Thrings LLP

Thrings LLP

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Alastair Govier
Leads the Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution team at Thrings. His practice includes commercial and corporate disputes, professional negligence, fraud and asset tracing and insurance, with particular specialisms in pensions and financial services related claims. He has experience of cases in all the UK’s courts as well as ADR, arbitrations, multi-jurisdictional disputes, and proceedings before the various UK Ombudsmen. Experience of obtaining at short notice, and enforcing, freezing injunctions and disclosure orders.
Alex Pinhey
Alex is a commercial property lawyer with particular expertise in acting for national and regional providers of self invested personal pensions (SIPPs) in the acquisition and disposal of property, and the leasehold issues arising during the life of the investments. He has advised on high-value acquisitions and disposals, and in respect of properties as diverse as fisheries, factories, and offices. Examples of Alex’s recent work include: acting on behalf of SIPP trustees in the £4m sale of the headquarters of a top 100 law firm; acting for an SPV in the investment acquisition of a multi-let office building; granting a lease of substantial rent to a national haulier.
Alex Madden
Alex is a litigator specialising in contentious planning and environmental law. He has a wealth of experience in dealing with statutory nuisance cases and environmental offences involving controlled waste, pollution and the environmental permitting regime. Alex’s planning practice covers statutory appeals against enforcement notices and refusal of planning permission, advising on the EIA regulations and offences relating to listed buildings and conservation areas (including tree preservation orders). He also advises on statutory challenges to appeal decisions in the High Court and judicial review.
Ben Jones
Head of Real Estate and Partner in the real estate team, specialising in property development work, high-value acquisitions and disposals, and complex landlord and tenant transactions.
Carey Willis Fleming
Associate Solicitor- specialising in employment tribunal litigation and dispute resolution, including claims for unfair, constructive, or wrongful dismissal, as well as unlawful deductions from wages, and discrimination claims. Advising clients on the full employment life-cycle, including drafting contracts of employment, directors’ service agreements, and policies and procedures, to managing tricky work-related issues such as poor performance, capability, and misconduct, through to TUPE transfers and dismissals, to include redundancy and collective consultations. Carey also provides advice in relation to protecting confidential information and trade secrets, working closely with litigators to seek injunctive relief or damages in relation to breaches of restrictive covenants.
Conor Melvin
Conor is a Solicitor specialising in corporate & commercial work, with a particular focus on disposals and acquisitions, company restructures and reorganisations, shareholder and investor agreements and loan agreements. With previous experience of Agricultural disputes, Conor also has a particular interest in farming and food businesses.
David Patterson
Partner specialising in commercial litigation, particularly breach of contract, warranty claims, professional negligence as to construction contracts, ADR mediation and arbitration claims. Holds SC clearance and is a member of the firm’s Defence, Aerospace and Advanced Engineering sector group.
David Mears
Commercial property consultant (formerly partner) with over 40 years’ experience of the range of commercial property work, but specialising for some years now in industrial property acquisition and disposal, particularly in the waste and energy sector.
Duncan Sigournay
Head of Agriculture at Thrings. Agricultural property specialist; particular expertise in agricultural tenancies, both modern farm business tenancies and Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies. Workload divided between advisory work (tenancies, single payment scheme, etc) and transactional work (farm sales and purchases and associated property matters, such as telecommunication masts, pipelines etc). Currently involved in a number of significant tenancy matters, including various notices to quit and associated arbitrations, rent reviews, succession applications and succession planning. In addition, advising on agricultural subsidies including the current CAP reforms both in the context of tenancies and land sales/purchases.
Edward Jackman
Edward has broad experience of commercial property work, acting for large corporates, private companies and private clients. His particular areas of expertise include agreements relating to the sale of land for residential and commercial development, and commercial landlord and tenant work acting for both users and investors.
Fiona Kellow
Fiona has many years’ experience as a family lawyer, specialising in all aspects of family law, particularly high-net-worth financial issues and children disputes. She has a versatile approach, not only to the range of family law issues, but also to the most appropriate methods of handling cases for her clients; from collaborative round the table scenarios to fully-contested litigation. To Fiona, the needs of each client and their desired outcomes are paramount. Each client receives honest and individual advice to help them make the right decisions. Fiona works closely with the client and, where necessary, a team of other professionals, including coaches, accountants, valuers, etc, to ensure that the client is fully prepared for the processes that they face. Fiona has featured in numerous radio interviews, on Radio 4’s ‘World at One’. Recent highlights include: acting for a Lloyds name in a multi-million-pound settlement involving detailed analysis of the Lloyds assets, which were fluctuating with economic changes; acting for a high-net-worth individual, negotiating a settlement dealing with hedge fund assets and significant overseas assets; acting for a farming client going through a divorce, the farm assets being arranged in complicated family trusts; assisting a client in obtaining leave of the court to remove her child from the jurisdiction to live in Dubai; assisting a client in obtaining an order to enforce maintenance payments against a non-paying former husband, including successful claim for costs; assisting numerous senior officers from HM Forces in relation to matrimonial settlements, in particular, negotiations in relation to their valuable pension funds; assisting and advising a senior bank official in relation to a detailed financial settlement. Fiona heads up the Private Client Department at Thrings and well as the Private Wealth Route to market with close links between her Private Client teams and the wider firm including commercial, property and agriculture to ensure that all Private Wealth clients have a full portfolio of legal advice from our experts.
Graeme Fearon
Partner leading team specialising in intellectual property, IT law and data protection. Workload covers both contentious and commercial work for stand-alone clients and support for other teams within the firm. Specialises particularly in protection and enforcement of brands, also advises on e-commerce, technology and know-how.
Jane Oakland
Corporate partner based in Bristol. Acquisitions and disposals of owner managed and Plc businesses; strategic advice to corporates at all stages of growth and change, including shareholder agreements, joint ventures, management and employee involvement, investment and refinancing, board and shareholder disputes. Wide range of experience including  agribusiness and food sectors. 
Jayne Kemsley
Jayne is an accomplished property solicitor and is trusted by her clients, many of whom have worked with Jayne for more than 20 years. She has extensive experience of property transactions, both private and commercial. She advises investment landlords, UK residents, those based abroad and offshore companies. Jayne’s work involves the sale and purchase of residential properties in London and around the UK and site acquisitions for development or sale. She also has experience of secured lending and property investment. Jayne’s secured lending practice includes acting for both lenders and borrowers frequently with bridging finance short term property loans. Jayne’s in-depth understanding of clients’ needs allows her to provide a tailored service that addresses their concerns perfectly providing clear legal and commercial advice. Her expertise also gives her an intuitive perception of the level of guidance that each client requires.
Jeremy Nixon
London-based partner specialising in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law, with a particular emphasis on employment tribunals, restrictive covenants, TUPE and executive severance agreements.
John Davies
Head of Corporate. John specialises in business and company acquisitions, disposals, MBO’s, MBI’s, restructure and refinance. He also acts for a number of banks on structured finance solutions for businesses. John is also one of the firm’s client relationship partners and assists clients with strategic, commercial advice often negotiating complex agreements and joint ventures. He works closely with the in-house legal teams of a number of universally recognised businesses providing support where necessary. John has won Client Partner of the Year at the prestigious Lawyers Awards and Deal of the Year at the Insider Awards.
Jonathan Payne
As a leading partner in the company commercial team, Jonathan advises on acquisitions and disposals, reorganisations, joint ventures, technology transfer/sharing and other high-value, high-profile commercial agreements. Sector specialities include motor trade, and financial services. Much of Jonathan’s work has an international dimension; he frequently acts on commercial transactions with an international market leader as well as acting for European and American owned clients in respect of their UK ventures.
Karen Lintern
Partner specialising in corporate and commercial work for SMEs over a wide range of business sectors. Her practice includes mergers, acquisitions and disposals, corporate reorganisations and corporate finance. Karen acts as general counsel to a portfolio of companies and also represents the interests of entrepreneurs and investors based in the UK and overseas. Prior to qualifying as a solicitor, she worked in the media and many of her clients operate in that sector.
Kate Westbrook
Partner and Head of Commercial.  Specialist commercial and tech lawyer dealing with complex and high level commercial contracts.
Kerrie Hunt
Partner and head of the employment team. Has a practice encompassing contentious and non-contentious employment advice, working closely with corporate clients at a senior level, identifying and managing risk in their business. Regularly advises commercial clients on all aspects of employee relations, from managing individual disputes to dealing with exit strategies at all levels and advising on restructures including collective consultation and dealing with TUPE issues. Undertakes own tribunal advocacy, representing clients in resisting claims ranging from unfair dismissal to discrimination and advises clients on High Court claims for injunctive relief for breach of covenants and misuse of confidential information. Also has particular expertise, alongside the firm’s specialist agriculture team, of advising farmers and landed estate owners.
Kevin McGuinness
Highly experienced corporate solicitor, specialising in serving the needs of mid-size companies, with particular expertise in advising AIM listed clients, their investors and advisers on all aspects of corporate law, including IPOs/flotations, secondary issues, public takeovers, tender offers, share buy-backs, and corporate reorganisations and demergers across a broad range of industry sectors. Recently advised Vicorp Plc on its AIM listing and associated placing, and regularly advises clients such as AIM-listed Peel Hotels Plc, Black Raven Plc, Secora Plc on a variety of corporate matters. Also has a particular interest in the sports sector and has significant experience of advising leisure companies, promoters, rights purchasers, and sponsors on all their sports law requirements, including corporate acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures, broadcast and media rights, branding, commercial and marketing rights, equipment leasing and distribution and licensing matters.
Mark Cullingford
Mark has over 20 years’ experience in advising on business recovery, restructuring and technical insolvency issues and has been consistently regarded in the Legal 500 as a leading practitioner in restructuring and business and personal insolvency since moving to the South West from Nottingham in 1999. Mark and the team’s practice includes pre-insolvency advisory work, advice to businesses on the brink of insolvency, distressed and pre-pack transactions including advice to executive and non executive directors/propietors, stakeholders, creditors and associates or insolvency practitioners engaged to oversee or conduct the transaction. Clients include a large number of regional and national firms of insolvency practitioners, lenders, creditors, businesses, their management and individuals. Mark is a regular presenter at R3 seminars and training courses. Some examples of Mark’s recent assignments have included: advising administrators of a national music retailer in dealing with multiple ROT claims, claims for conversion made against administrators and other disputes; advising an international vehicle manufacturer on the restructuring of its regional franchise arrangements following the insolvency of a group of franchisees/dealers; advising trustees of a charitable company on the restructuring and adjustment of pension schemes in light of pensions deficit arising on cessation; advising a publically owned trading company on restructuring and insolvency issues and negotiations with its sponsoring authority including related pensions and regulatory compliance issues. Insolvency practitioner clients include: Baker Tilly; BDO; Begbies Traynor; Bishop Flemming; FRP Advisory; Grant Thornton; Hazlewoods; KPMG; Kingston Smith; Leonard Curtis; Macintyre Hudson; Mazars; Milsted Langdon; Moore Stephens; Moorfields; Price Waterhouse Coopers; Smith Williamson; Undebt UK. Recent reported cases: Re European Home Retail plc, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Fowler and others [2012] (oppressive disqualification proceedings); Hicks and Ponting v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2013] Mithani, Director’s Disqualification (discharge of disqualification undertaking).
Megan Jefferies
Partner within the Commercial Dispute Resolution and Litigation team focusing on intellectual property disputes, including cases involving copyright infringement, trademark infringement, passing off, design right infringement and Company Names Tribunal disputes. Also has extensive experience handling commercial contract disputes, professional negligence disputes and disputes involving allegations of fraud against company directors.
Mike Tomlin
Head of Banking & Finance and partner in the company commercial department. Specialises in acting for lender or borrower in relation to secured lending, investment and acquisition finance. Recent deal highlight is the £75m investment (acting for TrueSpeed) by the Aviva group into rural broadband operator TrueSpeed Communications Limited.
Neil Barbour
Partner with a recognised expertise in agricultural law. Advises clients on all aspects of agricultural property law, ranging from the acquisition and disposal of farms and estates, to advisory work on agricultural tenancies of all types and secured lending work to the agricultural sector. Deals with all areas of work for estate clients, including (where relevant) sales and purchases of residential units, and the grant and release of easements.
Ramona Derbyshire
Partner heading up the debt and asset recoveries team  and the business growth sector and specialising in commercial litigation. Clients include corporate entities, directors, shareholders, institutional clients and clients with motor industry, financial services and insurance-related interests. She has a pragmatic approach to commercial disputes, including using alternative forms of dispute resolution. She takes the lead in client relationships for key commercial clients to include working closely with in-house legal teams and board members.
Richard Fidler
Works with investors, developers and funders on development projects, financing and development schemes, property tax issues, town and country planning and investment work.
Simon Holdsworth
Simon is the firm’s Managing Partner and is responsible for managing the legal and operational side of the business.  The role includes producing and implementing the strategic plan while working closely with Heads of Department and Offices, individual partners and Business Services Directors to shape the firm to meet the accelerated pace of change in clients’ expectations. Simon joined Thrings in 1997 and has been a Partner since 2000. He was elected as Managing Partner in May 2013.
Steve McCombe
Consultant and solicitor-advocate with over 30 years’ experience of resolving construction and engineering disputes, acting for employers, consultants, contractors, specialist sub-contractors, suppliers, funders, insolvency practitioners and insurers. The disputes have involved buildings, roads, sewage and water treatment works, gas mains, pipelines, oil refineries, off-shore oil terminals, tunnels, bridges, roller coasters and military airbases, using negotiations, litigation, adjudication, arbitration and mediation. He is also a Specialist Practice Consultant to the RIBA.

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Registered address: 188 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2AG