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Adrian Collins
Adrian Collins
Partner specialising in all aspects of commercial real estate development and finance, with a particular focis on infrastructure and housing.
Alasdair Simpson
Specialises in major employment work relating to engagement and termination on behalf of public companies and public company directors. Clients include Amey plc; Aviva plc; BAE Systems plc; Brakes Bros Ltd; British Waterways (now Canal and River Trust); Cable & Wireless plc; Cheviot Asset Management; Diageo plc; ENRC plc; The Giraffe Group LLC; HS1 Limited; J Sainsbury plc; Kurt Geiger Ltd; Monitise Plc; NewSmith Capital Partners LLP; Old Mutual plc; Premier Farnell plc; United Utilities plc; WH Smith plc; and Workspace Group plc.
Alex Dumphy
Alex Dumphy
Partner dealing with leveraged and corporate lending transactions, resturcturing and secured lending. Clients include HSBC Bank Plc, Bank of Ireland, Clydesdale Bank Plc, Lloyds Bank Plc and Inflexion Private Equity Partners.
Amanda Gray
Amanda Gray
Amanda leads both the firm's finance and projects division and that division's corporate banking practice. She has more than 20 years' experience as a finance lawyer and advises on a diverse range of corporate banking transactions, with particular emphasis on debt and hedging facilities for corporates. She also has experience of leveraged finance (including public to private transactions and management buy-outs and buy-ins) and real estate finance (comprising the full range of commercial investment properties, portfolios of residential properties and development projects). She regularly advises on facilities in the professional practices, healthcare and education sectors and on funding for financial institutions.
Andrew Maskill
Andrew Maskill
Partner specialising in asset finance, project finance, trade finance and structured finance. Publications include ‘Leasing Life’, ‘Manchester Evening News’ (Finance Act 1997), ‘Industry Northwest’ (MBO finance 1998).
Andrew Rosling
Andrew Rosling
Andrew is a corporate partner, specialising in UK and international mergers and acquisitions and is also Head of our firm wide Retail & Consumer Sector Group. He has been named in the Lawyer's prestigious 'Hot 100' 2016 list for his work in advising retail and consumer clients on their strategic objectives in Europe and also for developing an Africa iPad app, which provides legal guidance on investing in Africa His clients include Britvic, Diageo, Harper Collins, IAG/British Airways, McBride, Royal Mail Group, Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Schwan Food Company, Tate & Lyle, Valmont and William Hill. Recent transactions include advising: Associated British Ports on the sale of its interest in Southampton Container Terminal to DP World BA on various matters including its disposal of the BA Connect business to Flybe and the restructuring of the NATS shareholding arrangements Britvic on its acquisition of Brazillian company Empresa Brasilerira de Bebidas e Alimentos (Ebba) Diageo on transactions in various jurisdictions including the sale of Gleneagles, the formation and break up of various interlinked joint ventures with Heineken and Namibia Breweries in Southern Africa, the acquisition of Serengeti Breweries in Tanzania and the acquisition of Meta Abo Brewery in Ethiopia Royal Mail Group on its online store launch on Alibaba's emarketplace and acquisition of the e-courier business Sainsbury's Supermarkets on its Netto JV with Dansk Supermarket and the Mobile by Sainsbury's JV with Vodafone (and various other matters) Schwan's Group on the divestment of its European business (including the Chicago Town pizza brand) to Dr. Oetker  Tate & Lyle on the break up of its pan-European bulk ingredients joint venture with ADM Various listed companies on governance and other projects in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria  He has also recently run in-market training programmes for in-house lawyers across Africa one of which won The Lawyer's 'Best Service Quality Innovation' award 2016 and the other being recognised by the FT Innovation Awards as a key innovation and risk management tool for a major client.
Andrew Blower
Partner specialising in property litigation. Extensive experience of contentious property matters, including: forfeiture and possession claims (including peaceable re-entry); lease renewals; claims concerning lease covenants (including alienation and use cases); solicitors’ and surveyors’ professional negligence claims; property-related insolvency issues; disrepair and dilapidations claims; disputes concerning the exercise of options to determine; property-related contractual claims; landlord’s remedies against defaulting tenants; joint venture and development disputes.
Andrew Pettinger
Andrew Pettinger
Specialises in commercial and corporate work of all types involving the public and private sector, including outsourcing, efficiency initiatives, shared services arrangements, collaborative frameworks, PFI, NHS, LIFT, joint ventures, regeneration and central government initiatives. Particular experience in the health, education, social care, housing, regeneration and transport sectors. He acts for the public sector, the private sector and financial institutions. He has an expertise in public procurement and data protection law.
Andrew Green
Partner, corporate division based in Manchester. Andrew specialises in M&A (both public and private), private equity and joint ventures. He has acted for companies, private equity houses, individuals and partnerships on a range of domestic and cross border acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and other transactions. Andrew has particular expertise in private equity transactions. He advises private equity houses on new investments, managing their portfolio companies during the life of those investments and on helping them to achieve successful exits. Andrew also acts opposite private equity houses – advising sellers and management teams during new investments and in supporting them throughout the life of their business. This gives Andrew, and his clients, the benefit of experience of dealing with private equity investors from all angles and an insight into what really does, and should, matter for each interested party. Andrew won the prestigious Young Lawyer award at the North West Young Professionals Awards in 2010 and was shortlisted for Young Professional of the Year. Recent highlights include acting for: Living Bridge on its £54m acquisition of Sykes Cottages; the shareholders and management of Travel Counsellors on their investment from Equistone; NorthEdge Capital on its £66m acquisition of Accrol Papers; Inflexion Private Equity on a number of acquisitions including CTC Aviation and Natural Products; Lloyds Development Capital on a number of acquisitions and disposals including WRG and ATP; Phoenix Private Equity on its acquisition of Key Retirement Solutions; Co-operative Group on: the £620m disposal of its pharmacy business to the Bestway Group, its liability management exercise, including the disposal of assets to Co-operative Bank p.l.c., its £1.6bn acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain and subsequent store disposal programme of in excess of 150 grocery stores in a challenging time frame, its joint venture with Thomas Cook group; Peel Media on its £500m joint venture with Legal & General for MediaCityUK; Moneysupermarket.com on its acquisition of Financial Services Net, OnTrees and on two joint ventures; Thermo Fisher Scientific on its acquisitions of Raymond A. Lamb, Sterilin Limited and the sale of Electorthermal Limited; Capita on their acquisitions of DLA Direct, Pathway, Turner MacFarlane Green and Reliance Task Management.
Andrew Williamson
Andrew Williamson
Andrew is a real estate partner with a broad range of experience and expertise in all aspects of real estate but with a particular focus on the sale and purchase of significant investment property and large scale portfolios, investment and property management and acting for national occupiers throughout a range of sectors. Andrew leads large property teams for several of our major institutional and corporate occupier clients and on corporate transactions with a substantial property element. Acting for and leading a client team for Travelodge Hotels Limited in relation to its rapid expansion plans in the budget hotels sector for nearly ten years; leading a team of 32 lawyers acting for British Land in relation to a sale of a 50% share in the Meadowhall Shopping Centre (a deal valuing the complex at £1.53bn).
Andrew B Smith
Andrew B Smith
Partner specialising in corporate and commercial work including alliances, outsourcing, distribution agency and affinity agreements, with a particular focus on transport and consumer goods sectors.
Andy McVeigh
Andy McVeigh
Andrew heads up the London construction team and regularly leads cross-disciplinary teams on substantial development finance and project finance deals. He advises clients from the public sector, to developers, retailers, financiers, contractors, members of the professional team and mixed consortia on the drafting, negotiation and approval of the full suite of development agreements, project documents, construction contracts, major projects contracts, and partnering projects. Andrew also advises on methods of procurement, standardisation and contractor incentivisation schemes and takes particular pride in trying to broker solutions to alleviate entrenched negotiations. Andrew has particular expertise in acting for PPP’s, joint venture partners and developers especially in relation to education, housing and regeneration, offices and retail, investment portfolios and health. Andrew heads up the Student Accommodation sector and is one of the lead partners for the firm’s sector focus on industrials. He is the client relationship partner for Volkswagen, Pramerica, ULiving, Rocket Investments, Mount Anvil, McLaren and the University Partnership Programme. He also advises Associated British Foods on all of their construction-related activity worldwide and (amongst others) Travelodge, Sainsbury’s, Diageo, Fulcrum Infrastructure, Barclays, Britvic, RBS, Nationwide and Lloyds Bank on their construction-related activity.
Angus Rollo
Angus Rollo
Over 20 years’ experience of advising on public and private M&A, capital markets, joint ventures, complex reorganisations and private equity and investment transactions across a number of sectors. He has particular expertise in the energy and natural resources sectors, including in transactions involving Africa. Recent experience includes advising SSE on the sale of a 25% interest in Beatrice Offshore Windfarm and related joint venture arrangments, advising Seven Energy on various acquisitions and fundraisings, including the US$255m equity investment in it by IFC, the IFC ALAC Fund and Temasek, advising Cairn Energy on its recommended takeover of Nautical Petroleum, and advising Xylem Inc on various M&A transactions.
Aster Crawshaw
Aster Crawshaw
Aster is a partner in Addleshaw Goddard’s professional practices group, described as ‘pre-eminent in terms of overall experience and depth of resource’ by the ‘Legal 500’. Aster advises professional practices on governance, structuring, partner and risk management issues, with a particular emphasis on international structuring matters. He also advises on mergers, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and LLP conversions (both from general partnerships and limited companies). In addition, he works with businesses in the financial services sector, including hedge funds and private equity houses on partnership and the use of LLPs and partnerships.
Ben Koehne
Ben Koehne
Corporate partner, with a particular focus on advising clients in the financial services sector. Experience includes advising on a wide range of corporate and strategic transactions including UK and cross-border mergers, disposals and acquisitions (including acquisitions under the UK Banking Act 2009), joint ventures, intra-group restructurings and advising the boards of companies, building societies, mutuals and other entities on directors’ duties and a wide variety of constitutional, corporate governance, regulatory and strategic matters and projects. Closely monitors regulatory developments and advises clients on compliance and the strategic importance of regulatory change. Clients include banks, building societies, mutuals, asset managers and stock exchanges, amongst others.
Ben Lowans
Ben Lowans
Ben is a litigation and dispute resolution partner specialising in finance litigation and fraud. Ben's experience involves all aspects of finance litigation including bringing claims for financial services clients and defending claims against those clients. These claims include enforcement and recovery actions, defending mis-selling claims, disputes regarding appointment of LPA Receivers, injunctive actions, fraud claims and dealing with complaints, including those made to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Ben acts for many clients in both the asset finance and asset based lending sectors. Ben also acts for commercial real estate and mortgage lenders, principally in professional negligence claims against solicitors and valuers and in contested possession claims. Ben has a particular specialisation in dealing with fraud claims and asset recovery, both in the financial services sector and for commercial organisations. This often involves taking urgent action to obtain freezing injunctions and search orders.  Ben is a board director of the Yorkshire and Humber Fraud Forum, a not for profit company that brings together the private and public sectors to fight and reduce financial crime.  Ben is a Certified Fraud Examiner. Ben often acts for leasing clients on Aviation and Marine matters. He typically advises clients on the enforcement of aircraft mortgages, repossession proceedings to obtain delivery up of Aircraft, in actions against third parties who have alleged liens and in associated guarantee claims. In respect of Marine Ben often acts for clients in relation to obtaining the arrest of ships in overseas jurisdictions and in Admiralty matters. Ben was seconded for 6 months to Nationwide Building Society in the role of Senior Counsel in Dispute Resolution.   Ben principally advised the Commercial Division of Nationwide in respect of their high value and complex disputes arising out of their commercial lending. Ben advises clients on issues of Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Bribery and Corruption. Ben is Addleshaw Goddard's Anti-Bribery and Corruption Officer and is a Money Laundering Reporting Officer.
Bill Gilliam
Bill Gilliam
Bill is a partner in the commercial dispute resolution/litigation team. He specialises in heavyweight disputes. He has particular expertise in the management and resolution of procurement challenges, major IT project disputes, claims arising from the sale and purchase of businesses, contract terminations and the resolution of large scale business-critical supply/JV disputes. Bill has over 20 years’ experience in litigation and arbitration, together with all forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including expert determination, negotiation and mediation. He acts for national and international clients and has considerable experience of advising both private and public bodies in a range of sectors, including health, transport, utilities, retail and technology. Examples of Bill’s recent experience include: acting for a wide variety of contracting authorities and utilities, as well as bidder clients on procurement challenges and achieving successful outcomes, by way of negotiation, strike out/summary judgment and swift partial re-run; advising ‘behind the scenes’ on highly sensitive procurement issues; assisting IT suppliers and customer organisations on resolving large scale disputes with IT outsourcing, changes in specification/scope, project delivery delays and performance failures, using escalated dispute resolution processes, negotiation, mediation, expert determination, arbitration and court proceedings; advising private and public sector organisations on complex and/or critical issues, including the management, renegotiation, default and termination of major contractual relationships; resolving high value completion account and warranty claims; dealing with several high profile judicial reviews in a number of sectors.
Bruce Lightbody
Bruce Lightbody
Partner dealing with investment fund and development work, landlord and tenant, and shopping centres; currently involved in a number of city centre regeneration schemes.
Catherine McAllister
Catherine McAllister
Partner specialising in all aspects of pensions advisory and transactional work, advising trustees and sponsoring employer (companies and LLPs). Advisory experience includes interpretation, consolidations, establishing schemes and new benefit sections, scheme mergers and sectionalisation, and investment documentation, as well as day to day issues including compliance in particular with the Finance Act, Pensions Act and date protection. Transactional experience includes corporate reorganisations, LLP conversions and share sales including advising on negotiations with trustees over funding implications and seeking Pensions Regulator clearance.
Catherine Fearnhead
Catherine advises regulated businesses, developers and investors on the disposal, development, pre-letting and funding of a range of asset classes including regulated operational assets, logistics, offices and student accommodation.  Catherine co-leads (with Jonathan Powling) the Logistics Sub-sector group at Addleshaw Goddard, which published the market leading 'How Soon is Now?' logisitcs report - gathering the views of leading investors, developers, occupiers and operators and setings out policy recommendations on how the logistics sector should respond to the current challenges and opportunities.Catherine also advises landlords and corporate occupiers on a range of landlord and tenant matters, leading teams to cost effectively manage property interests balancing the interests of landlord and occupier to ensure that institutional requirements are met whilst facilitating the occupiers' day to day business
Charles Penney
Charles Penney
Corporate partner, specialising in mergers and acquisitions (public and private), securities offerings, joint ventures and other mainstream corporate finance work.
Charles Jagger
Charles Jagger
Partner specialising in all forms of property litigation including dilapidations, lease renewals, rent review, professional negligence, insolvency and issue arising from the development of land such as easements, restrictive covenants and rights of light.
Chris Cartwright
Chris Cartwright
Partner in the real estate group whose practice covers a broad range of real estate sectors in which Chris acts for developers, funders, investors and corporate occupiers but with a particular focus on real estate finance and property development work. Over the past year Chris’ key transactions have included acting for Hub Residential on the forward sales and funding of the ‘Hoola’ development at Tidal Basin Road in the Royal Docks, London E16 with a gross development value of in excess £150m; acting for Lloyds Bank plc in connection with its new revolving credit facility secured against Countryside Properties (UK) Limited; acting for Lloyds Bank plc on its new offices at 125 London Wall and TSB Bank plc on its new southwest HQ at Keypoint, Bristol.
Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor
Specialises in domestic and international M&A transactions and reorganisations for both public and private companies with a particular focus on both the financial services, telecoms and retail and consumer sectors. Chris s main clients include RBS, Diageo, AIG, Kajima and British American Tobacco. Jointly responsible for leading Addleshaw Goddard s Africa initiative with specific responsibility for East Africa.
Damon Rosamond-Lanzetta
Damon Rosamond-Lanzetta
He has over 20 years' experience and advises on commercial and outsourcing transactions including IT, Business Process Outsourcing, infrastructure and managed service projects in financial services, public sector, retail and telecommunications. He has extensive experience on commercial and legal aspects of projects and has led the firm’s advice on a number of significant and business critical transactions for clients including major retail banks, various FTSE 100 companies and public sector clients.
David Handy
David Handy
Partner specialising in general corporate lending, leveraged finance, restructurings and real estate finance: clients include HSBC Bank plc, Barclays Bank PLC, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc and Clydesdale Bank/Yorkshire Bank.
David Engel
Commercial Disputes partner. Leads the Reputation & Information Protection team, specialising in reputation crisis management, defamation, privacy, confidentiality, data protection disputes, and in the protection of rights and reputation online.  Also advises on commercial litigation, particularly in hedge fund sector.
David Hartley
David Hartley
Partner advising sponsors, owners and funders in relation to PPP projects across many sectors from education and highways to health and energy. Also advises infrastructure asset funds on sales, acquisitions and operational matters.
Deborah  Kelly
Deborah Kelly
Deborah is Head of the Corporate team in Ireland. She has over 20 years experience advising on all aspects of corporate and commercial law, M&As to PPPs, commercial agreements and corporate governance matters. Deborah specialises in mergers and acquisitions and has advised on many corporate restructurings, private equity investments and joint venture arrangements. She also advises boards of directors on Directors Compliance Policies and provides guidance on the appropriate corporate governance approach and culture on boards of directors
Elaine Gwilt
Elaine Gwilt
Tax partner in the London office of Addleshaw Goddard who advises on the tax aspects of a wide range of structuring and transaction work but has particular experience advising financial services, institutional real estate and professional practices. Leads the tax practice in relation to the firm’s financial sector focus. Specialises in fund formation, partnership and corporate tax planning, particularly the tax aspects of corporate finance, restructuring, joint ventures and public and private mergers and acquisitions.
Elvan Hussein
Elvan Hussein
Corporate partner at Addleshaw Goddard LLP in London.
Emma Armitage
Emma Armitage
Partner in the litigation Group. Specialises in all aspects of intellectual property litigation including trade marks, passing off, copyrights and related rights, designs, patents and confidential information. Also has substantial experience in contractual disputes relating to IP, principally around licensing and distribution disputes (both litigation and arbitration). Has also advised clients on trade mark portfolio management including advising on clearance searches, where to register, registrability, costs and procedure.
Emmett Peters
Emmett Peters
Partner, real estate. Specialist area real estate finance and development. Recent real estate finance transactions include: financing of acquisition (circa £130m) of 10 Queen Street Place, occupied by SJ Berwin; financing of multi-site transaction for mixed-use development (hotels, restaurants, cinema and residential uses) in Leicester Square; refinance/restructure of facilities in excess of £100m for multi-use development in Canary Wharf; funding of ground-rent portfolios on facilities of circa £300m. Recent development work includes acting on the site assembly of landmark sites in West London and Vauxhall for mixed-use developments. Co-author ‘Property Derivatives: Practical Derivatives A Transactional Approach’ (Globe Publishing).
Fraser Ritson
Fraser Ritson
Over 20 years’ experience advising insolvency practitioners, clearing banks, financial institutions and other stake holders in relation to all aspects of under-performing or distressed corporates. Regularly advises in connection with turn around and restructuring assignments, both in and outside of formal insolvency processes. Fraser's recent experience includes advising in the following sectors: haulage and logistics, construction, waste and recycling, hotels and healthcare. Key clients include RBS/NatWest (to whom he was seconded in 2006), Santander and HSBC.
Garry Elliott
Garry Elliott
Partner in the corporate division, based in the Leeds office. Specialises in M&A, for a mixture of private and public companies, and private equity transactions, acting for both private equity houses and management teams.
Gary Sector
Partner in the Planning Team at Addleshaw Goddard LLP.  Advises on all aspects of town and country planning law including compulsory purchase, habitats and infrastructure.  Regularly appears in High Court and Court of Appeal in relation to legal challenge work, as well as representing clients at planning inquiries and examinations.
Ged Barnes
Ged Barnes
Partner dealing with all aspects of insolvency and restructuring, turnaround and insolvency work and associated banking and security arrangements.
Georgina Powling
Georgina Powling
Partner in the commercial department, specialising in intellectual property.  Georgina advises on a broad range of intellectual property matters, with a particular emphasis on agreements relating to the exploitation of IP rights including patent, trade mark and software licensing, research and development arrangements, confidentiality agreements and franchise agreements.  She also has significant experience on IP matters in the context of corporate and finance transactions.
Giles Distin
Giles Distin
Giles is a partner in the Equity Capital Markets and Public M&A group in London. He is a specialist in advising on securities regulation and on listed company transactions, including takeovers and other stock market regulated M&A transactions (cross-border and domestic), initial public offerings, reverse takeovers, public equity fundraisings and other equity capital markets transactions involving companies listed on the Main Market or AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Giles was seconded for two years to the UK Takeover Panel and is one of a select number of lawyers in the UK with cutting edge experience of takeovers gained both in private practice and at the competent authority for regulating takeovers and mergers in the UK. Whilst in private practice, Giles has advised on over 50 public takeover bids. Example takeover transactions include the recommended takeover offers for Latchways plc, Plethora Solutions Holdings plc, Creston plc and Electric Word plc. He advises listed issuers as well as financial advisers and brokers such as finnCap, Nplus1 Singer, Peel Hunt, Shore Capital & Corporate, Smith Square Partners, Stockdale Securities and VSA Capital.
Graeme Warburton
Partner; experienced in all aspects of corporate transactions involving SMEs and owner-managed businesses in particular; this is complemented by experience in funding and security matters.
Graham Cross
Graham is a corporate partner focusing on private equity, M&A and restructuring transactions, both in the UK and internationally. He has a particular focus on the UK financial services sector. He regularly advises both investors and management teams in connection with all stages of the investment cycle together with portfolio management issues. Within the financial services sector, Graham has managed a variety of large and complex transactions, but with a particular focus on private equity investment in financial services sector businesses, bank deleveraging activities (including advising sellers and buyers on the transfer of substantial commercial and retail loan portfolios) and transactions in the wealth management sector. Graham has also undertaken a variety of transactions involving UK hotel assets involving both outsourced management and owner-operated structures and regularly advises a growing pub chain on its estate. In addition, Graham advises banks, sponsors and borrowers in relation to the equity aspects of debt restructuring and debt-for-equity transactions, as well as having a broad experience of corporate transactions generally, including joint ventures, general company and shareholder matters and transactions involving UK and international private and public companies, banks, investors, management teams and intermediaries. Recent work highlights include advising Synova Capital on a variety of investments, advising Rathbone Brothers on the acquisition of Jupiter’s UK fund management business, its investment in the Vision IFA business and its failed merger with Smith & Williamson, advising Lone Star on the disposal of a number of hotels and advising several UK banks on the sale of significant loan portfolios.
Harold Brako
Harold Brako
Harold is a partner in Addleshaw Goddard's Litigation Division.  Harold specialises in banking and finance litigation, with particular expertise in asset based lending and receivables financing.  Harold also provides advice to a wide range of clients in the finance sector, including members of UK Finance, PE houses, several major UK and foreign clearing banks. As an experienced litigator, Harold advises his clients in relation to all aspects of finance dispute resolution, including claims for and against lenders, fraud claims, asset recovery involving urgent injunctive processes, contractual / commercial disputes, merchant acquiring issues, reviews and enforcement of security as well as contentious insolvency proceedings. Following 10 years at DLA Piper UK LLP, Harold founded and headed up the Manchester office of Shoosmiths LLP in 2009. He joined Addleshaw Goddard LLP in 2017.
Hemal Kotecha
Hemal Kotecha
Partner in the real estate group whose practice covers a broad range of real sectors including offices, retail, logistics, hotels and leisure.  Hemal acts for investors, developers, funders and corporate occupiers.  Recent transactions include acting for Slovakian developer HB Reavis on its acquisition of Elizabeth House, Waterloo (which is to be redeveloped into a mixed use scheme comprising 1.4m sq. ft. of offices, residential and retail space); CC Land on its £290m acquisition of Vodafone's Paddington base in London; and University of Greenwich on the acquisition and development of a new school of architecture in the heart of Greenwich.
Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian leads the Sainsbury’s real estate team nationally and is the lead real estate partner for Threadneedle and Skanska in the Leeds office. General: involved in all aspects of commercial property work including sales and purchases (especially for institutional investors such as Threadneedle and VALAD), complex development projects (including acting for regional developers such as GMI Property Group and Horncastle Group Plc), acting for public bodies (such as The HCA and Leeds City Council) and landlord and tenant work (particularly in the retail sector acting for household names such Sainsbury’s, HOBBS and LEGO). Particular expertise in the food store investment market. Specialism: retail/Sainsbury’s/food store investment/high-value sale and leasebacks – recognised expert. Has developed an outstanding practice acting for Sainsbury’s where he has twice been nominated for their panel lawyer of the year and has recently been recognised as ‘exceptional amongst our panel lawyers’. Sainsbury’s have told Addleshaw Goddard that they routinely instruct Ian on more complex, higher value transactions and that they regard him as the ‘go to’ man for these projects. This is best demonstrated by the way Ian has developed the firm’s role acting for Sainsbury’s Property Investments (SPI). SPI recognise Ian as their principal advisor for sale and leasebacks and one of the leading experts in this niche field. These transactions are strategically important in raising capital for reinvestment and need to be turned around quickly whilst balancing investment value against operational flexibility. Ian’s work in shaping their lease has earned him a reputation for innovation (with one senior SPI executive describing Ian as ‘the most innovative lawyer I have worked with’). Credited by SPI as helping them ‘move forward the industry standard lease, not just for Sainsbury’s, but for the food store industry as a whole’. Other retail clients include HOBBS and LEGO and he is a key member of the firm’s national retail and consumer team.
Jacqui Langley-White
Jacqui Langley-White
Partner in the London office specialising in social and economic infrastructure projects including PPP, PFI and PF2 (she has particular experience avising clients in the rail sector). Has in-depth experience and expertise in complex projects and drafting bespoke documents. Particularly valued by her clients for her commercial outlook and ability to close large and complex projects. Has advised on and led many prestigious PPP transactions across all sectors.
Jade Murray
Jade Murray
Partner in the pensions team, head of SIPPs and pension products and director of Sovereign Trustees Limited, the firm’s corporate trustee company. Deals in all areas of the department’s work: including scheme advisory and trustee governance, corporate deficits and pension regulator issues, transactions and outsourcings, tax and benefits, pensions litigation, SIPPs and SSASs, auto-enrolment, master-trust and DC schemes.
James Tarleton
James Tarleton
Please see full biography at osborneclarke.com/lawyers/james-tarleton/
James Reynolds
James Reynolds
James is a specialist construction and engineering partner. He jointly heads the Leeds non-contentious construction practice with David Shaw and is also Addleshaw Goddard’s national head of nuclear. James’ practice spans major regeneration and commercial development schemes, engineering, energy, infrastructure and utilities (in the UK and internationally). His clients include Peel Holdings, Muse, Lend Lease, ABF, Rolls-Royce and National Nuclear Laboratories.
James Salford
James Salford
James is a banking partner specialising exclusively in advising funders and borrowers on all aspects of real estate finance transactions. He is the firm’s client partner for Santander and leads the firm’s relationship with the Barclays real estate finance team. He has extensive experience of all aspects of real estate finance and has particular expertise in hotel financing transactions. James’ clients include Aareal Bank plc, Allied Irish Bank, Barclays Bank PLC, Santander and Bank of London and The Middle East.
Jennifer Cromack
Jennifer Cromack
Well-known nationally as an exceptional real estate finance lawyer. Undertakes a wide range of work in deal size and complexity, acting for lenders on standardised real estate investment products to large bespoke real estate and development finance transactions and restructurings.
Joe Wilkinson
Joe Wilkinson
Partner; construction and engineering, dispute resolution specialist (adjudication, litigation, mediation and domestic/international arbitration). Strategic dispute avoidance and managing risk advice on ongoing major projects.
John Joyce
John Joyce
John has been Addleshaw Goddard's Managing Partner since May 2014.  Since taking on the Managing Partner role, John has been responsible for re-focusing the firm's strategy and for its implementation. Before being elected to that role he was national head of the firm's restructuring practice. As a practitioner, he had extensive experience as a corporate lawyer, with a particular focus in corporate restructuring work.  He has advised on all aspects of restructuring, business support, turnaround and insolvency, advising directors and companies on restructuring opportunities as well as lenders and borrowers in distressed lending circumstances and acted on some of the firm's largest and highest profile restructuring assignments.
John Emerton
John Emerton
Construction litigation specialist. Principally acting for employers and contractors in adjudication, litigation and arbitration.
Jon Tweedale
Jon Tweedale
Litigation partner with specialist expertise in international arbitration and civil fraud. Has arbitrated under most of the arbitral rules (including those of the ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ICSID), representing multinationals, banks and governments, often appearing as an advocate. Also has very broad commercial litigation expertise, ranging from high-value disputes in the Commercial Court arising from M&A activity to the pursuit of fraud claims supported by worldwide freezing injunctions. Experience of most forms of ADR, including mediation and expert determination.
Jonathan Cheney
Jonathan Cheney
Jon is a partner in the Professional Practices Group and advises on a broad range of partnership and LLP issues, including LLP conversions, mergers and de-mergers and joint ventures, as well as partnership disputes. He advises businesses in all sectors of the professional services industry and is noted for his expertise concerning the financial services sector.
Jonathan Powling
Jonathan Powling
Jonathan is a Partner in our Funds & Indirect Real Estate group and co-leads our real estate logistics sector team. Jonathan acts for a broad range of clients including managers, investors and developers on fund establishment and structuring, complex UK and cross-border acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures and down stream real estate investments and divestments.
Jonathan Tattersall
Jonathan Tattersall
Partner and head of the contentious construction department specialising in international arbitration, litigation and forms of ADR. Work includes acting for a Korean contractor in a $200m arbitration re a power plant in the Middle East; a US contractor in arbitration regarding power plants in Pakistan; major PFI disputes in the UK with values in excess of £20m. He has advised clients in construction and energy disputes worldwide, on projects including Malaysia, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, P&C, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Canada, Mexico, USA, Japan, Korea, Singapore.
Julie Middlemass
Julie Middlemass
Julie is the national head of the property litigation team. Having trained and qualified in London, Julie has dealt exclusively with property litigation since 1991. Julie specialises in all forms of real estate litigation including dilapidations, complex lease renewals, rent review, rights of way disputes, insolvency and general property management work and acts for most of the firm’s real estate clients including Threadneedle, British land and Sainsburys. She frequently delivers seminars and training sessions, both internally and to external contacts and clients. She has particular experience of the wide range of legal issues that arise when managing large property portfolios including shopping centres. She also advisies key developers on the interpretation of agreements and their obligations under such agreements. A key aspect of Julie’s work is managing risk for these clients. Recent reported cases involve acting for Jolan Limited a landlord/developer in a complex and contested lease renewal and disputed exercise of a break clause at a prominent building in Manchester which involved a successful seven week trial in the high court, the decision from which was also upheld on appeal. The potential development includes a hotel and three retail units. Crosso No 4 Unlimited and Others v Jolan Limited and Others [2011] EWCA Civ 1619 and also John Bemoley & Others v Philip Noble [2014] EWHC 2657 (CH).
Justine Delroy
Justine Delroy
Justine heads up Addleshaw Goddard's commercial tax team. On the business/corporate side, she advises on the tax elements of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and funds establishment, acting for corporates, individuals and public sector. She has a specialism in private equity transactions and is involved in most of the region's significant PE deals. Justine's other area of particular interest and expertise is advising on the tax aspects of property-based projects and transactions of various kinds, including structured acquisitions, joint ventures, investment funds and co-ownership arrangements in relation to complex developments, property financings and capital projects. Justine's key clients include Standard Life (for whom she is a client relationship partner), British Land, Bruntwood, Wolseley, National Grid and PE houses including LDC, Phoenix and Elysian. Justine also leads the firm's gender working group.
Lee Shankland
Lee Shankland
Head of the firm’s housing finance practice and one of the finance partners. Specialises in housing finance, structured real estate finance, project finance and derivatives.
Lee Sheldon
Lee Sheldon
Lee heads up the London Funds and Indirect Real Estate team. Lee specialises in advising both managers of and investors in UK, pan-European and global investment funds operating across the real estate, infrastructure and private equity sectors. Lee’s work with fund managers covers advice on all aspects of fund formation and the establishment of their fund management business and in relation to investors, advice on fund investments, coinvestments and acquisitions/disposals of portfolios of fund interests in the secondary market. Lee also advises a range of property companies (both public and private) and real estate fund managers on complex corporate wrapped real estate transactions including investments/divestments, joint ventures and corporate restructurings. Clients advised by Lee in recent years include; HB Reavis; CC Land; Aviva Investors; Hammerson PLC, SEGRO PLC,  as well as a variety of institutional and SWF investors.
Leona Ahmed
Leona Ahmed
Investment specialist with in-depth experience in retail, offices and logistics. Key clients include Threadneedle Pensions Ltd; Zurich Assurance, F&C Reit, Aberdeen and Radera. She is also handling increasing amounts of foreign investment into UK real estate by Sovereign Funds. She leads the firm’s Asia Business Group.
Lucy Sturrock
Lucy Sturrock
Partner in real estate department with experience in a broad spectrum of commercial property transactions. Particular expertise is in acting for corporate occupiers and investors in the retail and leisure sector. Particularly skilled in managing large teams, helping clients realise value from their existing portfolios, and advising on national acquisition programmes. Extensive experience of sale and leaseback transactions and large corporate disposals and acquisitions. Heads up the firm’s hotel and leisure sector group.
Mark Molyneux
Mark is a partner specialising in commercial litigation. Mark provides advice to a wide range of clients including leading FTSE 100 corporates, financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals, on disputes including complex fraud claims contractual and outsourcing disputes, contract termination and warranty claims. Mark has significant experience of leading complex, high-value litigation for multinational and major FTSE 100 companies both in the English High Court and in International Arbitration including claims supported by urgent injunctive relief and worldwide freezing injunctions. Mark is responsible for Addleshaw Goodard’s approach to edisclosure. Mark has a particular interest in disputes involving cross-border issues and regularly advises on matters involving jurisdictions in Europe, Africa and South and Central America. Mark is a lead partner in Addleshaw Goddard’s Africa Business Group. Mark’s arbitration experience includes disputes under ICC, LCIA, SCC and Uncitral rules.
Mark Hallam
Mark Hallam
Mark is a partner in the firm’s corporate group. Mark has undertaken a broad range of UK and crossborder transactional work, including mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and shareholder arrangementss. Mark has a track record of advising on transactions in the financial services sector with a focus on the wealth management. His representative matters include advising the partners of the law firm Ogier in respect of the disposal of their fiduciary services business to Electra private equity, advising mutual insurer Simplyhealth on its acquisition of Groupama Healthcare, advising the shareholders of the Jersey Trust Company Group on the investment by Close Brothers Private Equity, advising Daniel Thwaites Plc on the disposal of its ‘Beerco’ division, advising Fx Corporation on the disposal of its UK retail foreign exchange business ‘Eurochange’ to Notemachine and advising Newcastle Building Society on the disposal of its prepaid cards business to the German consumer bank Wirecard AG. Mark has been particularly active advising on transactions for the AA and SAGA including advising on acquisitions in the domiciliary care, personal finance and driver services sectors, advising on the ABS applications for AA Law and Saga Law and associated joint venture arrangements and advising on Saga’s joint venture with Tilney Bestinvest.
Marnix Elsenaar
Marnix Elsenaar
Heads Addleshaw Goddard’s planning team and leads the housing group. Advises developers, funders and public sector clients on planning, compulsory purchase and compensation law. Particular specialisms are the retail, housing and rail sectors. Work includes reviewing and de-risking planning application documents, particularly environmental statements, negotiating section 106 agreements and managing public inquiries whether in the context of an appeal, call-in or compulsory purchase order. Marnix has led teams in relation to major city centre mixed use schemes, tall building and retail inquiries and is currently leading teams advising on major housing developments, including a number of high profile PRS developments, objections to development consent and Transport and Works Act orders and major retail schemes.
Martin O’Shea
Martin advises on a range of financing, including leveraged, property and corporate for bank lenders and borrowers.
Maxine Davies
Experienced partner in a broad range of investment banking and retail disputes including disputes concerning derivatives, allegations of misselling, unauthorised overdraft charges and credit card charges, breach of mandate and credit default reporting. Has a real commercial understanding of her clients’ needs, having completed three secondments to a large retail bank early in her career and, more recently, two further successful secondments to the corporate and investment banking division of a large bank.
Michael O"Connor
Michael O"Connor
Partner specialising in public/private finance, structured finance, PFI and PPP (head of firm’s PFI/projects team), finance transactions involving public bodies of all types, transactional healthcare, regeneration schemes and economic infrastructure projects.
Michael Hunter
Michael Hunter
Partner specialising in corporate and property tax, advising on tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, property development and investment, reorganisations and restructuring, joint ventures, tax disputes and employment taxes. Michael’s clients include Ivestec, The Hut, John Laing, Peel and Capita.
Michael Leftley
Head of employment group and partner specialising in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law including corporate governance issues and boardroom disputes.
Mike Davison
Partner in the banking team, within the finance and projects division, primarily based in London. He is a specialist in receivables financing, asset-based lending and trade finance, but also regularly advises on all types of working capital finance, including supply chain, supplier and distributor finance transactions. Recent experience includes advising Secure Trust Bank on the launch of its commercial finance division (including drafting precedent finance and security documentation); advising a fund on the provision of supply chain finance in Kenya, Peru, Kazakhstan and Croatia; advising a UK banks on the provision of Shariah compliant asset based lending facilities; advising the UK arm of a US asset based lender on the provision of 'all asset' asset based lending facilities in jurisdictions including England, Scotland and the US; and advising a listed UK corporate in relation to its entry into a non-recourse receivables financing facility structured to achieve full de-recognition treatment for accounting purposes.
Mike Hinchliffe
Partner in the corporate division advising on acquisitions, disposals, private equity transactions (MBOs, MBIs and development capital), joint ventures and other general corporate advice. Clients include 3i, Bridges Fund Managers, ECI Partners, Foresight, Graphite Capital and Piper Private Equity. Deal experience includes the secondary buyouts of the Las Iguanas restaurant chain and Kurt Geiger, the buyouts of Evans Cycles and Media iQ, and the disposals of Kerridge Commercial Systems and The Gym Group.
Nancy McGuire
Nancy McGuire
Partner and national head of Construction, Engineering and Environmental. Construction specialist with particular expertise in advising on procurement strategies and in the drafting, negotiation and approval of development and funding agreements, construction and engineering contracts, partnering agreements, consultancy agreements and warranties for large scale refurbishment schemes, leisure, retail and office developments, residential and mixed use schemes, manufacturing projects and developments involving both mechanical and process plant, and projects within the public sector. Has been widely involved in regeneration initiatives and civil engineering projects and advises clients not only on contract drafting and negotiation but also in relation to contract management issues and claims avoidance. Clients include a number of commercial developers who operate on a national basis and also contractors, financial institutions and public sector bodies, in particular in the higher education field.
Nathan Pearce
Nathan acts on all aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures and restructurings, with a particular focus on private equity and other financial sponsor-led transactions and advising high net worth individuals and families. He advises private equity houses on executing their investments, on managing their portfolio companies during the life of their investments and on helping them to deliver successful exits. He has worked with a number of well-known investors including 3i, AnaCap, Bridgepoint, Candover (now Arle Capital), Doughty Hanson, Goldman Sachs PIA and Smedvig Capital on a full range of low, mid and large cap transactions. Nathan also regularly advises management teams backed by private equity funders – examples include advising the management of The Miller Group Limited on the terms of their participation in the circa £500m financial restructuring led by GSO (part of the Blackstone Group), and advising the management of RL360 on its buyout from Royal London backed by Vitruvian. In addition, Nathan frequently advises corporate, institutional and high net worth clients, having undertaken a broad range of transactional and other work in the UK and overseas. Examples include work for Rathbone Brothers Plc, GVC Holdings Plc, MacDermid Inc, Alliance Medical Group Limited and Boris Berezovsky. Nathan regularly works on cross-border matters, often working alongside our preferred law firms in numerous jurisdictions. He has particular experience in relation to Germany (where he spent six months on secondment to Noerr’s Munich and Berlin offices) and Italy (where he regularly works with NCTM).
Nichola Peters
Nichola Peters
Nichola is a partner in the corporate crime team specialising in advising corporates, directors and senior management on financial and corporate crime issues. Key areas involve advising on and carrying out investigations relating to corruption, sanctions, money laundering, terrorist financing, extradition, information security and fraud issues. Her practice includes: conducting internal investigations into breaches of sanctions, corrupt conduct, money laundering, and terrorist financing. She has advised corporates and individuals on investigations by the Serious Fraud Office, the police, HMRC, the OFT, and the FSA/FCA. She also regularly advises on investigations in multiple jurisdictions; advising on financial and trade sanctions legislation, including setting up compliance systems, and on the impact of sanctions legislation on existing operations. During the last few years Nichola has acted for a large number of multinationals, including BP, on the impact of sanctions on their existing operations. She has worked with a number of energy and resource companies in Africa on dealing with the impact of sanctions and how to maintain business operations in compliance with applicable sanctions, including obtaining licences or utilising exemptions; advising on and conducting due diligence programmes relating to financial and corporate crime risks, for M&As, JVs and other third parties, including representatives, agents, suppliers, etc; and advising on, setting up and reviewing compliance programmes, including providing training. As Nichola regularly investigates compliance failings, she can provide specialist non-contentious advice on what to look out for, how matters can go wrong and how to minimise that risk. In relation to contentious matters, as Nichola works regularly with clients to conduct due diligence/implement compliance programmes she has an excellent understanding of industry standard practice and what procedures should have reasonably been put in place to prevent compliance failings. Nichola regularly lectures to clients and at trade association conferences, including the BBA and the AMLP.
Nick Pearey
Nick Pearey
Corporate partner at Addleshaw Goddard LLP in London. Nick specialises in private and public M&A and other corporate transactional work, such as joint ventures and reorganisations.
Oliver Carruthers
Oliver Carruthers
Partner and project finance expert who specialises in advising funders, sponsors and procuring authorities on the financing and structuring of major infrastructure and energy projects.  He has worked in project finance for over 20 years across a broad range of sectors including transport, renewable energy, social infrastructure, mining, waste to energy, process plant and natural resources and has particular expertise in complex financing packages and concession arrangements. In addition to conventional bank lending, Oliver has extensive experience advising on projects with capital markets funding solutions (public and private), mezzanine and DFI funding, as well as refinancings, restructurings and secondary market work.
Paul Salsbury
Head of London banking and a partner in the finance and projects division working in the banking sector in London since 1982, having completed his training with the 3i Group. Extensive experience of banking and finance, and is a specialist in UK and pan-European real estate finance and associated restructurings and recoveries. Clients include many of the leading providers of senior and mezzanine debt finance to the real estate sector, including Abbey National Treasury Services plc, Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Plc, Britannia Building Sector, Fortis Bank SA/NV, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba), London Branch, HSBC Group and Nationwide Building Society. Recognised by independent commentators and legal directories as one of the UK’s leading lawyers in real estate finance. Significant transactions include: Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Plc, £465m acquisition and development facility to Somerston Hotels Group in respect of its portfolio of 36 investment properties and hotels; Helaba and others, £132m senior syndicated debt facility for Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba), London Branch, Nationwide Building Society and Deutsche Postbank AD, London Branch to Mourant Property Trustees Ltd as trustee of the Aldersgate Eden and Brookfield Eden Unit Trusts secured on the Octagon and Eden Shopping Centres, High Wycombe comprising approximately 120 retail and other units; HSBC Group, £151m bond and guarantee facility to the Gallagher Group in respect of infrastructure works at a site exceeding 1,000 acres at Elstow, Bedfordshire and relating to the ultimate development of a new town and the construction of over 7,000 new homes; Nationwide Building Society, £160m investment facility to ING Property LP, £155m facility to the Golfrate Group in respect of the mortgaging to East India Docks London, £95m facility to the Devonshire Group secured on a mixed portfolio of investment properties.
Paul Medlicott
Paul Medlicott
Partner in corporate team focusing on general corporate, M&A and private equity. Leads the private equity practice in the North West. Has a particular sector focus on consumer goods businesses. Acts for a number of corporate and private equity clients, including Ardenton, ECI, Equistone, Inflexion, LDC, LivingBridge, NorthEdge Capital, NVM, Phoenix and PZ Cussons Plc.
Paul Bentham
Paul Bentham
Partner specialising in intellectual property and technology; particular expertise in information technology contracts including the acquisition of computer systems, the licensing of computer software and outsourcing agreements; also has considerable experience in technology licensing and advising on intellectual property matters in respect of corporate sales and acquisitions and joint ventures. Recent work includes advising clients in relation to major IT projects.
Paul Dight
Paul Dight
Paul is an energy infrastructure and regulatory specialist with significant experience advising on the development and funding of large scale energy infrastructure and on regulation in the energy and utilities sectors. He advises a broad variety of clients across the sector including developers, investors, supply chain, funders, regulators and sponsors (including central and local government bodies) with clients including National Grid, Drax, Britvic, Siemens, Foresight, Equitix, NIBC, DZ Bank and John Laing Investments. He advises on commercial and regulatory matters within the electricity, gas, smart (including smart metering and battery storage) and renewables sectors advising across the technology spectrum and he is recommended in Legal 500 for work in renewables.  He led the Addleshaw Goddard teams advising Biogen on three AD PPPs in the Welsh Food Waste Programme, he also advises John Laing on the acquisition and project financing of a number of wind farm projects, various funders and developers (Trina, Canadian Solar) on the development and financing of solar pv schemes, MAPs and energy suppliers on smart metering roll-outs and on CHP schemes for MediaCity, Network Rail, Citibank and Hub. Paul also advises clients including MCS, LCCC, Ofwat, and British Sugar.
Peter Hardy
Peter Hardy
Partner in the firm’s real estate group based in the London office; wide experience of dealing with all varieties of commercial property, including sales and purchases, landlord and tenant work and development work, as well as acting in property aspects of PFI and PPP transactions. He also acts for private companies involved in arrangements with various NHS and health-related bodies. Peter has specialist expertise in delaing with the development of and investment in residential property, especially in the private rental sector. His clients include private and public development companies, such as Fulcrum Infrastructure, Dandara and Kajima and funds such as Aviva and Canada Life. Recent deals include: advising on the largest yet Build & Rent financing, acting on residential PRS forward fundings, advising on the forward funding of primary care developments; advising a fund on income strip investment transaction; acting for the developer on terms near health development schemes and acting for the developer of PRS and other residential units in London. Peter is chairman of the firm’s risk committee and is it’s compliance officer for legal practice.  He is a member of the BPF Development Committee.  
Peter Kershaw
Peter Kershaw
Peter leads the Manchester real estate team and has a wealth of experience across various sectors. He is a focused and committed advisor, transacts large complex deals and has a proven track record of working collaboratively with clients' internal and external teams to originate new processes and protocols to streamline and improve working practices.Peter advises investors, developers, financiers, corporate occupiers and public bodies. He has expertise in all real estate markets and their derivatives at every stage of the economic/political cycle. He understands market trends and keeps close to policy issues As well as being an Account Partner for Hermes/ MEPC, Sainsbury's and Standard Life, Peter's experience includes: Advising corporate occupier clients on root and branch reviews of their procurement processes regarding their interactions with intermediaries and their process for the acquisition, management and disposal of properties, leading to new systems and ways of working Advising on the development of Wellington Place in Leeds, 1.5million sq ft of commercial, retail, leisure and residential space and one of the largest and most prestigious new city centre business quarters in Europe Working with clients on constructing new propositions, including exposition of regulatory matters and the performance of letting documents, to engage better with the market Peter is a founding Member of LandAid's North West Board.
Peter Sayer
Peter Sayer
Partner specialising in corporate and real estate taxation. Advises on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, reorganisation and restructuring, and venture capital matters. Also advises individuals on aspects of corporate transactions, such as private company disposals. Advises on direct and indirect (VAT and stamp duty/SDLT) issues in relation to real estate transactions, and has worked on a series of substantial PFI projects. Advice to hedge fund managers and management teams and on setting up and buying/selling interests in funds, both venture capital and real estate funds/partnerships, REITs, real estate and corporate joint ventures and outsourcing transactions. Structured finance transactions include asset and film financing and US/UK structures based on cross-border leasing of assets, partnership structures and shares, worked extensively on a number of tax efficient tier 1 capital raisings by UK banks. Also advises on tax based litigation and dispute resolution with UK revenue authorities, both on direct tax and indirect tax.
Polly Sprenger
Polly Sprenger
Her recent work has focused on: fraud investigations, asset tracing and recovery on behalf of investment funds and other defrauded entities conducting investigations into misconduct affecting corporations, including suspected fraud, corruption, theft of commercial data, false accounting, tampering with safety equipment, and unlawful surveillance acting for corporates and individuals facing asset freezing and forfeiture orders advising on industry-wide campaigns of private prosecutions and acting as a leading advocate for the proper and lawful conduct of private investigations. Polly also advises a growing number of corporate clients grappling with allegations of sexual offences in the workplace. Her advisory work extends beyond legal remedies into managing reputational issues and crisis planning, preparedness and response. Polly was junior counsel in the high profile prosecution of News of the World journalists in 2014, and served as technical advisor to a Parliamentary inquiry into private investigators and phone hacking in 2012. Polly previously served as Head of Strategic Intelligence at the UK Serious Fraud Office and worked for several years as a corporate investigator and investigative journalist.
Rachel Rawnsley
Rachel Rawnsley
Partner advising corporate clients and trustees on all aspects of ongoing pension schemes and advising on independent trusteeships (both ongoing and statutory trusteeships dealing with schemes in winding up); specialising in advising pension providers, employers and trustees on all legal aspects of trusteeship and compliance with the regulatory regime, and the Pensions legislation; advice in relation to pension scheme documentation; dealing with the regulatory authorities including the Pensions Regulator, the Inland Revenue and the Pensions Ombudsman.
Rachel Uttley
Rachel Uttley
Rachel advises trustees and corporates on all aspects of occupational and personal pension schemes. She has particular expertise in pension scheme mergers, DB liability management, corporate transactions and employer debt issues. She is the team's expert on buy-in and buy-out transactions. She is also part of the SIPPs and pensions products team and advises SIPP providers and trustees on establishing and amending SIPPs and all day-to-day queries relating to the operation of SIPPs. Her clients include the trustees of the lbstock Pension Scheme, Shepherd Building Group, WPP, Carclo plc and the Co-operative Group. Rachel's recent experience includes: advising the UK subsidiary a NASDAQ listed business specialising in connectivity infrastructure and services for global deployments of broadband networks on all their UK pensions issues, including advice on scheme funding negotiations, how to manage a legacy error where administration practice did not accord with scheme rules and the buyout and wind up of the DB pension scheme with a UK insurer; advising the trustees of a DB scheme in relation to administration errors resulting in overpayments to members and the legal and practical issues for the trustees in determining how to manage this and mitigate the risk of complaints from affected members; advising a sponsoring employer of a DB scheme on the ability to switch from RPI to CPI for pension increases as part of wider strategic discussions regarding the DB scheme; advising the trustees of a DB scheme on a very successful pension increase exchange exercise and a subsequent enhanced transfer value exercise; advising trustees on the implications of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the steps required to ensure compliance; advising a sponsoring employer on potential equalisation exposure  in over 25 different legacy pension arrangements including advice on both technical and strategic and practical issues relating to how to deal with remediation of benefits; advising a sponsoring employer on the switching off of long-standing discretionary practice previously exercised in member's favour and the legal risks including whether the discretion may have converted into a legal right; advising the trustees of a £600mil+ DB scheme on the closure to future accrual undertaken by way of extrinsic contracts with members and their obligations and duties; advising a corporate in connection the pensions issues arising out of a major disposal of certain divisions of the business which participated in the group's DB pension scheme, which included putting in place a £15mil pensions bond with two bond providers for the benefit of the purchaser; advising the trustees of a DB scheme on a professional negligence claim and potential rectification claim arising out an historic drafting error in their governing documents; advising in connection with the complex separation of benefits in a SSAS arising out of a business dispute; and advising numerous clients on changes to their life assurance arrangements and the introduction of excepted group life schemes and advising on the governance of these schemes.
Richard Lee
Richard Lee
Partner specialising in advising public and significant private companies and well known for advising on large-scale corporate transactions, including acquisitions/disposals, City Code takeovers, flotations, secondary issues and general listed and related ‘plc’ compliance issues.
Richard Yeomans
Richard Yeomans
Partner in employment group specialising in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law including corporate governance issues and boardroom disputes.
Richard Wise
Richard Wise
Partner and Head of Insurance Disputes. The insurance practice focuses on the representation of major national and multinational policyholders within the financial and professional services, retail and consumer, real estate, construction and pharmaceutical/health sectors. Contentious and non-contentious insurance coverage expertise include: product liability, US mass tort issues, professional indemnity, D&O, employers' liability, fidelity/fraud/corporate crime, right to light and construction all risks. Specialist Bermuda Form insurance disputes practitioner, with experience of acting in complex, international, multi-party disputes.International arbitration experience includes advising clients in relation to ad hoc proceedings, as well as those brought before the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, LMAA and ICSID. Richard also spent two years working in our Singapore office, advising clients throughout South-East Asia and in India. He is an active member of the firm's Asia and India Business Groups, having been seconded to two leading Indian arbitration practices in Mumbai and New Delhi in recent years.Experience of alternative funding methods, including CFAs, DBAs, third party funding and ATE insurance.
Richard Oman
Richard Oman
Richard is a partner in the banking and finance team. He acts for banks, financial institutions and corporate borrowers on a broad range of financing transactions including corporate lending, leveraged acquisition finance, asset finance, real estate finance (both development and investment finance) and project finance. Richard’s clients include The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Yorkshire Bank and PZ Cussons.
Richard Clayton
Richard Clayton
Partner specialising in banking, finance and investment disputes and contentious regulatory work acting for banks, asset managers, hedge funds and pension funds in domestic and cross border cases involving a range of lending and investment products both structured and plain vanilla.
Roger Hart
Roger Hart
Specialises in a wide range of corporate finance advice and M&A transactions, and leads our relationship with some of our biggest household name clients. Advises a mix of listed and private companies and individuals on all aspects of company law and corporate finance, including M&A, takeovers, the Takeover Code, disposals, demergers, spin-outs, IPOs, fundraisings, group reorganisations and financial restructurings, capital reductions, joint ventures, corporate constitutional matters, shareholder agreements, directors’ responsibilities and governance issues, including the UKLA’s Listing Rules, Market Abuse Regulation, Prospectus Rules, Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the AIM Rules. He leads our relationship with and advises Dixons Carphone, BT, MoneySupermarket.com, Speedy Hire, JD Sports, Norcros, The Hut, My Dentist, Boohoo, Arrow Global, Radius Payment Solutions, B&M Retail, Fircroft, Travel Counsellors and Victrex.
Rosanna Bryant
Rosanna Bryant
Partner specialising in retail financial services and financial services transactional work. Advises a wide range of clients on regulatory compliance with the Consumer Credit Act 1974, Mortgages FCA Handbook, Payment Services Regulations, unfair contract terms and consumer protection. Also significant experience in debt portfolio transactional work, and FSMA Part VII Banking business. Clients include Barclays Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC.
Sally Butt
Sally Butt
Head of finance disputes and head of litigation north. Partner specialising in all aspects of banking and finance litigation and dispute resolution but with particular expertise in asset finance litigation; advises a number of major asset finance companies on a variety of disputes and obtaining urgent return of assets via injunctive relief. Advises lenders on claims against solicitors and valuers, defended possession actions, and claims against lenders. Regularly resolves disputes via mediation.
Simon Prendergast
Simon Prendergast
Simon is a partner in the finance and projects division, specialising in asset based lending and receivables financing. Simon advises a range of bank owned and independent ABLs in relation to all types of asset based lending and receivables finance transactions, including syndicated ABL facilities, off balance sheet receivables purchase facilities and supply chain finance. His clients include RBS Invoice Finance, HSBC Invoice Finance, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance, Barclays Bank, PNC Business Credit and Leumi ABL.
Simon Courie
Partner in London infrastructure, projects and energy group in advising on infrastructure projects in both the UK and internationally, across a range of social and economic infrastructure sectors including schools, hospitals, roads, renewable energy (and in particular solar). In addition to Simon’s valued commercial advice on projects, he is recognised for his successful track record in facilitating introductions and he has brought together investors, sponsors and developers on a number of projects in both the UK and internationally (in particular Africa) including solar, waste to energy, oil storage and hotel developments. Simon has particular experience of the solar sector, having advised sponsors, pv suppliers and funders on a number of projects. Important recent deals are: advising Trina Solar on a range of large ground mounted solar projects, including West Raynham – the largest UK solar project at 49.9MW. This included an innovative construction finance arrangement where the project was sold to Bluefield; advising BLB on the project finance of a number of large ground mounted solar projects ranging from 7MW to 20+MW; advising Just Ghana, a consortia of developers, sponsors and consultants, on a PPP strategic partnering agreement in Ghana which provides a framework for future infrastructure projects; advising a Macquarie led consortium on various infrastructure projects in Benelux including a number of tram projects in Belgium; advising the Barclays Infrastructure Fund on various road projects in the Netherlands.
Simon Kamstra
Simon Kamstra
Head of international arbitration. Partner specialising in company and shareholder disputes; mergers and acquisition-related claims; misfeasance and directors duties issues, sports law, cross-border litigation and injunctive work, public law and judicial review. Contributor on legal topics to various business and legal publications.
Simon Lofthouse
Partner working in the Technology and Outsourcing team.  He has significant in-house experience from four secondments: with a multi-national FTSE 100 manufacture, a major financial institution, a multi-national insurance company and Aegon.
Stephen Kinsey
Stephen Kinsey
Non-contentious real estate. Specialising in investment and development/regeneration of commercial property. Main adviser to several well-known North West property investment and development companies as well as a number of other real estate businesses. Has experience of acting for the public and private sectors and for partnerships bewteen the two. Deals with large portfolio acquisitions, disposals and management and development projects many of which are strategically sensitive.
Steve Mackie
Steve Mackie
Partner advising in relation to structured finance; specialising in social housing finance, real estate finance, debt capital markets, project finance and derivatives
Susan Garrett
Partner with extensive experience of a wide variety of high-profile and large-value disputes for commercial enterprises; expertise includes both defending and bringing warranty and indemnity claims; contractual disputes and dealing with loss-of-profit claims; defending and bringing negligence claims; obtaining urgent injunctive relief, for example in relation to employee fraud and making applications for judicial review against public authorities and central government. Particular expertise in disputes relating to pensions, tax and trusts. CEDR-accredited mediator and higher rights of audience in civil proceedings. Acted in the following reported tax cases: Howell and Morton v Linda Trippier (HMT) [2004] EWCA Civ 885, Halifax plc and others v The Commissioners and Customs & Excise for the VAT and Duties Tribunal (LTL 12/6/022); appeal to the High Court and reference to the ECJ [2006]; Neways International (UK) Limited v Customs & Excise Commissioners [2003] WL 1823113; Bradmount Investments Ltd v Williams de Broe plc and others [2005] EWHC 2449; Betafence v Veys [2006] EWHC 999.
Vicky Niescier
Vicky Niescier
Vicky is a partner in the Real Estate department who has experience acting for a range of clients, specialising in institutional investor work. She is account manager for Standard Life Investments, advising in relation to all aspects of its property transactions, including development and funding, sales and acquisitions and management work. Vicky also works with regional developers, including Peel and has recently acted for Manchester City Council in its £1 billion joint venture to regenerate East Manchester
William Wastie
William Wastie
One of the acknowleged leading individuals in the field of LLP and partnership law in the UK. He advises professional services firms on the full range of issues and is frequently instructed on the most difficult partnership disputes. He also specialises in mergers and de-mergers, the acquisition of professional services firms, partnership downsizing, governance, structuring and internal arrangements. He has wide experience in the management of distressed partnerships, and assisting in the use of partnerships and LLPs in finance, insurance, media, real estate and private equity. William has been at the forefront of advising law firms and other commercial organisations on the advent of alternative business structures under the Legal Services Act 2007. William frequently lectures and commentates on all issues concerning professional services firms and is leading the Group’s response to the opportunities provided by the Legal Services Act 2007. He is Chairman of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and is one of The Times Law 100 Panel of leading practitioners. William previously practised at the Bar.
William James
William James
Corporate transaction and specialist advice in the payment sector and rail sector.
Yunus Seedat
Yunus Seedat
Partner specialising in all areas of corporate finance work with particular expertise in buy-out and venture capital work, acting for institutions, Newco and management teams.