clients (v) advising specialist media insurers in defamation and IP infringement claims; (vi) representing high profile individuals in libel claims, achieving prompt and successful settlements.

Nicola Richards

Immigration lawyer Nicola specialises in assisting businesses within the technology and inward investments sectors on a range of immigration rules. She acts for a variety of companies, from large international corporates to smaller start-ups.Nicola advises on all aspects of UK immigration including Tier 2 Sponsor Licence applications, EEA applications, Tier 1 Exceptional Talent and Sole Representative visas. She is also experienced in Settlement and Citizenship applications, and has successfully challenged the Immigration Rules when needed. Nicola also advises clients on the future of their European workforce in relation to Brexit.

Nicole Smith

Nicole is an experienced practitioner in the field of international arbitration and all forms of alternative dispute resolution. Her recent cases include acting for a Russian pharmaceutical company on its claims against an English pharmaceutical company; acting for a Russian investor in a dispute over a property shareholding and acting for a Ukrainian oil bunkering company. She has previously acted for owners of a large Russian oil refinery and a European government defending enforcement proceedings in relation to a military sales dispute. She has appeared as advocate in numerous arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc and before all leading institutions including the ICC and LCIA.

Nigel Forsyth

Nigel advises both employers and employees on all areas of employment law including contract and benefits negotiation, termination of employment, discrimination, whistleblowing, TUPE, disciplinary and grievance issues, team moves, and post-termination restraints, share and partnership disputes, LLPs and private equity/venture capital issues. His practice covers a range of different sectors including financialand professional services, retail, fashion, education, recruitment, sport, property, publishing, health and hospitality. Among his clients are household names and high-profile senior executives who frequently attract coverage in the financial press. Nigel is also an experienced litigator with a strong track record in fighting substantial employment disputes in the courts and tribunals. He is a passionate supporter of mediation and has successfully represented clients in over 40 mediated cases.

Nilam Sharma

Nilam is a dual US- and UK-qualified insurance and reinsurance expert. Specialising in directors and officers, financial lines, and professional negligence, with an emphasis on those professionals advising on financial transactions, she is one of very few lawyers outside of the US with expertise in this area. With an international client base spanning Europe, the US, Asia and Bermuda, Nilam advises insurers and their clients on policy coverage and the strategy of responding to a multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigation. In addition, she provides counsel on corporate governance issues and financial transactions and related regulatory investigations. Alongside her contentious practice, Nilam has an impressive portfolio of non-contentious work, including drafting policy wordings and assisting clients in detecting key risk issues. She is also a regular speaker at leading industry events.

Ntiana (Anna Papadopoulou

Ntiana (also known as Anna) advises on a wide range of finance and corporate work within the shipping and energy sectors. This includes the drafting and negotiation of terms and revolving facilities and shareholders’ agreements. She also advises international borrowers, banks and private equity firms on new transactions as well as in connection with restructurings and enforcement situations. Her work includes acting for buyers and sellers on asset sale and purchase transactions. Having spent the earlier part of her career in funds, she also has expertise in advising funds on their setting up as well as capital raising and investments. Anna is qualified in England and Wales. She speaks fluent English and Greek.

Olive Gathoni

Olive is an experienced lawyer who advises on all aspects of family law and typically represents clients with mid-high net worth or those with an international element and has particular expertise in Kenyan family law where she will be a dual-qualified lawyer upon admission in 2024 and is also fluent in Swahili. In addition to general family matters, Olive frequently guides clients through complex financial matters post-separation, including family businesses and pensions. She also has experience drafting and reviewing pre- and post-nuptial agreements and advising non-married couples. Another area of expertise for Olive is in acting for clients on a broad range of children matters including but not limited to abductions, relocations and high-conflict children cases.

Oliver Smith

Oliver has over 20 years’ experience settling disputes involving a wide range of commercial and intellectual property matters. He specialises in company and financial services disputes as well as trademark, copyright and libel claims. Oliver acts for both UK and international companies and has particular experience advising Russian entities. Oliver’s areas of expertise are intellectual property disputes (trademarks, passing off, copyright, design rights, patents); company, director and shareholder disputes; contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims; hostile takeovers and proxy battles for listed companies; financial services disputes (insider dealing, market abuse, mis-selling); professional negligence (solicitors, accountants and investment advisers); Competition Act and Enterprise Act claims and representations to OFT; defamation (libel, slander and malicious falsehood), privacy and data protection; injunctions (including freezing of assets and search and seizure of evidence); ‘Norwich Pharmacal’ disclosure orders against ISPs to identify anonymous online publishers. Oliver’s key achievements include: (i) acting for active investor in shareholder proxy battle over a listed dot com company; (ii) advising leading stockbroker in £300m certificate of deposit fraud; (iii) defending director and fiduciary duties claim by a £500m investment fund; (iv) bringing libel claim for leading FTSE 250 inter-dealer broker against a solicitors’ firm; (v) successfully defending Private Eye magazine in the longest running UK libel claim; (vi) obtaining a ‘super-injunction’ to protect the privacy of a successful sportsman; (vii) successfully defending a trade mark claim by one of the world’s largest retailers and obtaining record costs award in the Trade Marks Registry; (viii) winning a landmark reported copyright case for joint authorship of the song ‘Young at Heart’ by The Bluebells used in a VW TV advertisement.

Patrick Graves

Patrick is a corporate lawyer with over 25 years’ experience, with a practice covering all aspects of private and public company mergers and acquisitions, equity capital market transactions, and corporate finance and growth solutions for family and entrepreneurial businesses. He advises boards of several listed companies, both UK-based and international, across the TMT, FinTech and energy and natural resources sectors.

Patrick Elliot

Patrick is a corporate recovery and insolvency specialist with more than 15 years’ experience. His broad practice covers advising on all formal processes including administrations, liquidations, schemes, voluntary arrangements and cross-border regulations. Patrick regularly acts for the creditors of failed institutional, financial and professional services businesses as well as retail and industrial businesses. Having practiced as a litigator for most of his career, Patrick uses his vast experience to assist with the litigation aspects of an insolvency such as undoing antecedent transactions, tracing assets and enforcement. He has also advised on EU and International insolvency legislation, including successfully defending an international enforcement to the Supreme Court in the leading case of Rubin and Eurofinance. Patrick’s clients include corporates, insolvency practitioners, distressed investors, bondholder creditors, individuals faced with bankruptcy, as well as insolvent businesses and their boards. Patrick also advises on all aspects of data protection.

Patrick Selley

As a litigator, mediator, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Patrick is well placed to deal with domestic, cross-border disputes and conflicts with an international element across a range of sectors.After an early grounding in marine, shipping and re-insurance litigation in both London and Hong Kong, he has since worked for clients including but not limited to those in insurance and re-insurance, professional liability insurance, technology, financial services, hedge fund management and medical sectors as well as representing private individuals.More recently, Patrick has been advising high-profile businesses in the satellite and space sector and emerging energy sources.

Patrick Pennal

Patrick is a highly experienced civil dispute resolution solicitor with a wide-ranging international litigation and arbitration practice. His cases are conducted under numerous procedural and substantive laws and forums, including ICC, LCIA, ad hoc and local courts and he has acted for many high profile individuals and world-leading corporations/entities. Patrick qualified as a barrister before becoming a solicitor. The areas in which he specialises are complex multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes; defamation and related issues – claimant and defendant; contentious employment and contract for services disputes; both international and domestic; advocacy in international and domestic arbitration; injunctive and related emergency relief and remedies; both international and domestic; claimant professional negligence. Patrick’s key achievements include acting for senior QCs as claimants against Lloyd’s of London, mediated by Lord Woolf. Acting for Earl Spencer in proceedings against a High Court Judge and others. Acting for defendants in well-known Prince Radu of Hohenzollern/Romania defamation action and related issues; also involving Michael ex-King of Romania and the Romanian Royal House, the House of Hohenzollern in Germany, His Excellency Ambassador Carlson (one time ‘Voice of America’), Prince Paul and Princess Lia of Romania, for whom he has also acted. Numerous involvements for claimants (high profile and otherwise) in defamation and related press intrusion and libel matters. Acting for internationally recognised banker in connection with proceedings involving one of world’s biggest ship owners. Acting for Korean construction group against Formula 1, in relation to proposed Korean Grand Prix.

Paul McCourt

Paul is a solicitor and Chartered Tax Adviser specialising in corporate transactions, property transactions and share schemes. He advises on a wide range of projects, from tax-efficient structures, mergers and acquisitions and tax covenants through to suitable vehicles for property investments and developments using UK and international structures. Paul has extensive experience of the tax issues involved in the interaction between companies and their shareholders, including advising on restructuring, demergers, shareholder exits and the introduction of new shareholders (including use of share schemes and EIS/SEIS). Paul also advises on Stamp Duty Land Tax and VAT on the acquisition of UK property and other Stamp Duty-related matters.

Paul Toolan

Corporate law expert Paul advises on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and partnership investment vehicles, joint ventures, and distressed mergers and acquisitions. He also advises on regulatory issues relating to the financial services sector. As a corporate lawyer, Paul’s practice is sector-agnostic, but he does have industry-specific experience in the following fields: media, including film, television, music, radio and theatre; advising family offices; food & beverage brands. Paul also advises on various corporate real estate matters, including finance, and acts for a number of developers and investors.

Paul Daniels

Paul is a top-ranked UK employment lawyer with wide-ranging expertise across all areas of employment law including executive dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, contract disputes and sport. Paul’s impressive case portfolio includes complex, high-value and international matters which see him acting for partners, fund managers, city executives and sports stars. Previous sport clients have included Roy Hodgson, Mark Hughes, David Moyes, Andre Villas-Boas, Nicky Barmby, Avram Grant, Steve McLaren and Alex McLeish. Other sport cases have involved top Premiership and England International footballers, and leading cricketers and rugby stars. Paul also sits as a part-time employment judge following his appointment in 2005.Areas of expertise: Whistleblowing Discrimination Unfair dismissal Sports litigation Contract disputes Maternity and gender discrimination Good leaver/bad leaver share disputes

Paul Renney

Paul is a commercial lawyer who advises on the acquisition, protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights. He specialises in advising media clients and those owning rights looking for protection, and how to exploit such rights. Paul’s areas of expertise include advertising, brand promotion, data protection, digital media, film and television, horseracing, publishing, sponsorship, sports, theatre and musical productions. Paul’s key achievements include advising British Horseracing Board Limited: commercial, sponsorship, data and betting arrangements; producers of The Lord of the Rings musical; Celador: sale of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’; The King’s Speech: advice on initial film option agreement and subsequent screenplay writer’s agreements; Tolkien & Lewis: rights, finance and production agreements relating to film about Tolkien and CS Lewis; Sir Malcolm Arnold and a beneficiary of the estate on music publishing matters; Fox Silver on protecting rights in F1 trophies; Motion Picture House on The Hike and Ghosted films, production, finance and rights agreements and on a ‘live’ music tv programme; Newsflare on set-up and commercial arrangements; Cass Art on commercial agreements.

Paul Ranson

An accomplished regulatory life sciences expert, Paul has 30 years’ experience and expert knowledge of the regulatory, commercial, intellectual property, and product liability needs of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device sectors on an international and domestic scale. Clients have included leading pharmaceutical companies such as Smith Kline Beecham.

Paula Abrahamian

Paula’s expertise is in real estate investment, development and finance. She specialises in the acquisition and disposal of multi-let properties across all asset classes for institutional clients, property companies, developers and private individuals. Paula works closely with her landlord clients to manage and maximise the value of their real estate investments. She also advises a broad range of corporate occupier clients ranging from established household names to innovate start-ups.

Pav Samothrakis

Pav is an experienced marine, offshore and energy lawyer who advises offshore contractors and service providers, shipowners, charterers, cargo interests and insurers in the offshore energy, shipping and international trade sectors, with a focus on the Middle East, African and Caspian markets. He has particular expertise in energy and offshore matters and negotiates and advises on all the main forms of industry contracts including under the BIMCO, LOGIC and FIDIC forms, as well as assisting clients with bespoke contractual arrangements and solutions. Pav also represents clients in litigation and arbitration matters in the offshore energy and marine sectors, in addition to marine casualties and investigation. He has extensive experience representing clients in arbitration under all the main arbitral rules including LMAA, ICC, LCIA, SIAC, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, UNCITRAL and ADDCAC.

Peter Clegg

Peter is a commercial property law specialist experienced in advising investors and developers on high-value investments and complex developments throughout the country. He also advises borrowers on commercial property refinancings, as well as advising owners and occupiers on landlord and tenant work. In addition, Peter advises business owners on the property aspects of company acquisitions and disposals. Investors from a range of sectors including industrial, office, leisure and hotel sectors turn to Peter for advice on acquisitions, disposals and the management of their real estate assets. Additionally, Peter assists developer clients with land acquisitions, options and pre-emptions, site assembly and development agreements. Peter also advises borrowers on complex, high-value property refinancing transactions which often involve substantial commercial property portfolios

Peter Lumley-Savile

Peter is a commercial lawyer with experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts across a wide range of industries and sectors. He has particular experience in advising on and drafting contracts in the technology, publishing and media, commercial insurance, hotels and leisure, retail, manufacturing and technology spaces, as well as in intellectual property and consumer protection.

Peter Garry

Peter has over 35 years of experience helping clients pursue complex commercial disputes. During the past 20 years he has developed a specialist practice resolving disputes within partnerships, LLPs and private limited companies. Peter also advises on the drafting of partnership, LLP and shareholder agreements and other partnership, LLP and company issues and transactions.

Peter Millichip

Peter is widely renowned as a pioneer of sports law in the UK, and over the past 30 years has represented some of the leading sporting organisations and bodies on a wide range of commercial and contentious matters. He was also the appointed solicitor for the UK bid for the 1996 Olympics. With a family legacy in the football world as son of Sir Bert Millichip (former Chairman of the FA), Peter has represented many clubs, including West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Leicester City and Leicester Tigers, numerous players, and charities in the sport close to his heart. When situations escalate, Peter has experience of resolving disputes at the highest level, including appearing before the House of Lords and the European Parliament. In addition to sporting clients, Peter also advises celebrities from the world of entertainment and music.

Philip McEachen

Philip has extensive experience in UK and EU financial services regulation and funds matters, including work relating to the interpretation of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the secondary legislation that supports it. He has particular expertise in navigating the regulatory challenges and compliance needs of the private investment fund industry, addressing issues such as fund formation, operational compliance, and investor relations, with a specific focus on the regulatory challenges faced by private investment funds and investment managers. Philip also has expertise in obtaining change-in-control approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in connection with the acquisition and disposal of regulated financial services businesses, in particular in the insurance and investment management spaces.

Philip Jones

Philip is a finance lawyer with significant experience. Philip acts for receivables financiers, banks, finance houses, corporate and individual borrowers in relation to facility and security documentation and the financing of transactions. He also acts for insolvency practitioners in relation to their appointments and the preservation and realisation of assets by them.

Philip Beckerlegge

Philip advises high-net-worth individuals and overseas clients, banks and trust companies, both onshore and offshore, on the acquisition and sale of heritage properties, landed estates together with all related tax, funding, trust and probate matters. Described as ‘outstanding’ and as having ‘attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement’ by Super Lawyers (2013). Philip’s key achievements include: (i) the sale of Belgravia property in excess of £60m (ii) the purchase of 600 acre agricultural estate (iii) purchase of property in 1 Hyde Park with appropriate financing and structuring.

Philippa Cobb

Philippa offers an abundance of private practice and in-house experience. A commercial property specialist, she advises across a wide spectrum of real estate matters, including commercial landlord and tenant, property portfolio management, buildings management, estates management, and building projects. Throughout her career, Philippa’s client base has ranged from SMEs and large complex organisations, to private individuals. Having spent a decade in-house, she has a unique set of skills which can be utilised for the benefit her clients. In addition to her general property expertise, Philippa has an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the Higher Education sector, having practised in-house for a leading Russell Group university.

Prashanth Satyadeva

Prashanth advises on asset-backed finance techniques in the private or alternative credit, public bond, loan or commercial paper markets across banks (FIG), real estate, consumer finance, infrastructure and renewables and insurance sectors. He also advises new entrants in the non-bank loan origination sector in Europe ranging from debt funds with large cornerstone investors to start-up consumer finance companies or lending platforms looking to target funding gaps in the market (platform establishment, fund raising and working capital finance, loan-on-loan warehouse facilities, portfolio purchases and structured credit plays to win auction bids). Prashanth is also heavily involved in the housing and social infrastructure sector.

Rachel Lemon

Rachel is an experienced solicitor and accredited mediator specialising in family law. She advises on all elements of relationship breakdown including divorce, separation and the associated financial and child arrangements. Rachel deals with complex financial disputes between couples where there are mid- to high-value assets involved. She is also skilled at dealing with disputes relating to children both within and outside of the court process. She has had success in the High Court particularly with applications to remove children from this jurisdiction. As well as her work as a solicitor, Rachel also has a well-established mediation practice and holds accredited status with the Family Mediation Council. She has mediated high-conflict and complex financial and children cases. Rachel deeply believes in the benefits of dealing with family disputes in this way where possible. Co-creator of her own modern family, Rachel has a specialism in advising LGBTQ+ clients on relationship breakdown and on the legal implications of modern family building with the use of donors or surrogates.

Rachel Amos

Rachel is a regulatory and compliance law specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. She is an experienced adviser to financial services companies, having held a number of in-house roles, but also often advises businesses in the asset management and insurance sectors. Rachel’s expertise includes regulatory horizon scanning, corporate governance, asset management, insurance and sovereign wealth funds.

Rachel Flynn

Rachel has two distinct areas of experience and expertise. As an employment lawyer, she brings a common-sense perspective to complex problems and is well versed in resolving employment and commercial issues strategically, using negotiation, mediation and litigation. As a qualified workplace mediator with a client base that includes both businesses and their executives, she is experienced in advising on exit strategy negotiations and in tribunal claims. In addition, Rachel has an industry-leading specialism in the horseracing and equine world, acting for a range of businesses and individuals in the sector, including Turf TV and the European Breeders’ Fund, on a wide range of legal issues, often where industry knowledge is required. She is also personally involved in the racing industry as an owner and former amateur jockey. Rachel brings value, commercial insight and a client’s perspective to HR issues having spent a period as a main board director of British horseracing’s administrators, Weatherbys. She also delivers leadership and people skills training to the British Racing School’s trainers’ licensing courses.

Rachel Berry

Rachel is an advocate in the Isle of Man team with specialist focus on employment and dispute resolution. She has assisted with the employment aspects of a number of acquisitions and reorganisations in the Isle of Man, carrying out reviews of employment contracts and advising prospective purchasers of their obligations towards the employees. On the contentious side, Rachel has advised both employers and employees on their disputes, has helped negotiate settlements, drafted compromise agreements and, when a solution could not be reached, appeared before the employment tribunal.Outside of the employment arena Rachel has a broad litigation experience, having acted in a number of high-value personal injury claims (mostly defendant insurer work), complicated will disputes, and insolvency matters. AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Unfair dismissal Contracts of employment and consultancy agreements Compromise agreements Employment tribunal claims Commercial litigation Personal injury Construction disputes Will and estate disputes Inheritance Act claims

Rachel Tozer

Consultant solicitor in the employment team. Employment litigation, especially discrimination claims; practical advice as to how to handle issues arising in the workplace; employment aspects of corporate transactions, particularly those involving complex TUPE issues.

Rebecca Halford-Harrison

Rebecca is a well-established IP, technology and disputes lawyer. She is recognised as a leader in her field in intellectual property, particularly in relation to chemistry-based industries. These include food and beverage, life sciences and pharmaceuticals, household products, cosmetics, FMCG, plastics, and oil and gas, especially where there is crossover with technology. Rebecca advises on a wide range of matters relating to patents, designs, trade marks, copyright and confidential information, as well as related regulatory issues. She also advises on IP strategy in multi-professional teams, including with management consultants, patent attorneys and tax specialists, as required, to ensure effective extraction of value from IP. Rebecca has been consistently ranked as a leading patent and IP litigator since 2008.

Rebecca Tinham

With almost 15 years’ experience, Rebecca joined Keystone’s litigation team in 2015. A commercial dispute resolution expert, she started her career at A Banks & Co before going on to hold consecutive partnership positions at two leading Kent-based law firms. Acting in a wide range of commercial dispute resolution and litigation work, Rebecca’s expertise includes advising businesses on trading disputes, intellectual property litigation, corporate defamation, shareholder and partnership disputes, and joint venture disputes.

Rhodri Thomas Thomas

Richard Doble

Richard is a highly experienced commercial litigator, who focuses his practice on cross-border matters relating to financial law, insolvency proceedings, and regulatory investigations. When advising clients, he offers valuable experience, having worked as a senior in-house lawyer at a range of global companies as well as in private practice at multiple leading law firms.

Richard Collins

Richard is a highly experienced French- and German-speaking family lawyer who advises domestic and international clients on every aspect of family law including complex financial and business cases, private children issues, cohabitant disputes and cases involving offshore trusts and tracing assets.

Richard Williams

Richard is a specialist gambling, licensing and regulatory lawyer with key expertise in remote and land-based gambling. He works with a range of gambling clients from start-ups to multinational gambling operators, including casinos, betting shops, online gambling platforms and software developers. Richard advises on operating licences, the risks of operating in international markets, defending licence reviews, AML and social responsibility and the approval of print and web marketing campaigns. Another specialisation of Richard’s is liquor licensing, where he acts for pubs, nightclubs, bars, supermarkets and hotel chains nationally (including Scotland). He regularly appears before Licensing Committees and Magistrates’ Courts, and advises on real estate contracts for leisure operators, which are conditional on the grant of licensing and planning. Richard’s regulatory work involves acting for leisure and retail clients defending health and safety, food safety and product safety prosecutions. He also advises on street trading, taxi and firearms licensing.

Richard Abrahams

Richard advises clients on the financial consequences of the breakdown of relationships. He is experienced in dealing with complex financial arrangements where separation often results in litigation. Richard frequently acts in High Court proceedings where cases have an international dimension, and he has particular expertise in dealing with offshore trusts and other commercial/corporate structures. Richard has experience in acting on all financial aspects of private family law including financial claims, cohabitation agreements, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, litigation concerning the family business, and freezing applications. He has previously worked on a number of high-profile cases, including acting for celebrities, and is a member of Resolution.

Richard Fox

Richard is a hugely experienced employment practitioner who has specialised in representing employers and employees on a broad range of employment issues for the last 25 years. He advises clients on matters including confidentiality and restrictive covenants, executive pay, bonus and severance arrangements, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and redundancy programmes. He is frequently asked to advise in situations involving allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace following the rise of the #MeToo movement, and the cases that have followed. This includes conducting (as investigator) and advising on investigations into such conduct.

Rima Gasperas

Rima is a consultant in the commercial property team with a keen focus on the retail sector. Over the past 14 years she has gained experience working with some of the largest retail brands in the UK. Rima has particular expertise in acting for both landlords and tenants, and has a wealth of experience in property insolvency issues, in particular acting for the buyers of two famous high street retailers in administration and which was widely reported in the national press. She also acts on the property aspects of corporate transactions. Recently Rima has become more involved in the property aspects of the renewable energy business and has dealt with leases and land acquisitions specifically related to that sector.

Rob Eldridge

Rob specialises in employment law and his practice covers everything from employment disputes to the drafting of contracts and policies. He has dealt with a number of disputes in the High Court and Employment Tribunal, including disputes in relation to discrimination, unfair dismissal, and restrictive covenants. Rob has acted for some famous retailers, high-profile fashion brands, recruitment and financial services companies, helping them to protect their reputation. He also advises on employment aspects of corporate and other transactions including mergers, take-overs and outsourcing and is highly experienced in advising on the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”). Rob also assists with day-to-day issues in the workplace such as disciplinary issues, absence management, grievance and the implementation of redundancy programmes. Rob has lectured widely and is co-author of Tottel’s Termination of Employment.

Robert Meakin

Robert is a charity lawyer with more than 30 years’ experience advising charities and not-for-profits, and schools. He is experienced in advising clients on applications for charity registrations, high-profile charity investigations, charity disputes and mergers. Robert is an ex-Charity Commission lawyer who holds a PhD in Charity Law and is the author of The Law of Charitable Status: Maintenance and Removal (CUP, 2008) and Charity in the NHS: Policy and Practice (Jordans, 1998). Robert holds an LLM in Canon Law (Distinction) and offers canon and charity law to religious charities.

Robert Kenyon

Robert is a disputes lawyer with extensive experience advising businesses and individuals on disputes arising from commercial relationships, corporate transactions and other rights and obligations in a business context. His clients include business owners, investors, directors, management teams and in-house lawyers across a wide range of industries. Robert’s work often involves advising in the early stages of a contractual relationship breaking down, with a view to avoiding a dispute arising. He advises on dispute resolution strategies, formal processes (such as litigation, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution) and associated compliance and risk management issues. Much of his work has an international element.

Robert Knight

Robert is an experienced lawyer who provides advice to individuals, families, trustees, executors and beneficiaries on issues relating to succession, trusts and UK personal tax. He has particular experience in the structuring and taxation of wills and trusts, and also advises on probate, powers of attorney and deeds of variation.

Robert Harvey

Robert is a consultant in the Dispute Resolution team with over 15 years' experience running large-scale commercial litigation and white-collar criminal investigations for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and companies, including companies in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. Robert has a track record of delivering significant value as a result of early adoption of innovative litigation models, rigorous analysis of legal positions, creative problem solving, and identifying commercial and legal pressure points. Robert is experienced in the application of all forms of dispute resolution including mediation, expert determination, arbitration, and litigation (including appeals to the Court of Appeal and petitions to the House of Lords/Supreme Court). He has undertaken many successful mediations, but also has extensive trial experience including cases which were identified as among the "top ten" cases to come to trial in the English courts in 2006, 2010, and 2011.

Robert Matthews

Robert is a highly experienced corporate and commercial lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital fundraisings, joint ventures/ shareholder agreements and corporate restructurings. He also has experience of listed company transactions, having acted on a number of IPOs and AIM placings. Robert acts for clients across a wide range of sectors and in recent years has developed a particular focus on working with clients in the food, real estate and technology sectors. Robert was previously with Eversheds.

Robert Sutherland

Robert is a highly experienced solicitor specialising in all forms of licensing and gambling issues for operators and landlords. His clients include one of the most prestigious concert venues in the country, well-known nightclubs in the West End, gentlemen’s clubs across the country, music festivals including the Secret Garden Party, and sports venues for cricket and football. He has dealt with all aspects of outdoor music festivals including working with safety advisory groups in the planning and setting up of large events such as Gay Pride. Robert also acts for a number of leading sexual entertainment venue operators, both independent and multi-national brands around the country, and has been actively involved in dealing with local authorities in their determination of sexual entertainment venue policies. Robert is a solicitor advocate and is able to represent clients in the higher courts. During his career he has held roles which have provided him with great insight into and understanding of the court system, including Licensing Justices’ Clerk for North and South Westminster for a number of years. Robert is also a Fellow of the Institute of Licensing.

Robert McLellan

Robert is a property litigation specialist and acts for both commercial and private clients in relation to all types of disputes relating to land, including property developments where there are issues concerning restrictive covenants or overage provisions. He deals with a range of landlord and tenant disputes, including dilapidations claims, service charges, private nuisance claims, and forfeiture and possession proceedings for commercial properties, right of way claims, and boundary disputes. Robert’s career has also seen him handle a number of product liability issues for a major motorcycle manufacturer, including defending personal injury claims and advising on product recalls.

Robert Kilgour

Robert specialises in real estate investment, advising on acquisitions and disposals as well as property financing. With a client base that includes property listed companies, high-net-worth individuals and overseas investors, he has acted on a range of portfolio acquisitions and disposals, and advises corporate tenants on their occupational requirements. Robert also provides advice on Islamic finance in relation to commercial property transactions. Additionally, he has advised landowners on the assembly and disposal of strategic land.

Robert Pocknell

Robert is a commercially focused solicitor specialising in intellectual property law. He spent ten years in private practice in a music and media firm, before becoming general counsel for six years for a mobile phone manufacturer and a further two years working for TomTom as their IP counsel. His clients range in size from start-up entrepreneurs to multinational companies. The areas in which he specialises are licensing of IP rights, including patents, trademarks, designs, copyright and know-how trade secrets. He advises on patent licensing issues arising in telecommunications standards (often called the 'smartphone patent wars', including GSM/GPRS 3G (W-CDMA) and 4G (LTE), in relation to handsets as well as femtocells. Providing advice on the creation, execution and implementation of Intellectual property strategies, with a view to protecting intellectual property assets and maximising their value. Providing commercial and practical advice to technology companies, from sole entrepreneurs and start-up’s to SME’s to larger businesses. Robert’s key achievements include advising a major investment bank on matters relating to licensing issues in wireless telecommunications. Advising a leading patent licensing programme in the field of 3G W-CDMA technology on contractual and licensing matters and potential litigation. Creating and assisting in the implementation of an IP strategy for a major telecoms manufacturer. Acquisitions of patent and IP portfolios. Managing complex multi-jurisdictional patent dispute, which included patent infringement claims in multiple jurisdictions including Texas, Wisconsin, the UK and the Netherlands; and negotiating successful settlement of the litigation. Negotiating significant claim for IPR infringement, trade secret theft, fraud and breach of contract against Microsoft Corporation.

Robert Peake

Robert is an intellectual property lawyer with extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious matters covering patents, trade marks, copyright, designs, and confidential information, as well as broader commercial and regulatory disputes, often with multi-jurisdictional aspects. Robert assists clients with commercial arrangements for the creation and exploitation of intellectual property rights, including development agreements, licences and assignments. He has considerable experience advising on research and development projects, including the protection of confidential information and contractual arrangements with consultant inventors and other third parties. He also has experience of advising clients on marketing and promotional matters, comparative advertising, prize draws and the use of social media. Robert also advises clients on a range of regulatory matters including data protection, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. He regularly assists clients in navigating data protection laws and related contractual arrangements, often with particular regard to international data transfer issues. Robert has experience of acting for clients in relation to data breaches and regulatory investigations. Robert is fluently bilingual, practising in English and in French. News 15 new partners join Keystone Law 9 May 2024

Robert Coombe

Robert is an experienced commercial property lawyer who specialises in property development work including promotion agreements, options, rights of pre-emption, and overage and clawback provisions. He advises and assists developers in acquiring sites conditional on obtaining, or with the benefit of, planning permission, and advises on strategic land development projects. Additionally, Robert frequently represents landowners who are approached by promoters or housebuilders seeking to promote their land for residential development or to secure new sites through options. Robert also advises companies and businesses acquiring and disposing of premises as well as landlords and tenants in relation to commercial leases and other property management work.

Robin Hampton

Robin has more than 15 years’ experience in relation to corporate finance, joint venture and M&A transactions acting predominantly for owner-managed businesses, SMEs and business angels. Notable recent transactions include the establishment of a joint venture in China, the sale of a technology company to an AIM listed company and acting for a green-tech company through five rounds of investment prior to a proposed AIM listing. Robin has been a visiting company law lecturer at BPP and developed and run training courses for City and overseas lawyers.

Ronan Speers

Ronan specialises in construction law and has impressive international experience in both contentious and non-contentious construction matters. He has spent more than 20 years building relationships with and acting for funders, developers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and construction professionals in the transport, oil and gas, energy, utilities, infrastructure, communications, civil engineering and construction sectors across Europe, the Middle East and Far East. In terms of non-contentious work, Ronan advises on drafting and amendments on most domestic and international contractual documentation, including NEC, EPIC, PFI-PPP and FIDIC, and on security documentation. Ronan is qualified in England and Wales and is also admitted in Northern Ireland. He has delivered numerous seminars on a range of construction-related issues and is a member of the Society of Construction Law and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, amongst other associations.

Roopa Ahluwahlia

Roopa has over 20 years’ experience advising on family law matters and is a qualified family mediator and collaborative lawyer. She has significant expertise negotiating financial settlements on behalf of clients who are divorcing or separating and acting on complex children issues. Her cases often have international elements or third-party interests, such as family trusts and prenuptial agreements. Roopa’s clients include wealthy individuals, entrepreneurs, academics, and trustees who instruct her for her specialisms in divorce and dissolution of civil partnerships, financial settlements and negotiation, pre- and post-nuptial agreements.

Ros Miller

A corporate lawyer with significant high level experience in the full range of corporate transactional work. Acts predominately for and with private companies. She specialises in corporate M&A and MBOs; private equity investment (particularly in early stage, high growth companies); joint ventures; corporate reorganisations (including s110 reconstructions and share buybacks); and shareholders’ agreements and LLP arrangements. Ros’ key achievements over the last 12 months have included: advising on a high growth telematics company on its complex joint venture with the RAC (£ confidential); acting for the founders on their sale of a financial services internet lead generation business (£10m consideration, including junior and senior loan notes); completing a series of syndicated angel investments (£6m+) into an internet social commerce business based in the UK and US; advising a company specialising in the development of innovative social analytics for TV on a significant investment by WPP Group (£ confidential); acting for the shareholders on a number of disposals of insurance brokerage companies (£ confidential).

Rose Phelps

As a senior private client solicitor, Rose advises individuals, personal representatives and UK trustees. She also frequently acts for clients or legal firms from other jurisdictions advising on UK aspects of estate administration and succession planning. She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. The areas in which she specialises are, probate and estate administration, inheritance tax, estate planning, lasting powers of attorney, mental capacity work, UK Trusts including those for life insurance policies and wills.

Rose Alexander

Rose specialises in pre-publication advice advising on issues such as defamation, privacy, breach of confidence and copyright. She has extensive experience of advising publishers, broadcasters and individuals.

Rowan Brown

Rowan specialises in resolving insurance disputes, medical and life sciences litigation, providing advice for inquests and professional regulation. She advises on product liability, clinical trial and medical malpractice claims, regulations, policy coverage and wording disputes, inquests and fitness to practise investigations by regulators. Rowan’s clients are insurers, private healthcare providers, manufacturers of medical products and pharmaceuticals, charities, SMEs and individuals.

Rupert Weber

Rupert advises on corporate and commercial law and is an expert in transactions involving mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate finance. He has significant experience working on cross-border deals, including advising on investments into and from Africa. Rupert also advises on setting up investment structures and related incentives schemes. He also has significant general counsel-type experience in transaction and dispute management. Clients include family offices, private equity investors, individuals, privately owned businesses and public companies.

Rupert Casey

Rupert has a commercial advisory practice based broadly around commercial contracts and the management and exploitation of intangible assets. Having started out working principally in the intellectual property and advertising and marketing space, his work has developed into fields including regulated and non-regulated outsourcing, data privacy and cybersecurity. Clients for whom he has worked operate in fields as diverse as hedge funds, PE houses and other retail and wholesale financial institutions, brewing, start-up technology, F1 motor racing, manufacturing and advertising and media agencies.

Ruth Hite

Ruth is a corporate, commercial and regulatory lawyer who specialises in the insurance sector. She acts for insurers, insurance intermediaries, policyholders and risk professionals, advising on a range of matters. Her particular expertise is in outsourcing arrangements, leading legal/regulatory change projects and regulatory advice on complex multi-jurisdictional matters. She also advises on PRA/FCA authorisation applications, change in control applications and insurance portfolio transfers and the cancellation of permissions (births, deaths and marriages). Ruth has a strong UK and EU regulatory background, having worked in-house at the Financial Services Authority/Prudential Regulation Authority and as Head of Legal & Compliance (PCF12) for an Irish insurer with European reach. She has proven experience of effective communication with European regulators on contentious and non-contentious matters. Having also worked for a number of years for a global insurance company, Ruth understands the needs of in-house counsel, as well as the operational complexities of the insurance industry.

Ruth Deehan

Ruth is an experienced commercial property lawyer who specialises in advising clients within the retail sector. She provides advice on all areas of real estate including landlord and tenant matters, site assembly, site development, as well as sales and acquisitions. Ruth often acts for landlord, tenants and developers, many of which are high-profile companies.

Ruth Abrams

Family lawyer Ruth is a specialist adviser to individuals and couples going through a divorce, helping to resolve any disputes involving finances or children. In addition to assisting married couples, she also works with unmarried couples going through similar issues. Ruth deals with complex family law matters, many of which have an international element, such as advising on forum disputes in divorce proceedings, international relocation of children, and obtaining and enforcing worldwide freezing orders in financial cases. Her clients include doctors, lawyers, bankers, accountants and other business professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, and celebrities in the public eye or their partners.

Sakhjit Randhawa

Sakhjit is a Private Property solicitor with over 17 years’ experience dealing with prime and super-prime London residential property transactions, in particular high-value residential property acquisitions, disposals and developments. Her clients include ultra-high-net-worth individuals, property development companies, high-profile entrepreneurs, overseas ruling family members, celebrities and international investors. Most of the transactions she advises on are within the prime and super-prime London postcodes.

Sal Mamujee

Sal is a property lawyer with a broad range of expertise in advising on both residential and commercial property matters. Acting primarily for property dealers, he has extensive experience in investment, development, landlord and tenant, and secured lending work spanning commercial, residential and mixed-use properties. Sal regularly advises on portfolio acquisitions and break-ups and has a particular specialism in sub-sales, back-to-back transactions and advice on the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. He also advises on enfranchisement.

Sally Pilott

Sally is an experienced commercial property solicitor who acts for retail, leisure and institutional clients with large property portfolios, and residential developers. She is an expert in sales and acquisitions, development work, general property management, landlord and tenant matters, and portfolio management. In particular, Sally has advised on some large-scale restructuring projects and disposals and some large sites for residential development and onward sales.

Sally Cranshaw

Sally is a Manx Advocate whose practice includes a broad variety of Isle of Man (IoM) corporate and structured finance work with a particular emphasis on UK commercial real estate (CRE). Her client base comprises special opportunity funds and high-net-worth individuals investing in London and the South East, as well as regional assets across a range of asset classes. Sally is also skilled in dealing with key areas of CRE-related work, from the establishment of IoM vehicles (including companies, limited partnerships, and funds), associated acquisitions and related financing, through to the disposal of the relevant corporate vehicles or underlying assets.

Sam Coleman

Sam is a tax lawyer who advises on a broad range of UK and cross-border matters for public and private companies, funds, banks, private equity houses, high-net-worth individuals and management teams across a number of sectors. For over 20 years she has specialised in advising private equity houses and management teams on the tax aspects of deal and fund structuring. Sam has extensive experience in corporate mergers, acquisitions and reorganisations, equity incentive arrangements, employment taxation, tax disputes, tax aspects of real estate transactions, corporate lending and bond financings.

Samantha Benfield

Sam specialises in transactional landlord and tenant law. She has extensive experience acting for clients across a variety of sectors in relation to the acquisition, disposal and general management of extensive occupational property portfolios. Sam has worked with some of the UK’s major insurance and retail companies. Sam advises on a variety of transactional commercial landlord and tenant matters including the acquisition of new leases, lease renewals (including statutory lease renewals pursuant to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954) and disposals. She also advises upon general portfolio management matters such as lease regearing and variations, formal licences for matters requiring landlord consent, the grant of occupational licences and underleases, and practical operational requirements such as works agreements, rights of way and easements, and wayleave agreements.

Samantha Leigh

Samantha specialises in real estate law, particularly within the rural sector. She deals with all types of non-contentious agricultural/landed estate work plus high-value residential property and commercial property. Samantha’s clients include landed estates, lenders, private investors, high-net-worth individuals, landlords, tenants and charities.

Sarah Garth

Sarah is a senior employment law expert who assists businesses and senior executives on a variety of employment issues. Her expertise includes advising on complex and sensitive disciplinary and grievance issues, large-scale restructures, redundancy programmes and TUPE. She is also very experienced in advising on senior executive severances, both acting for businesses and executives. Should a situation arise whereby matters escalate to an employment tribunal, the courts or an injunction is required, Sarah has extensive experience in all areas, obtaining favourable outcomes for clients especially with complex discrimination claims. She is experienced in dealing with sensitive and high-profile cases which involve media interest, managing PR and reputational issues, and obtaining Restricted Reporting Orders.

Sarah Thompson

Sarah is an experienced family solicitor who specialises in settling financial disputes between divorcing and unmarried couples. Her client base includes mid to high-net-worth individuals, business personnel, government employees (those with a public sector pension), sportsmen and women, as well as those from the entertainment industry.

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a specialist regulatory lawyer with extensive experience of supporting clients in relation to enforcement and compliance. Sarah’s health and safety practice involves advice in the aftermath of workplace accidents and representation in the course of investigations and prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities nationwide. She advises on food safety and hygiene matters, including use-by dates and pest control, and on food labelling requirements where she supports the bringing of new products to market. Sarah is also experienced in relation to consumer protection, product safety and the management of age-restricted sales. In respect of advertising and marketing, she advises on the compliance of copy with the Advertising Codes and on complaints taken up by the Advertising Standards Authority. In her non-contentious practice, she advises on the adequacy of policies and procedures and provides training on responsibility and accountability in the operational line. Sarah advises across sectors with a particular focus on retail and food manufacturing businesses. Sarah has Higher Rights of Audience in the Criminal Courts and appears regularly in the Magistrates’ Courts and at Coroner’s Inquests into work-related deaths.

Sarah Holmes

Sarah is a specialist in international corporate reorganisations, solvent corporate restructuring and governance, advising multinational and domestic clients within a wide range of industries. She has over 25 years’ experience of leading legal workstreams and working as part of multidisciplinary and integrated teams supporting her clients through each phase of their projects from inception to post-implementation. Her technical specialism is in European and UK company law.

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a licensing and hospitality expert with over 13 years’ experience advising businesses and individuals on all aspects of licensing law, licensing strategy and the impact of insolvency upon licensed premises. She has particular expertise in contentious licensing applications and has repeatedly obtained new premises licences and extended hours within challenging Cumulative Impact Zones across the UK, including premises licences for large-scale developments within central London. Throughout her career, Sarah has developed relationships with many of the statutory authorities which often results in expedited and pragmatic solutions to allow licences to be granted. Where a hearing becomes necessary, she represents clients at hearings before Licensing Sub-Committees across the country. Sarah represents a wide range of clients including national pub and restaurant operators, hotels, entertainment and live music venues, nightclubs, café chains, landlords and developers.

Sarah Steed

Sarah specialises in commercial and procurement law, both within the construction sector and in other industries. Her experience has been acquired both within central government and in private practice and includes both contentious and non-contentious areas of practice. Within the construction and engineering sector, she assists on complex contract incorporation and interpretation issues, on final and interim account disputes, and on issues relating to delay and disruption, loss, and expense. Outside of the construction context, Sarah has a breadth of experience advising on general commercial disputes, as well as considerable experience advising central government on contractual and procurement law issues in relation to major outsourcing projects across a broad range of sectors.

Sarah Needham

Sarah is a commercial contracts and IP lawyer with a particular specialism in the Technology, Media, Retail and Data Protection sector. With more than twenty years’ experience gained in both private practice City law firms and in-house as general counsel of a large media group, she has a wide practice area covering areas such as commercial services contracts, all types of technology agreements, brand licensing, print and publishing contracts, joint venture agreements, outsourcing agreements, and media and advertising contracts. She is an expert on advising on the implications of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and regularly advises clients ranging from the largest global companies to SMEs and start ups on its implications. Sarah is also an experienced speaker at various client and internal and sector briefings. Thank you so m

Sarah-Jane Watson

Sarah-Jane specialises in employment law and advises corporate, institutional, and individual clients on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious issues. She has a wealth of experience advising employers on grievance and disciplinary issues, performance management, sickness absence, family leave, and terminations (including redundancy processes). Senior executives turn to Sarah-Jane for advice on their dismissals, to negotiate their settlement packages, as well as advice on their contracts of employment, including restrictive covenants.

Scott Keown

Scott has over 20 years’ experience handling high-value, strategically important real estate transactions for institutional and private clientele. He has an established track record advising property funds, developers and lenders on the acquisition, development, leasing and asset management of investment-grade stock in the office, industrial, retail and residential sectors. Scott’s practice is now primarily focussed on investment and asset management mandates in the high-value office sector, where he has vast experience advising landlords, tenants and operators. Scott regularly supports businesses in the professional and financial services sectors on their HQ acquisitions and major office relocation projects. Additionally, Scott has excellent credentials acting for investors, funders and developers in relation to their residential real estate assets.

Sharmila Mehta

Sharmila is a specialist UK immigration and nationality lawyer with more than 25 years’ experience in the field, working with senior executives, finance houses and multinational companies. She has particular experience in Tier 2 licence, compliance and global mobility issues. Sharmila works extensively with international family offices and prominent individuals from around the globe, helping them make the UK their home. Sharmila represents a number of business sectors at Home Office forums and committees working to shape government policy and UKVI procedures.

Sharron Carle

Sharron is a specialist tax solicitor who has considerable commercial and real estate transactional tax experience. She has particular expertise in designing and implementing Stamp Duty Land Tax planning and mitigation structures which take into account the impact of other taxes, commercial driving factors and security issues and advising on VAT in the property development and investment sectors. Sharron is a regular speaker on SDLT at conference and training events, has written for the special SDLT edition of the Tax Journal.

Shayne Foley

Shayne is an experienced property lawyer and undertakes a wide range of commercial property work with particular expertise in dealing with retail, occupational and investment work, sales and purchases, landlord and tenant issues and development work. He also acts on property aspects of corporate transactions.

Sheena Ray

Sheena is a commercial property specialist who advises a variety of high-profile national and regional clients, particularly in the retail sector. She has extensive experience of working with investor clients on the sales, acquisitions and ongoing asset management of all aspects of their portfolios. Sheena also advises on the commercial property aspects of corporate acquisitions, as well as commercial development, distressed asset sales and refinancings.

Sheila Searle

Sheila is a family solicitor and advises on divorce, children, matrimonial, finance, relocation, TOLATA and applications under the Family Law Act. The majority of her matters are resolved through voluntary means and mediation or through proceedings. Sheila has experience in dealing with the High Court and with financial arbitration.

Simon Chalkley

Simon is an intellectual property and commercial lawyer with almost 30 years’ experience advising brand, creative and technology-driven businesses on IP law, strategy, transactions and IP contract disputes. He is a recognised expert in transactions relating to the commercial exploitation of all intellectual property rights including licensing, distribution (including selective distribution), franchising and technology transfer agreements. Simon advises businesses both in the UK and internationally. Simon’s experience spans a wide range of business sectors, in particular fashion/retail, video games, consumer products, software and engineering.

Simon Chalkey

Partner

Simon Mackie

Simon is a private client lawyer with more than 17 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of estate and succession planning, including wills, deeds of variation, trusts and lasting powers of attorney. Much of his practice involves advising on and implementing strategies designed to both minimise inheritance tax and capital gains tax and afford clients more controlled succession planning and greater wealth protection from other non-tax threats. Simon has a good deal of experience in advising business owners and clients with agricultural interests on estate and succession planning considerations as well as tax planning for the family home and clients with international connections. Simon also advises the trustees and beneficiaries of trusts on the nature and extent of their responsibilities and interests and how existing arrangements can be managed or restructured to achieve optimum outcomes. Simon is a full member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) and holds a Diploma in Investment Advice from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

Simon Oldfield

Simon is a commercial lawyer with almost twenty years’ experience working inside the art world and creative industries. He advises an impressive range of clients including global galleries, art collectors, artists and other creatives, ultra-high-net-worth individuals and technology-driven art businesses. Simon provides solutions on a range of industry-specific matters, often involving complex and novel issues, and requiring a multi-jurisdictional perspective. He provides strategic legal and commercial consultancy, and advises on commercial contracts, intellectual property rights and copyright issues, and the legal implications of new technologies like blockchain, digital assets, smart contracts and AI. Simon sits on the Philanthropy Board of Art UK and has longstanding relationships with prominent art collectors across the globe, helping them to build and maintain world-class art collections. He curates cultural programmes in collaboration with major institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, and is a prominent public speaker in relation to art, law and technology.

Simon Massey

Simon has over 20 years' experience specialising in real estate investment and development, acquisitions and disposals, landlord and tenant law, secured lending, and real estate aspects of corporate transactions (mergers, de-mergers, acquisitions and disposals). Simon advises a broad range of core and non-core real estate clients comprising high-net-worth individuals, SMEs and large corporates and FTSE 350 businesses across multiple sectors including logistics, manufacturing, self-storage, retail, offices, education, health (primary and secondary care) and charities.

Simon Sutcliffe

Simon is a financial services lawyer specialising in asset management. He advises fund sponsors/managers, service providers, fund boards, trustees and investors based in the UK and around the globe. Simon provides his clients with succinct and practical commercial advice. He is able to offer targeted guidance on specific matters and bring his extensive management skills to bear on more complex projects, including on a multi-jurisdictional basis. Simon’s practice encompasses a broad range of specialist areas relating to the asset management sector, including fund establishment and closure, marketing and distribution, regulatory compliance, derivatives trading, depositary, custodian and trustee services, collateral management, investment due diligence and more. It also covers a broad range of investment funds, including alternative investment funds (AIFs) and undertakings for collective investment in securities (UCITS) (including exchange traded and fund-of-funds). Simon’s career has seen him working in both private and in-house practice and he has acted as in-house counsel for a number of top financial institutions including The Bank of New York Mellon, Macquarie Bank, and BlackRock. Prior to commencing his legal career, Simon attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served for five years as an Army officer, undertaking leadership roles in the UK and overseas.

Simon Conroy

Simon is a commercial litigator who has for over 25 years specialised in the cost-effective resolution of complex, high-profile disputes which often incorporate an international element. Simon also provides strategic advice to clients on all aspects of the law.Areas of expertise: Commercial litigation Alternative dispute resolution Media and entertainment (particularly music) Intellectual property disputes Defamation/reputation management Fraud Contentious probate and trusts Privy Council appeals

Simon Deane-johns

Simon specialises in online financial services, e-commerce and IT. His clients include e-money and payment services providers, online peer-to-peer finance platforms, retailers, marketplaces and data providers. Simon is highly experienced in his field and has consulted as in-house payments counsel to WorldPay and Amazon.com. Previously, Simon was General Counsel & Company Secretary of Zopa, the world's first online peer-to-peer lending platform. He was Legal & Compliance Director for a mortgage business in GE and a Director and General Counsel of Earthport plc, the listed payment services provider. Simon also initiated and co-ordinated e-commerce strategy for DLA and worked in the Reuters legal department in London and New York. Simon helped launch the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association, chairs the Media Board of the Society for Computers and Law, and is a Senior Fellow of The Finance Innovation Lab. He is listed as a legal advisor to FinTech firms by Tech City UK 2017.

Simon Jackson

Simon is an experienced dispute resolution lawyer who advises clients across a wide range of industries. He is well versed in a variety of dispute resolution techniques including litigation, international and domestic arbitration, mediation, expert determination, early neutral evaluation and adjudication.

Simon Holden

Simon is an experienced corporate transactional lawyer specialising in equity capital markets. He acts for issuers, principally in connection with IPOs and secondary capital raisings on the Main Market and AIM, and has advised nominated advisers and brokers in connection with various AIM transactions. Simon regularly advises start-ups and growth companies on alternative forms of raising finance, including advising a leading fintech company in connection with its crowdfunding campaigns and several privately held companies in connection with bond offers. He also advises on public and private M&A transactions (both domestic and cross-border). In addition, Simon advises public and private companies in connection with debt finance facilities and applicable security documentation. As well as representing issuers coming to the market for the first time, Simon advises issuers and their boards in relation to the ongoing requirements of being a publicly quoted company, including the application of the Listing Rules, The Takeover Code and the Market Abuse Regulation. He is also the Company Secretary of an AIM-quoted company.

Siobhan Moore

Siobhan is a commercial lawyer specialising in working with businesses that provide, receive or play a role in delivering niche payment solutions. She advises clients on strategy, new product structure, business expansion, formulating procedures, regulatory conundrums and contracts (B2B and B2C). Siobhan’s practice has a particular focus on the e-money and payment services sector, assisting fintech companies, retailers, mobile phone operators, financial institutions, e-money issuers, payment service providers, programme managers and resellers. She also liaises with regulators and government bodies on matters impacting the payment service sector. Siobhan speaks regularly at international conferences on matters relating to e-money and payment sector.

Spencer Grimshaw

Spencer has specialised in commercial property for over 35 years and has a broad spectrum of experience in this area. He advises landowners, developers, active landlords, and tenant owners/occupiers on all aspects of buying, selling, leasing, and developing property.

Stephanie Thomas

Stephanie is an expert in complex civil and commercial litigation. She has many years of experience in dispute resolution, as well as emergency injunction applications. Advising both companies and private individuals, Stephanie has a diverse client base. For businesses she frequently deals with contractual, partnership, company, intellectual property, copyright, shareholder, and insolvency disputes, as well as fraud claims. For private individuals she regularly resolves a wide variety of disputes ranging from probate issues to transactions, including disputes as to the ownership of works of art. Additionally, she advises property owners on a range of property disputes, including development, planning and construction disputes, breach of covenants, property damage, injunctions, commercial lease renewal proceedings, party wall matters and enfranchisement. Stephanie is fluent in French.

Stephen McGlennan

Steve is a highly experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with in-depth understanding of business issues, having been the Chief Executive Officer of two businesses. During his tenure as the CEO of a leading aerospace business, the company valuation increased from £6m to £100m, so he fully understands all the challenges and obstacles faced by growing businesses. Using this experience, Steve has a particular focus in working with start-up and other growth companies; businesses in the aerospace and defence sector; technology companies and China/UK business transactions. Steve also has significant non-contentious experience in the insurance and wider financial sector.

Stephen Fuller

Stephen is an experienced corporate lawyer who has been representing businesses and their owners for over 30 years across a wide range of sectors. He has extensive expertise in transactions with a cross-border element and advising foreign companies on corporate transactions that require English legal advice. Entrepreneurs in particular, frequently turn to Stephen for his expertise in sales and purchases of owner-managed companies and for re-organisations, management buy-outs and buy-ins. Whilst Stephen’s practice is generally sector-agnostic, he is well known for the work he has done involving estate agencies throughout the UK.

Stephen Browning

Corporate Insurance

Stephen Matthews

Stephen is a finance lawyer focussing on frontier and developing markets. He has expertise in debt transactions across a wide range of products, sectors and geographies, including significant experience of financings across Sub-Saharan Africa, having previously been based in Nairobi, Kenya. Stephen advises a wide range of financial institutions and other parties, including bilateral and syndicate bank and non-bank lenders, private creditors, borrowers, guarantors, bond issuers, sponsors, investors, sub-participants, facility agents, security trustees, lead arrangers and underwriters, hedge providers, lessors and development finance organisations.

Stephen Rodd

Stephen is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with a wide range of expertise across of number of jurisdictions. He has experience of advising borrowers on tax- and VAT-efficient offshore structures that hold UK-based real estate assets and expertise in advising lenders in relation to the financing of such offshore structures. In addition to providing commercial law advice to a wide range of businesses, Stephen also has extensive experience of advising IT, telecoms and e-gaming companies on technology-based commercial agreements and has previously worked as a telecommunications consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). His clients include an online card payment company that provides multi-currency bill payment services to online and traditional businesses. Stephen has multi-jurisdictional experience and connections having worked in London, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as well as Glasgow and the Isle of Man.

Stephen Clow

Stephen is an experienced corporate lawyer with wide-reaching expertise in both corporate and commercial work. He specialises in listings on the London stock markets and acts for companies coming to all the major London exchanges. In particular, he acts for domestic and overseas companies coming to AIM and the standard segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. As well as representing those coming to the market for the first time, Stephen advises companies and their executives on the ongoing requirements of being a public listed company, including the application of the Listing Rules and the Market Abuse Regulation. He is also the Company Secretary of a Main Market listed company and advises on the requirements of public M&A transactions and the application of the Takeover Code. In addition, Stephen assists private companies and businesses in dealing with all aspects of company law as well as helping them with corporate restructuring, shareholder agreements, joint ventures, franchising arrangements, and establishing overseas offices and businesses. He represents clients undertaking all kinds of private M&A transactions and advises on private equity investments. He began his career as a banking and insolvency lawyer and has significant experience in finance work. Primarily, he represents corporate clients negotiating banking and debt facilities. Stephen holds the ICAEW Corporate Finance Qualification.

Stephen Woolf

Stephen is a proactive commercial property solicitor who specialises in office, retail, industrial, occupational and investment transactions; sales and purchases of land; and landlord and tenant matters. Stephen often advises clients who are new to the English property market and his experience in this area helps guide them through its intricacies.

Stephen Young

Stephen is a highly experienced insolvency and restructuring specialist who deals with both corporate and personal insolvency assignments, providing pragmatic and commercial advice. With extensive expertise in all aspects of insolvency litigation, transactional/advisory and cross-border work, his practice focuses largely on advising insolvency officeholders as well as those affected by insolvency, including creditors, lenders, professional, businesses and individuals.Stephen is a member of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3) and the Insolvency Lawyers Association. AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Corporate and personal insolvency procedures, including administrations, liquidations, receiverships, bankruptcy, voluntary arrangements, and insolvent estates Contentious insolvency, including antecedent transaction claims Tracing, securing and pursuing claims to recover assets located within the UK or offshore Investigations, including s236/s366 applications Transactional insolvency, including drafting and negotiating agreements for the sale of assets by insolvency officeholders Creditor services, including security reviews, ROT issues, advising lenders, advising landlords and undertaking debt recovery Advising directors on their duties and liabilities, including disqualification proceedings and s216 prohibited names issues Defending statutory demands and petitions, including applications to set aside or injunctions to restrain presentation Company strike-offs and restoration applications

Stephen Kingsley

Stephen is a commercial property solicitor with a particular interestin Town & Country Planning matters, the environment and climate change. His expertise spans the full spectrum of property legal work and he has advised on all aspects of the acquisition and disposal of both freehold and leasehold property. Stephen’s current client base comprises a number of major retail clients, nursing home operators and a Russell Group university. He has also acted on behalf of several telecommunications operators, having been responsible for the acquisition of over 4,000 radio base stations. Stephen has conducted a number of major planning inquiries, acting on behalf of both retail and telecommunications clients. In addition to his commercial practice, he also undertakes residential conveyancing work on occasion. Stephen has authored a chapter on property issues for a textbook on telecommunications law and is a regular contributor to the press. He has also lectured at a number of in-house client seminars.

Steven Conway

PartnerSteven is an insurance litigation and local authority lawyer with over twenty years’ experience of general insurance work, with particular expertise in defending local authorities, public authorities and insurers against the whole range of personal injury and civil claims brought against them. He is consistently recommended by Legal 500. He specialises in employers' and public liability claims, including claims against highway authorities and claims arising out of accidents at work, stress at work, bullying and harassment. He also deals with claims relating to misfeasance, education, discrimination and social services and defends insurance coverage disputes. He also advises on risk management, insurance procurement, data protection and freedom of information.Steven has worked with the UKRLG on their review of Well-maintained Highways, the Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management, he was a Corresponding Member to the review of the Codes of Practice, sits on the Highway Liability Joint Task Group and is a contributing author to the latest edition of Well-Managed Highway Liability Risk.

Stewart White

Stewart is a regulatory and commercial lawyer with a Master’s degree in International Law. He has decades of experience acting as a strategy, policy and regulatory adviser. His career has seen him work across jurisdictions in both developed and developing countries, advising the public and private sectors in fixed, mobile and satellite. In addition to his legal practice, Stewart has extensive board experience and has acted as a director at a number of companies including Vodafone and Etisalat. He has also managed major risk- and issue-management programmes as well as stakeholder engagement.

Stuart Mathews

Stuart advises on cross-border acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, corporate finance, commercial contracts and commercial dispute resolution in the UK, Europe, Africa and emerging economies. His clients include entrepreneurs, high-net-worth families, emerging companies, large corporates (public and private) and state-owned entities across a diverse range of sectors including natural resources (energy, mining and forestry), manufacturing, technology and fiduciary services.

Stuart Robertson

Stuart is an experienced corporate lawyer who advises entrepreneurs, owner-managed businesses, private and quoted companies, and corporate advisers on a broad range of corporate and commercial transactions. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and secondary listings on AIM and other capital markets, public takeovers, joint ventures, company restructurings, equity and debt fundraisings, and general company and commercial law advice. Areas of expertise: Mergers and acquisitions (shares and assets) IPOs with particular expertise on AIM listings Private equity transactions (including management advice) Investment/shareholders’ agreements/articles/shareholder disputes Corporate finance and equity fundraisings Legal due diligence/preparation for exit (IPO or trade sale) General company and commercial law including directors’ duties

Stuart Darlington

Stuart is a property lawyer who has acted for major clients in all commercial real estate areas. He has extensive experience in advising on acquisitions and disposals, investment management, funding, landlord and tenant, lease acquisitions and acting for corporate occupiers, as well as acting on large corporate deals involving multiple properties. Stuart also specialises in the retail and leisure sector where he has worked for many household-name retail and restaurant companies. His knowledge of the sector has made him influential in his field; his articles and interviews have appeared in Retail Week, Insolvency Today and other industry publications, and his expertise in leasehold acquisitions and management is demonstrated in his highly popular book, 'A Tenant’s Practical Guide to Commercial Leases'.

Sue Mawdsley

Sue is a specialist regulatory lawyer with over 35 years of experience advising law firms and property professionals on regulatory issues. She has particular expertise in relation to anti-money laundering and other financial crime, as well as risk management, and claims prevention.

Sungjin Park

Sungjin is one of the leading employment lawyers for multinational Korean companies in the UK, with a particular sector focus on Technology and Financial Services. Sungjin advises employers on redundancies, disciplinaries and grievances as well as dismissals. His particular strength lies in conducting successful cases in Employment Tribunals as well as negotiating settlements for employers in the Technology and Financial Services sectors. Sungjin has a broad advisory practice in other sectors including Media, Energy & Natural Resources and Shipping. This includes assisting with employment contracts, consultancy agreements and staff handbooks. He also advises on restrictive covenants, discrimination and whistleblowing issues. Some of Sungjin’s major clients include: LG Electronics UK Swidch HS Ad Innocean KEB Hana Bank Woori Bank IBK Bank Hyundai Heavy Industries Hyundai Engineering and Construction SK Energy SK Lubricants SK Shipping Europe Sungjin acts as legal counsel for the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the UK.

Suraya Tegally

Suraya has been advising on international asset finance and leasing for over 13 years, particularly within the aviation sector where she has additional insight and expertise gained from having been the in-house counsel for Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. During this time she advised on a wide range of matters and guided the Treasury and Fleet Planning teams on structured transactions, asset, cross-border, Islamic, unsecured and sustainable financings, and a number of corporate projects. Suraya’s experience also includes working with civil aviation authorities across key jurisdictions and advising companies in the aviation sector on a wide range of commercial aviation matters, such as pilot/crew training, catering, airport and technical service agreements. Suraya advises airlines, banks, lessors and other financial institutions on a broad spectrum of matters including the financing, purchase and sale of aircraft, engines, helicopters, corporate jets, military aircraft and simulators.

Susan Apthorp

Susan is a highly regarded family law specialist representing clients in divorce proceedings where there are substantial assets and cross-border disputes. Further, she has particular expertise and interest in complex cases involving children, such as international relocation and provision for children with complex medical needs from married and unmarried families. Susan regularly advises on complex financial remedy proceedings, Inheritance Act cases, pre-and post-nuptial arrangements and jurisdictional disputes. She also has keen interest in and experience in protecting vulnerable clients, particularly those who have experienced coercive control and other forms of domestic violence in their relationships and/or who need additional protection to ensure their safety and well-being during the course of proceedings. When situations cannot be resolved amicably or in a commercial manner, Susan has extensive experience and a record of successfully litigating at the highest levels including the Court of Appeal. Susan’s clients are generally wealthy individuals and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their partners/spouses from a range of different professions and backgrounds, often with international financial interests and keen to avoid media exposure and/or reputational damage.

Susan Haggard

Susan is an experienced commercial property law specialist with a diverse client portfolio. She acts for private investment companies, commercial landlords and tenants, developers, charities, and HNW individuals and family offices. She advises on all aspects of commercial property investment and on disposals and acquisitions of all types including office and mixed-use buildings, retail parks, leisure, shopping centres and warehousing. Susan acts for retail tenants, including household names, and corporate tenants, including HQ acquisitions for corporate tenants. Additionally, Susan is highly experienced in advising landlords on commercial property leasing and portfolio management, having acted for corporate, institutional and private landlords over many years.Susan also advises on commercial and residential development, including greenfield and brownfield redevelopment and city centre/urban regeneration.

Susan Anand

Susan is a real estate lawyer specialising in both commercial and residential property. Her client base consists, largely, of retail owners, landlords and tenants. With fifteen years’ experience, Susan is well placed to deal with a range of complex commercial property matters. Susan is also a Notary Public and can advise on all aspects of notarial work including authenticating company and business documents and transactions, certifying company documents, and witnessing signatures on contracts for the purchase or sale of land abroad.

Susan Monty

Susan is a commercial litigator who specialises in the resolution of complex financial and regulatory disputes. With over 20 years’ experience in private practice and as an investigative lawyer at the Serious Fraud Office, she advises companies and individuals on all aspects of financial misconduct, ranging from complex and multi-jurisdictional civil litigation, fraud claims and asset tracing to breaches of fiduciary duties and professional negligence actions. In addition, she acts in Government and internal corporate investigations relating to regulatory issues and enforcement, brought by regulatory bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Competition and Market Authority (CMA). Susan has advised Government bodies and the Law Commission on potential law changes. She is also recognised as a thought leader in this area of law, regularly lecturing and writing for major legal publications.Areas of expertise: Civil Fraud All proceedings where deceit or misrepresentation, fraud or dishonesty form part of the basis of the action, including: Breach of fiduciary duty Abuse of confidence Conspiracy to defraud Fraudulent trading Undue influence Conversion Mortgage fraud Fraud on a power Negligent mis-statement Insolvency litigation Allied forensic investigations both in the UK and abroad (in particular with the US Securites Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and European authorities), which involve tracing and freezing assets, including: Freezing orders Search and seizure orders Delivery up injunctions Acting as court-appointed supervising solicitor to carry out search and delivery-up orders Regulatory, Professional Disciplinary and Misconduct Whether in response to matters raised by regulatory bodies, implementing protocols for internal investigations, or advising on forthcoming regulatory changes such as the Senior Managers Regime, recent work includes acting for individuals and organisations with regard to the following professional bodies: Financial Conduct Authority Prudential Regulation Authority Takeover Panel Solicitors Regulation Authority Bar Standards Board Accountancy Actuarial Disciplinary Board Competition Markets Authority Pension (PPF) Ombudsman Financial Services Ombudsman Charities Commission Gambling Commission Payment Systems Regulator Financial reporting Council Financial Crime Cases involving allegations of dishonesty including: Offences under the Fraud and Theft Acts Money laundering Market abuse Mis-selling Insider dealing Market manipulation Tax evasion Cybercrime offences Terrorism Act offences Bribery and corruption

Susana Lajusticia

Susana Lajusticia is a dual-qualified and bilingual solicitor and Spanish lawyer who also holds a Master Degree in International Law. She advises clients on cross-border matters, specialising in legal issues related to Spanish property transactions including property purchases and sales in Spain, transfers of Spanish property on divorce, and Spanish probate matters. Susana also provides Spanish inheritance and succession advice and has experience in drafting and dealing with Spanish wills and bilingual powers of attorney, affidavits and certificates of law. Susana regularly presents seminars on the topic of Spanish property law and has had articles published by various overseas property publications.

Susannah Sheppard

Susannah advises on all aspects of EU and UK competition law and has regulatory expertise in technology, travel, air transport, financial services and telecommunications. She has considerable experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked for the European Commission, the UK Cabinet Office and the European Court of Justice prior to working in private practice. Susannah’s areas of expertise are EU and UK merger clearances, acquisitions and joint ventures; market investigations and competition enquiries; anti-competitive agreements and practices (such as price fixing, market sharing, information exchanges, cartels and restrictive practices); abuse of dominant market position; copyright and intellectual property issues relating to competition law; competition compliance programmes and training; strategic and behavioural competition and regulatory advice; competition law strategy and compliance in the context of standardisation; media and telecommunications and travel and air transport. Susannah’s key achievements include: (i) acting for Guardian Care Homes on the competition law aspects of the leading libor case against Barclays (ii) acting for or advising clients on competition follow on damages cases including air cargo and LCD (iii) defending an equities trading exchange against claims of abuse of dominant market position; (iv) advising and representing client in relation to OFT investigation into outdoor advertising; (v) advising major on-line services provider on competition compliance, and on the use of competition law in commercial negotiations with dominant suppliers; (vi) advising UK regulatory authority on the application of EU and UK regulation to the fulfilment of its core regulatory and review functions; (vii) advising on and project managing the regulatory approval process for the EEA business expansion of a major multinational travel provider; (vii) advising on and restructuring the EEA regulatory licensing requirements for a major on-line services provider.

Suzy Schmitz

Suzy is a technology lawyer specialising in intellectual property, commercial contracts, and dispute resolution. Her practice includes intellectual property registration and enforcement, IT and general commercial disputes, digital marketing law, technology licensing, and breach of confidence actions. Suzy’s non-contentious practice includes strategic advice regarding trade marks and patents and intellectual property licensing, particularly in the digital context. She also assists clients with commercial contracts such as software development, distribution, and confidentiality agreements. Suzy is a leading legal authority within the social media space, advising on platform terms of service, restrictions on the use of social media data, PR/crisis management, and commercial terms relating to social media marketing services. She also frequently provides counsel on specialist topics relating to the online environment, such as copyright issues relating to digital content, liability of online service providers, and legal issues relating to user-generated content. As an accomplished litigator, Suzy has extensive expertise in relation to commercial and intellectual property disputes and has represented clients before the UK High Court, the UKIPO, OHIM and WIPO.

Tania Williams

Tania is an experienced technology lawyer, advising both customers and suppliers on a broad range of commercial, outsourcing and technology-based transactions. On the technology side, Tania’s practice has a focus on complex IT services, procurement, and large-scale technology projects such as enterprise resourcing planning system implementations and managed services arrangements. Her work also regularly includes IT transactions such as cloud (SaaS, PaaS and IaaS), emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, software development, software licensing and hosting. With extensive experience in outsourcing and commercial matters, Tania also handles data licensing, business process outsourcing and procurement, as well as goods and services agreements. Supporting her clients through all phases of their transactions, Tania acts on behalf of her clients in strategy development, preparation of proposal requests, responses to tender requests, evaluation of potential vendors, term sheet and contract negotiations, and ongoing contract management and deal restructuring. Throughout her career, Tania has worked with clients across a number of sectors including technology, professional services, financial services, manufacturing, natural resources, and retail and consumer.

Ted (Edward) Dewhurst

Ted is a highly experienced corporate and commercial lawyer specialising in advising entrepreneurs, technology companies and investors in relation to equity financings/investments and a wide range of other corporate transactions (including crowdfundings, private placings, secondary transfers, advance subscription/SAFE and convertible loan facilities, venture debt arrangements, share buybacks, management buy-outs and M&A transactions). Ted works on transactions with businesses at all stages, from start-ups through to later-stage financings and exits. In addition to his private practice career, Ted has worked in-house with Accel Partners and Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Europe), two of Europe’s leading venture capital firms, which gives him a unique knowledge and understanding of the needs and objectives of institutional investors.

Terrence Trainor

Terrence advises on international and domestic family law, with a particular focus on complex, high-value cases including divorce and financial proceedings, as well as children’s matters arising from the family breakdown. His work often involves cross-border disputes and cases that involve contested jurisdictions and has spanned Europe, Middle East, Russia, Asia and the United States. Terrence studied law and commerce with a specialisation in tax which paved the way to his specialisation in complex finance work. He also regularly works alongside forensic accountants for clients who believe that their spouse may be hiding or moving assets or are otherwise being deceptive with family wealth. He also deals with a variety of cases, in particular clients looking to leave a controlling and difficult relationship and who wish to have robust legal representation.

Tim Addinell

Tim is a highly experienced solicitor with approaching 40 years’ expertise in advising business owners and wealthy individuals on a wide range of Private Client matters. Tim specialises in succession planning for complex and multi-generational family businesses. He regularly advises on inheritance tax planning more generally, via wills, the creation, administration and cessation of trusts, and the establishment and administration of powers of attorney.

Toby Ward

Toby is a commercial lawyer who works with businesses in high tech and regulated sectors, including finance, telecommunications and the growing space and satellite industry. He advises on the drafting and negotiation of commercial, IT, telecommunications and outsourcing contracts. Toby also assists with the structuring of commercial arrangements and procurement strategies.

Tom Guida

Tom is a dual-qualified (UK and New York) media and entertainment lawyer and producer with over 25 years’ experience representing media, entertainment and sports clients throughout the world. He advises on commercial, financing, production and corporate transactions to develop and exploit entertainment content primarily in television, film and digital media as well as sports, music publishing/distribution, podcasts, advertising, publishing and videogames. Tom is also a producer and has worked in scripted and non-scripted television, digital media, sport, publishing, and film, producing independent films in 2016 (Manhattan Night) and 2021 (Trust).

Tom Daltry

Tom has more than 30 years of experience as a tax lawyer, focusing on business tax matters and acting for a broad range of clients, ranging from entrepreneurs and management teams to private equity houses, large PLCs/multi-nationals and financial institutions. The range of his practice includes advice to start-up and early stage businesses, often in the context of obtaining tax efficient funding from investors (securing related HMRC pre-investment approvals), advice on corporate restructuring (and associated HMRC clearances), on the structuring and implementation of company sales/acquisitions and on employment tax matters, include bespoke equity incentive arrangements. He also advises on the tax aspects of commercial and financing projects, often involving an international dimension.

Tom Phillips

Tom is an experienced lawyer who specialises in the non-contentious aspects of construction, development and finance law. His work includes drafting, negotiating and reviewing construction contracts, agreements from performance bonds to collateral warranties, professional appointments, and development finance documents. He routinely advises on bespoke as well as standard JCT, NEC and PPC contracts and has a track record in development projects ranging from small multi-unit developments up to multimillion-pound mixed-used projects.

Tony Watts

Tony is a true financial services and banking specialist. He has held senior legal positions at a range of household names including Barclays Wealth where he was co-head of legal. Since 2007 he has been in private practice, specialising in financial services law and FSMA regulation. He has wide experience of advising financial services businesses in both wholesale and retail sectors including exchanges and trading platforms; securities firms; banks; investment managers; corporate finance firms; retail financial advisers and intermediaries (including wealth managers and mortgage firms). A significant part of his work invovles him working closely with the law firm to provide expert financial services support. He is often asked to comment in the media on regulatory issues and is a contributor to Lexis Nexis. Tony is well-known as a lecturer on financial services regulation to audiences of lawyers and financial services professionals. Tony’s areas of expertise include current knowledge of UK and EU developments (including mortage credit directive, MIFID 2 and Alternative Fund Managers Directive); perimeter issues (ie what falls within the regulatory net for financial services or regulated credit regulation); innovative business models (eg crowd funding where he is particularly well-known advisory businesses such as Abundance Generation and UK Bond Network); obtaining authorisation and upgrade of regulatory permissions; issues involving financial promotions; ongoing regulatory advice; regulatory investigations and enforcement; employment-related issues (including problems related to approved persons and senior managers/certification regimes and FCA/PRA); questions relating to market abuse and market conduct; terms and conditions complying with regulatory and consumer law requirements for retail and other clients; investment management agreements; fund documentation and set-up; other financial services agreements including appointed representative agreements; introducer agreements, agency and distribution agreements; banking law and regulation including mortgage regulation; payment services and conduct of business requirements; lending and security; unfair contract terms legislation and other consumer law objectives. He has sucessfully advised clients on FCA investigations and enforcement and has qualified as a Higher Rights Advocate (Civil).

Tony Sampson

Tony is an insolvency and corporate recovery specialist. In addition to being a solicitor, he is a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner, authorised by the Insolvency Practitioners Association, and a Solicitor Advocate (civil). He receives instructions from Insolvency Practitioners ranging from Magic Circle firms to sole practitioners. Those instructions may be of a procedural, professional or technical nature, while the sources of his other instructions include banks, creditors (secured or otherwise) and directors. Tony lectures extensively and has lectured for Central Law Training, R3, and Legal Easel. He particularly enjoys in-house tailor-made seminars for clients. Tony is also involved with the Joint Insolvency Examination Board.Areas of expertise: Administrations (in and out of court) Voluntary Arrangements (personal and corporate) Administrative, fixed-charge and Law of Property Act receiverships Solvent liquidations and s 110 reconstructions Insolvent liquidations (CVL and winding up) Bankruptcy Trust issues Pursuing and defending directors Dealing with creditor claims (secured and unsecured) Restructuring (in and out of a formal insolvency procedure) Claims against directors and directors’ disqualification Corporate recovery and strategies

Tracey Poole

Tracey is a solicitor with considerable expertise in estate and succession planning for both UK and non-UK resident individuals. She has experience in dealing with overseas advisers to assist with estate planning in different jurisdictions. Tracey advises UK resident and non-UK resident individuals and trustees on onshore and offshore trust structures, including advising on the implications of holding UK residential property in company and trust structures. Tracey also advises on trust matters, wills, lasting powers of attorney, Court of Protection matters and trusts for vulnerable and disabled persons. She also has expertise in issues relating to copyright arising from estates of composers/writers and lifetime trusts. Tracey’s practice has a particular focus on advising on charitable matters, including advising trustees of faith schools, assisting them with duties, obligations and compliance issues. She also specialises in the setting up of charitable vehicles and the winding up of charitable trusts or companies.

Tracy Sell-Peters

Tracy is an expert in healthcare litigation which comprises claims, regulatory, advisory, criminal, inquest and inquiry work. In terms of her claims expertise, it includes advising on complex and high-value clinical negligence claims spanning the medical specialities. She has done a particularly significant number of brain injury and spinal surgery cases as well as orthopaedic, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, neurology and neurosurgery claims, brought against surgeons and physicians working both in the NHS and in their private capacity. She has vast experience of defending GPs and out-of-hours organisations, as well as care homes, hospital groups and agencies working in these environments. In her regulatory work, Tracy defends doctors, dentists and other healthcare practitioners whose registration is called into question by the General Medical Council (GMC) and other healthcare regulatory bodies (GDC, NMC, GOC, HCPC). Practitioners also turn to Tracy for representation in independent inquiries, including serious untoward incident inquiries and complex inquests, including deaths in custody. Tracy has defended many practitioners in fitness-to-practise hearings before their regulators as well as dealing with appeals arising from those proceedings. Tracy is well regarded when it comes to healthcare litigation and often represents doctors in Maintaining High Professional Standards (MHPS) NHS disciplinary proceedings and private hospital investigations. She has particular expertise in representing practitioners who face proceedings, often consecutively, in numerous different arenas (criminal, inquest, regulatory, disciplinary and claims). Judicial Review challenges are also a specialism of Tracy’s. She advises Medical Royal Colleges and professional bodies. She has been involved in a prominent case for the General Optical Council, including the prosecution of the remitted hearing. She has defended a number of different regulators in PSA and Judicial Review challenges. In addition to the above, Tracy also acts for insurers, defence organisations and private clients and is fluent in both French and English, and speaks German.

Trevor Garrood

Trevor is an expert in all areas of real estate law, and he acts for a diverse range of UK and international clients. Trevor has particular experience in large real estate transactions in the City and West End of London, Canary Wharf and elsewhere in the UK. Internationally he has excellent cross-border experience and has advised on projects across Europe and in Hong Kong. He works with a range of property investors, developers and end users within the offices, retail and industrial sectors. As well as advising on traditional real estate deals, Trevor also advises on the property aspects of corporate transactions. This ranges from advising start-ups to international mergers and acquisitions. Trevor has also worked with many clients in the logistics and transport sectors, such as airports, marine and warehousing/logistics facilities

Trevor Sears

Trevor has over 40 years’ experience in the fields of dispute resolution, travel and aviation, and insolvency. Trevor is a founder member of PROFiT (Prevention of Fraud in Travel) and acted for many years as a legal counsel to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). He is a non-executive director of a successful travel business. He is also a contributing author in Tolley’s Insolvency Law and has commented on legal issues on television and radio. Trevor’s areas of expertise are aviation regulatory work, travel and travel fraud, restructuring and insolvency, civil fraud, company director, shareholder and partnership disputes. Trevor’s key achievements include: (i) acting for a leading travel organisation in recovering substantial monies taken by in-house legal advisor; (ii) acting for IATA member airlines against major banks in trust monies claims; (iii) advising leading US airline on international contract issues; (iv) acting for a UK liquidator in Ponzi-type claims against former directors and others; (v) acting for a consortium of over 30 airlines in substantial claims against a major travel agency group; (vi) advising a major travel group dealing with requirements imposed by regulatory bodies; (vii) advising IATA internationally on diverse legal issues over many years; (viii) acting for trustees in bankruptcy in high-profile UK bankruptcies with international effect; (viiii) advising individuals and companies on shareholders and company disputes.

Trisha Siddique

Trisha is a family solicitor with over 15 years’ experience of advising on all aspects of family and relationship breakdown, with a focus on complex financial matters which often feature issues of non-disclosure or third-party interests, and cases with an international element (including Islamic divorce, validity of marriage ceremonies and foreign matrimonial settlements). Trisha also frequently advises on domestic and international pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements for those who may be seeking to protect mid- to high-value assets that have been built up before marriage or inheritance. In addition, Trisha has expertise in complex disputes involving children, and acts for clients in cases involving serious allegations of harm and abuse, parental alienation and drug and alcohol addiction and relocation. Trisha’s clients include entrepreneurs, CEOs, business and land owners, housewives and often vulnerable parties from the UK and overseas.

Tsige Berhanu

Tsige has over ten years’ experience in advising on immigration law and during that time has acquired a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of all aspects of private and corporate immigration work. Tsige’s current practice focuses on corporate, high-net-worth individuals and EEA nationals, as well as family-based and naturalisation applications. With a client base that sees her act across a broad range of industries including, but not limited to, the financial, oil and gas, IT and digital technology sectors, Tsige provides client-tailored and commercially viable advice and assistance. AREA OF EXPERTISE: The points-based system Sponsor licence (initial application, management and renewal) Obtaining certificates of sponsorship Tier 2 – general Tier 2 – intra-company transfers Assistance ahead of and during Home Office compliance visits Resident Labour Market Test and recruitment processes Compliance with UK immigration laws and sponsorship duties Prevention of illegal working Tier 1 – investors Tier 1 – entrepreneurs Dependent family members Spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners of British citizens Switching between relevant immigration categories EEA national applications Indefinite leave and naturalisation applications Immigration appeals

Valerie Mitchell

Valerie is a commercial property lawyer with many years experience of advising both businesses and individuals on all aspects of commercial property including retail, offices, warehouses and industrial buildings with particular emphasis on landlord and tenant matters and freehold and leasehold sales and purchases. The areas in which she specialises are landlord and tenant – new leases including agreements for lease, property portfolio management – assignments, licences, underleases, surrenders, lease renewals, freehold and long leasehold sales and purchases, property corporate support, secured lending and conditional contracts. Valerie’s key achievements include acting for an investment trust on its acquisition of a large building for mixed use. Dealing with the leases of the commercial units and grant of an intermediate reversionary lease incorporating rights of pre-emption and an option to purchase the freehold. Acting in the review of the title to over 500 properties. Carrying out the property support work for a multinational company group restructure and acting for a large northern company in its acquisition of a new listed building multi-use part tenanted headquarters and subsequent remortgages of the same.

Vanessa Barnett

Vanessa is a commercial lawyer who helps clients who are using technology to innovate or disrupt established ways of doing things. She has supported clients from household-name global brands to nimble start-ups do this for over 15 years, across goods, services and digital.Vanessa is frequently singled out by clients in both Chambers UK and Legal 500 for her client service and practical approach, using a bespoke mix of the lawyers’ toolbox to support the business objective, which could include structuring and documenting commercial relationships, protecting revenue and ideas, making sure the data can be gathered and exploited, and ticking off any consumer or industry-specific regulations.Vanessa has advised established businesses like Amlin, Apple, Balfour Beatty, Barclays, Google, Tesco, Tesco Mobile, SBOBet, SuperGroup, and Westfield. She has also advised successful high-growth companies such as autograph.me, Canonical, HQhair and Loans.co.uk. Her experience spans all sectors, but most recently in retail, financial services, sport, and TMT.Vanessa believes in open legal knowledge and was the founding author of the Internet section of Practical Commercial Precedents. She has also been a regular Internet industry commentator and speaker. AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Planning and stress testing; Documenting IP-based relationships; Documenting goods and services-based relationships; Terms of buiness; E-Commerce advice; Privacy, data protection; Advertising, marketing and sponsorship; Boilerplate and template documents; Legal audits; Supporting procurement teams; Supporting transactions

Vicky Clark

Vicky is a commercial lawyer who specialises in intellectual property matters. She has a particular interest in the life sciences sector, drawing upon a scientific background to advise clients on the protection and exploitation of innovative diagnostics, medicines and medical devices. Her clients include individuals, private companies and plcs.

Will Nash

Will is a corporate lawyer with expertise in M&A acquisitions and disposals, venture capital investments, joint ventures, corporate reorganisations, LLPs and corporate real estate transactions. Will focuses on supporting UK entrepreneurs, business owners, growth companies and scale-ups on the journey from early stage through to exit. He also specialises in corporate real estate acquisitions and disposals and holding structures for commercial and super-prime residential assets, investments and development projects. Will has wide-ranging experience in handling corporate matters for UK and international private wealth investors and family offices.

Will Charlesworth

Will is a media and crypto assets solicitor who specialises in the protection of intellectual property and reputational rights for a range of clients, including public figures, artists, luxury brands and technology companies – in size from start-ups to multi-nationals. In the media sector, Will has acted for clients in complex and high-profile defamation and privacy protection claims, as well as commercial brand protection actions. In the digital assets sector, he has acted for cryptocurrencies at the pre- and post-Initial Coin Offering stages, and his practice now focusses on advising complex and innovative NFT projects, both before their initial token drop, and after, on additional associated projects. He provides comprehensive and practical advice on the non-contentious, essential elements of NFT projects, such as: regulatory laws that may affect the tokens, protective commercial agreements, complying with data protection and privacy obligations, and protecting valuable IP rights. With a strong litigation background, he is also well placed to advise clients on dispute resolution and represents clients in the High Court, Business and Property Courts and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC).

Will Robinson

Will is a commercial lawyer with over 20 years’ experience advising on technology, procurement and outsourcing transactions, and capital projects in the mining industry. Before joining Keystone Law, Will spent 9 years at FTSE 100 miner Anglo American Plc managing the legal aspects of the global and UK supply chain functions and subsequently heading up a dual legal and commercial function supporting major capital projects globally.

Will Sander

Will is both a solicitor and UK & European chartered trade mark and design attorney. His practice covers the protection, monitoring and exploitation of IP in the UK, Europe and globally. Will has advised a broad range of clients from SMEs to household names on commercial, corporate and litigation matters covering trade mark law, patent law, design law, copyright law, and the use and protection of confidential information and know-how. Will has a particular interest in trade marks and designs. This includes the management of IP portfolios, availability searching, oppositions, cancellations, invalidity and revocation actions, and infringement matters in the UK, Europe and around the world. Will has dealt with numerous matters in the UK’s Trade Mark Registry, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) and the High Court as well as through the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), including its appeal bodies/courts. In addition, he has handled a broad range of litigious matters spanning the whole IP rights spectrum, as well as managing several cross-border litigious matters throughout Europe, North America, South America and Australasia.

William Margot

William is both a Manx Advocate and qualified Solicitor in England and Wales advising on a range of legal issues affecting corporate organisations. He also advises on a range of real estate and asset finance matters acting for banks, lenders (including alternative lenders and challenger banks) and borrowers in respect of the financing of Isle of Man entities, in particular companies, partnerships and trusts. In addition to his private practice experience, William served as In-house Legal Counsel at OCRA Worldwide.

Winston Penhall

Winston is an experienced funds lawyer who advises clients on investment management law and regulation with an emphasis on alternative investment funds, their investment managers, investors and service providers. Institutional investors and pension schemes turn to him for advice in connection with their fund allocations, co-investments, fund-of-one structures and bespoke arrangements. Winston also assists both institutional investors and investment managers with non-structured discretionary investment management and structured managed account investments across asset classes Winston’s clients include UK investment managers, US investment advisors, UK pension schemes, US State Plans and investment banks.

Wyn Morgan

Wyn is an experienced family lawyer with specific expertise in advising clients upon the complex issues and consequences of relationship breakdown. She worked as a financial advisor prior to qualifying as a solicitor and she has extensive knowledge in resolving complex financial arrangements/disputes. Wyn has particular expertise in relation to advising upon private children issues, which include residence and contact disputes (Child Arrangement Orders), the removal of children from jurisdictions, relocation disputes and child abduction. Wyn is also able to undertake her own advocacy in court.

Yasmin Khan-Gunns

Yasmin is an award-winning family lawyer who advises on all aspects of private family law, particularly when the situation is complex, international and/or high stakes. Typically, Yasmin advises on the division of finances on divorce primarily between high-net-worth and high-profile couples, including assets located in multiple jurisdictions, overseas pensions, and complex income and bonus structures. She also specialises in drafting wealth protection agreements, including cohabitation agreements, separation agreements and pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, including advising clients when they or their partner live in another jurisdiction; to date, she has advised clients with a connection to Thailand, Lithuania, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, USA, France, India and Greece. Yasmin’s clients range from successful business professionals, celebrities and lawyers, to stay-at-home mothers, expats, international clients and ‘silver separators’ of 70+. Yasmin runs a successful legal Instagram account under the handle @londonfamilysolicitor.

Yohanna Weber

Yohanna is a planning and environmental law expert with a focus on infrastructure, conventional and renewable energy development, major/mixed-use schemes and urban regeneration. She is also highly experienced in the promotion of development consent orders (DCOs), Transport and Works Act orders, major/multi-authority planning applications and compulsory purchase orders. Yohanna is dual-qualified in England & Wales and Australia.

Zena Bolwig

Zena specialises in health and welfare mental capacity and best interests law, particularly cases in the Court of Protection, and in broader community care law. She advises and advocates on behalf of clients in complex cases, which frequently involve novel issues including cross-border disputes, serious medical treatment, complex deprivation of liberty disputes, and capacity to consent to sexual relations, to marry and to have contact. She also acts in contentious property and affairs cases including disputes involving lasting powers of attorney and the appointment of deputies. The large majority of Zena’s cases have resulted in vulnerable clients returning to their homes, or to less restrictive care settings, or in regaining contact with loved ones, in line with their or their families’ wishes.

Zoe Squibb

Zoe is an experienced private property partner who acts for domestic and international high-net-worth individuals on the acquisition and disposal of residential properties predominantly in the Prime Central London property arena and country. As well as representing high-net-worth individuals, Zoe acts for many major companies, developers, and family offices. She also advises on licences, transfers of equity, de-enveloping, and secured lending for private banks.

Zoe Squibbs

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