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
Keystone Law
Lawyers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Ceinwen is a specialist family lawyer who advises clients on the wide variety of issues following the breakdown of relationships, including complex financial claims upon divorce or separation and private children matters. She primarily advises individuals with complex assets both in the UK and abroad and those with family trusts or company assets. Ceinwen has acted for numerous entrepreneurs and clients in the public eye who require the utmost of discretion. She also advises vulnerable clients, including those suffering domestic violence. Ceinwen regularly advises unmarried individuals in relation to claims pursuant to property disputes arising on the breakdown of cohabitation and unmarried parents in financial claims on behalf of their children. In addition to her legal career, she has been the CEO of a foreign investment company and a non-executive director of a US listed company, which have given her a deeper understanding of complex commercial and private assets in the UK and other jurisdictions. Ceinwen is a Member of Resolution and an accomplished negotiator with compassion and understanding for her client’s needs in all areas of family law.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 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
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 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 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
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.
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 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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.