Partner
Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
Lawyers
Associate
David is a Senior Associate in the Real Estate team with over 20 years’ experience in residential development acting on behalf of a wide range of home builders and developers. David’s work centres on the site set up aspects of development projects including the structuring of estate documentation in preparation for plot disposals, infrastructure matters, the sale of freehold reversionary interests, public open space transfers and similar disposals.
David is admitted to practice in England and Wales.
Experience
Acted for a major national homebuilder in connection with the private market unit elements of a 2000 plot development near Winchester.
Acted on behalf of a London based homebuilder in connection with a 200+ plot mixed use scheme in Isleworth comprising private market, affordable and commercial units.
Acted for two divisions of the UK’s largest homebuilder in connection with varied developments including recent projects in Horley, Watton, Red Lodge and Horsford.
Acted for the property development arm of a prominent retailer in connection with the private market units elements of a large mixed use scheme in Highams Park comprising private market and affordable units and a retail superstore.
Acted for the largest privately owned property company in the UK in connection with the redevelopment of a former BT site in Aldershot to provide private apartments.
Partner
Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Partner
Harriet is very experienced in estate planning for high net wealth clients in the UK and those with overseas connections. Her practice allows her to work with her clients to get the basics in place, such as making a will, as well as on longer term succession planning strategies. Harriet has significant experience in setting up trusts and their ongoing administration and as part of this she advises on trust taxation. Harriet also deals with complex probate and estate administration matters often finding ways through seemingly intractable problems.
Harriet has significant tax expertise, and she has a particular focus on inheritance tax and capital gains tax planning. She is experienced in providing tax advice to trustees and beneficiaries as well as individuals. Harriet also acts for business owners and trustees in the restructuring of corporate/trust structures.
Harriet’s technical expertise has been recognised with her receiving a Global Excellence Award from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) which is the world’s leading organisation for private wealth professionals. Harriet is a full member of STEP. Harriet was named as one of the 2021 eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35, the definitive annual list of leading young private client practitioners in the UK and UK Crown Dependencies.
Harriet is admitted to practice in England & Wales.
Experience
Advising a high net wealth couple on succession and inheritance tax planning strategies where there were concerns about the financial abilities and marital circumstances of the children
Providing tax advice to trustees on the most efficient way of making distributions from a multi-million pound trust fund to beneficiaries who lived around the world
Advising a business owner on creating a trust for their shares in advance of a sale so as to capture inheritance tax business property relief before it was lost
Partner
Hall of fame
James is head of the corporate restructuring and insolvency group. He specialises in all areas of insolvency law and also gives lectures and seminars to corporate clients and other professionals (including the R3 Group and SESCA). James is one of the lead partners in the administration of Awal Bank in Bahrain, which has in excess of $2bn of creditor claims and ongoing litigation in numerous jurisdictions including the UK, Switzerland, US, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Cayman Islands.
Partner
Senior Associate
Partner
Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Natalie advises on all aspects of private client work including will drafting, estate planning, deeds of variation and general trust administration.
She also has considerable experience in dealing with large and complex estate administration, often with international assets. Natalie has extensive experience in advising charities in relation to their legacy administration work and has also advised in relation to appropriate wording for specific bequests and residuary gifts in wills and in relation to legacy campaign literature. Natalie also deals with a variety of Court of Protection matters including lasting powers of attorney and deputyships and regularly advises both deputies and attorneys on their role and responsibilities and other Court of Protection applications.
Natalie is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Experience
Acting for a number of deputies in relation to their role including dealing complex financial issues and overseas assets
Acting for the executor of an estate with international assets, involving tracing the assets and extensive negotiations with HMRC regarding the liability to inheritance tax
Completing a successful secondment with a major UK charity in their legacy administration team.
About
Natalie’s work covers a broad range of residential and commercial landlord and tenant litigation. On the commercial side, Natalie’s practice includes advising landlords and tenants in connection with business lease renewal claims under the 1954 Act, break options, arrears claims and dilapidations.
Natalie’s residential practice focuses on lease extension and collective freehold claims under the 1993 Act, tenants’ rights of first refusal, right to manage claims, and disputes in connection with breaches of lease for both landlords and tenants.
Natalie is recognised in Chambers & Partners as an associate to watch.
Natalie is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Experience
Natalie acted for the successful leaseholders in a multi-million pound collective freehold acquisition claim to acquire the freehold of premises on Lancaster Gate.
Successfully acted for a group of leaseholders to acquire the freehold of their property which had been transferred to a third party in breach of the provisions of the 1987 Act.
Advising a major UK restaurant chain in connection with its property portfolio
Partner
Peter is a solicitor advocate with higher rights of audience. He has a thriving commercial property litigation practice dealing with every aspect of contentious landlord and tenant work. Peter has a strong reputation in the property litigation field and has a substantial national client base. He also specialises in insolvency issues arising in the context of property. Peter is the head of the property insolvency group and the property litigation group.
Prav deals in corporate and personal insolvency for office holders, creditors, debtors, banks and distressed companies. He has expertise in both transactional and contentious insolvency. Prav specialises in office holder-driven contentious work, including undervalue, preference, misfeasance and s423 actions. He also has significant experience in administration work. His personal insolvency work focuses on asset recoveries and disputes relating to trusts and beneficial interests. Expertise: advising the board of a Plc regarding solvency issues; asset tracing overseas in bankruptcy; 'bankruptcy tourism’ and COMI shifting; voluntary arrangements, unfair prejudice and material irregularity (individual and company); pursuing officers for antecedent/pre-insolvency dispositions; misfeasance claims; LPA receiverships; and pre-packaged sales of an international travel business, financial services company, chain of pubs, international hotel chain and TV channel.
Legal Director
Rachel advises employers and senior individuals on all manner of workplace issues including contractual disputes, discrimination and harassment complaints, maternity and paternity issues, restrictive covenants, and whistleblowing. She has particular experience advising clients in the financial services and private wealth sectors.
Rachel has solid litigation experience, successfully bringing and defending claims in both the employment tribunal and the High Court. She also has experience in obtaining High Court injunctions.
On the non-contentious side, Rachel regularly provides day-to-day advice to employers as well as drafting and advising on a wide range of employment documentation including employment contracts, consultancy agreements and company policies.
Rachel also regularly advises on settlement negotiations and severance terms. She has a particular interest in disputes relating to restrictive covenants and the misuse of confidential information.
Rachel is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and sits on its Training Committee. She regularly helps to organise and chair training sessions for members.
Rachel is admitted to practice in England and Wales.
Senior Associate
Partner
Senior Associate
Roger is one of the lead restructuring partners working on the firm’s appointment as the external administrator of Awal Bank (with balance sheet assets of cUS$6bn) on behalf of the Central Bank of Bahrain. Roger has considerable cross-border insolvency expertise and works with companies and professionals in a variety of jurisdictions. Roger specialises in insolvency matters, with particular expertise in property-related insolvency issues, including disclaimer, LPA receiverships, rent as an expense claim (Roger was involved (for the landlord) in the 2012 High Court case of Lazari v Game UK) and all insolvency aspects of commercial landlord and tenant situations. Roger is also recognised for his expertise in dealing with matrimonial homes and trust issues arising in bankruptcy. He acts on behalf of insolvency practitioners and landlords facing property issues arising in the context of formal insolvency procedures, as well as advising companies on mechanisms to restructure their property (and other) liabilities. Roger recently drafted and advised on the successful CVA proposal for the restructuring of the Helena Leisure Group (formerly part of the Luminar Group) of companies’ nightclub businesses. In addition to property-based insolvency work, Roger has significant experience of acting for administrators, liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy on a broad range of asset recovery actions, including undervalue, preference, misfeasance and proceedings under s423. Roger has obtained the CPI insolvency qualification and regularly speaks at external conferences on a variety of insolvency topics.
Hall of fame
About
Sally leads the non-contentious Private Client team in Guildford and has particular expertise in advising high net worth individuals and family business owners in relation to their estates and family succession planning, including inheritance tax mitigation and trusts. She has considerable experience in Court of Protection matters including deputyship and statutory will applications, and deals with complex capacity issues in addition to acting as a professional deputy. Sally also advises charities and not for profit organisations on legacy administration and legacy campaign literature. Sally is recommended in the legal directories Legal 500 and Chambers and is ranked in the Citiwealth Leaders List. She is on the reserve panel of the Court of Protection and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Sally is admitted to practise in England and Wales.
Experience
Acting as Financial and Health & Welfare deputy for a client with complex capacity and welfare needs
Advising multiple generations of a family in relation to their successful, national family business and personal assets
Advising on inheritance tax planning, trusts and succession planning for a client with international dimensions and complicated family arrangements
Senior Associate
Partner
Partner
Sydney is a Chartered Legal Executive with nearly 10 year's experience in site set up, residential development and related matters. She qualified and gained a wealth of experience working in-house for a Sussex based developer, working on both large London-based regeneration and mixed-use development schemes, together with smaller, more unique developments.
Sydney has worked in private practice since January 2020 and now handles complex site set up schemes across London and the South-East for both major housebuilders and smaller developers. Her expertise includes setting up estate management schemes for large multi-phased developments, drafting plot sales documentation and providing ongoing development advice throughout the lifetime of the scheme.
She works closely with clients to establish their long-term goals and ensure that the disposals are structured to allow a clean reversionary sale to third parties or the resident's management company.
Experience
Advising clients on the structure of sites for drafting purposes such as retaining ransom land, setting up a management company and putting in place freehold reversion contracts to allow the freehold to be dealt with free of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
Advising on the implications of private for-sale dwellings contributing to the service charge shortfall created by commercial premises.
Setting up procedures for compliance and redemption of title matters such as Legal Charges, Restrictions and Overage Agreements.
Advising on and drafting plot documentation for the set-up of a large multi-phased development of over 1,000 dwellings in Sussex for a major housebuilder.
Acting on later living/retirement developments with complex communal area structuring with commercial elements available to members of the public.
Tim is a corporate partner with over 25 years of experience in advising a wide range of clients on corporate and commercial matters.
Tim heads the corporate group in our Guildford office and has particular expertise in advising clients on the sale and purchase of family owned businesses, pharmacy and veterinary practices. His work also includes advising on joint ventures, partnerships, shareholder agreements, demergers and restructuring, management buy-outs and the distressed sale/purchase of businesses.
Tim is admitted to practice in England and Wales.
Experience
Acting for Avicenna Group on a range of transactions including their acquisition of Dudley Taylor Pharmacy Group (operating 57 pharmacies across Yorkshire, the Midlands, the south of England and Wales) and their acquisition of Sheppards Pharmacy Group (operating 34 pharmacies across Wales)
Acting for the shareholders of Pharma-Z Ltd on the sale of the company (operating a group of 6 pharmacies across East Anglia) to Bestway National Chemists Ltd
Acting for X-Pharm Limited on its acquisition of 7 West Midlands based pharmacies from West Midlands Co-Operative Chemist Group
Acting for the owners of veterinary practice operator Eastcott Ltd on the sale of the company to Linnaeus Veterinary Group
Acting for the partners of Acorn House Veterinary Hospital on its sale to The Royal Veterinary College
Acting for owners of Rainbow Equine Hospital on the sale of the company to VetPartners Limited
Acting for the owners of Cinder Hill Equine Hospital Ltd on the sale of the company to CVS (UK) Limited.
Associate
Partner
William is head of the firm’s Private Property group, and specialises in the acquisition and disposal of residential property in England, and has considerable experience dealing with country houses and properties on private estates. He leads a dynamic team, providing a wealth of experience and depth of service tailored to each of our client’s requirements.
He is known for his communication skills, personal service and his ability to progress matters in an efficient, professional and commercial manner. William is highly ranked in Chambers High Net Worth guide 2023, with market commentary including “William is exceptional; I would never hesitate to recommend him”. He is also recommended in the Citywealth Leaders List as a leading private client professional who has "developed a strong reputation…as a leading country house lawyer”, and is “known for his ability to act fast and provide commercial advice when it matters most".
William is admitted to practise in England and Wales.