Katten

Carolyn Jackson

Carolyn Jackson helps clients solve complex cross-border issues involving the regulation of financial institutions and financial products, including derivatives. Carolyn's depth of knowledge and practical approach are shaped by her first-hand experience: she managed the New York trading desk of several investment banks and was formerly the executive director of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. Trading firms, banks, asset managers, clearing houses and trading venues rely on her to find creative-yet-sensible solutions. Clients with international financial operations regularly face cross-border regulatory challenges. Carolyn is adept at solving these compliance puzzles, which often involve adherence to the Dodd-Frank Act, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and other foreign financial laws. When necessary, she crafts innovative solutions by restructuring financial products or business operations or by obtaining regulatory relief. Carolyn doesn't see most regulations as obstacles. When a US stock exchange's acquisition of a foreign clearing house created issues under Dodd-Frank, she worked with the client to restructure operations to eliminate these issues. For another foreign client concerned about the effect of Brexit on its trading business, Carolyn helped it set up new structures and compliance systems to continue its operations. She also helps clients with day-to-day compliance issues, including, for instance, creating multijurisdictional employee-training programs. As both a New York and English qualified lawyer, Carolyn is well placed to address cross-border financial regulatory issues.

Charlotte Sallabank

When multinational corporations consider major transactions, tax implications often make or break the deal. Charlotte Sallabank advises on those implications, advising clients on the direct and indirect tax consequences of their largest business decisions. Her creativity, persuasive power and close attention to her clients' business aspirations consistently result in solutions that make them a reality. With more than 30 years of experience advising on transactions valued in hundreds of millions of dollars or more, Charlotte understands that providing a technical tax analysis of a given transaction is not enough. Nor is it enough to gain a deep understanding of the business motives behind a deal, as Charlotte does. She goes further and considers all perspectives that can impact the success of a transaction. In her work for large public companies, for instance, she takes care to consider the sensitivities that directors and shareholders bring to tax issues. That level of thinking can avoid adverse public opinion, strained relations with regulators and other unintended consequences of tax planning. Charlotte represents major banks, financial institutions, private equity houses and fund managers in addition to large corporations. Given the nature her clients, the transactions that she advises on often have a cross-border element. That was true of a multinational undergoing a global reorganization timed to coincide with a change in US tax law. With 24 hours left before the deadline, the client turned to Charlotte to solve a deal-breaking tax problem that was holding up UK tax approval. She did. It's just one of many major transactions in which her contribution made all the difference.

Christopher Hitchins

An employment lawyer who advises on all aspects of company operations, Christopher Hitchins does more than protect his clients' legal interests. He also protects their workplace cultures and reputations as employers. Chris' practice goes beyond traditional employment matters to encompass broader areas such as data privacy, pensions and benefits, and commercial issues. He also helps employers design strategies to incentivise workers, raise workforce standards and take other action to realise their goals and values as a company.Looking up the law on any particular issue isn't a great challenge. Chris and his team add value for clients by finding ways to conform with the law that enhance their retention and recruitment efforts while also reducing legal risk. Representing clients across all sectors, he is particularly active with clients in the financial services and hospitality and leisure industries. For employers, he handles all day-to-day employment law and human resource compliance issues that may arise, including GDPR, modern slavery, anti-money-laundering and immigration issues, as well as traditional areas such as holiday pay, performance management, and advising on family-friendly rights. With extensive international expertise, he also helps clients' businesses operate effectively across borders.Whether Chris is defending employers in a discrimination case, drafting employment contracts or designing benefits policies, he helps his clients manage HR matters more efficiently. They are free to focus on expanding their businesses, secure that they have counsel taking a cost-effective and consistent approach to issues across their workforce, enhancing their reputation as a good place to work. Providing that security is what makes Chris a long-term, trusted adviser to his clients.

Edward Tran

Edward advises clients worldwide on corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, joint ventures, fund investments, co-investments and other direct investment transactions, equity and debt financings, and corporate governance matters. He is based in the London office and has practiced law in New York and Silicon Valley. Edward regularly counsels clients on cross-border matters involving the UK, the broader EMEA region, the United States and Asia.Edward represents a range of clients including institutional investors, private equity firms, real estate private equity funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, sponsors, investment managers, family offices, financial institutions and corporations across a wide range of sectors, including real estate, financial services, technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, and logistics.Edward regularly advises investors on fund investments, co-investments and indirect investments in real estate assets. He frequently assists clients on joint venture arrangements, club deals, closed-end funds and other investments where real estate is the underlying asset.Edward also counsels charities on cross-border structuring and governance matters.

Gavin Vollans

Gavin Vollans helps and supports clients with a wide range of real estate investment matters. Working with multi-family offices, pension funds, hotel groups, apart-hotel operators, national property investment companies, high net worth individuals, collective investors and asset/fund managers, Gavin advises on investment acquisitions and sales, development, joint ventures, forward funding, borrower-side finance as well as corporate occupier landlord and tenant matters. Furthermore, Gavin has represented building societies and banks with regards to disposal of distressed assets, as well as represented investors purchasing distressed assets from receivers or administrators.By offering excellent deal management, working with the whole team — including third parties — assessing issues early and closing them off quickly, Gavin moves his clients' transactions through to close more quickly and with an approach that clients trust. Gavin's recent work has included a number of pension fund forward fundings and investment acquisitions (some of which are from receivers or administrators), central London office acquisitions, hotel financings and portfolio acquisitions.

Joe Payne

Joe Payne is a commercial litigator and advisor, who industry publications describe as "an excellent lawyer who fights his cause well." Joe focuses on the business priority behind every legal issue. He helps clients in protecting the value of their investments and assets and in identifying and mitigating their commercial and regulatory risks. He regularly advises and represents clients in cross-jurisdictional transactions and disputes.Recognized as a leading litigator in industry publications like Chambers UK and Legal 500, Joe Payne was described by clients as "impressively commercial," for "command[ing] respect across the market" and for his "focused advice and strong commercial understanding." Joe has also been described as being "a lawyer who never gives in, he is tenacious and impossible to ignore."Joe represents corporate clients across a range of sectors, including aviation, real estate and financial services. Joe is a solicitor advocate, often appearing in the High Court. He represents clients in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration, mediation and expert determination.

Kumar Tewari

Kumar leads the Banking team in the London office. He has spent almost two decades practicing as a debt finance lawyer, including nearly 10 years working directly in the banking industry as the head of the legal department, and also in a commercial role as director, at Lloyds Banking Group plc in London. Today, he draws on that vast experience by advising a range of clients on a broad spectrum of domestic and cross-border debt-finance matters. Kumar represents global banks, alternative/direct lenders, investors and sponsors across different levels of the debt capital stack, particularly on senior/mezzanine loan structures, which involve complex intercreditor arrangements. He regularly advises on cross-border private credit transactions, often involving structured (leveraged) or general corporate lending, as well as traditional secured asset classes such as real estate or aircraft financing and leasing. He is widely respected in the UK as a leading attorney on such transactions, having helped establish the LMA Intercreditor Agreement for real estate finance transactions in 2014. His experience of working on complex intercreditor arrangements also includes advising on stretched-senior, senior-secured second lien and secured mezzanine/subordinated notes. He also advises on unitranche, synthetic mezzanine loans and preferred equity arrangements. In addition to leading the legal department at Lloyd's Banking Group plc, Kumar also worked as a banker within loan distribution/capital markets. His deep understanding of investment and credit risk explains his ability to consistently find agile and innovative commercial solutions to facilitate trade. This includes his development of a secondary loan review due diligence product that provides a unique "x-ray" analysis of loan documents in a data room. The system provides crucial information to asset managers (CLOs), direct lenders and banks buying, warehousing or trading debt in the secondary market, and allows them to take advantage of time-sensitive opportunities. Offering that kind of legal counsel gives Kumar's clients a unique commercial edge in the market.

Nathaniel Lalone

Nathaniel Lalone is a dual-qualified lawyer (England, New York) and a rising leader in the field of providing cross-border regulatory and compliance advice to market infrastructures as well as sell- and buy-side firms active in the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, futures and securities markets. Nate is sought out by clients for his ability to manage their legal and regulatory risks while helping them achieve their commercial goals.Innovative solutions to the most complex questionsSince the financial crisis, regulation of financial markets and products has increased considerably, which has challenged existing market structures while prompting a wave of innovations and new ways of thinking. Incumbents and disruptors are both competing to bring groundbreaking solutions to market while contending with overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, legal and compliance obligations. Drawing on his vast cross-border experience, and his deep understanding of both US and UK/EU law and regulation, Nate is able to draw simplicity out of complexity and to provide clients with commercially sensible solutions to cutting-edge, and often first-of-their kind, questions.Nate received his master's degree and doctorate from Cambridge, where he studied EU politics with a focus on financial services. He was a 2004 Fulbright Scholar to the European Union.

Neil Robson

Neil Robson decodes complex UK and EU regulations to provide practical regulatory and compliance advice to financial services firms. He represents a range of financial market participants �� hedge and private equity fund managers, investment advisors, broker-dealers and proprietary traders — that are based or doing business in the UK or the EU. Neil's extensive working knowledge of this complicated sector allows his clients to both meet their business objectives and satisfy regulatory requirements.Neil's ultimate goal for each one of his clients is for them to confidently run their firms and thrive within the complex regulatory environment in which they operate. That means ensuring everything they do — from day-to-day business functions and cross-border interactions to launching products and new funds — stands up to the closest regulatory scrutiny.A significant part of Neil's work involves helping his clients stay nimble in the face of changing laws and regulations or uncertain circumstances. He assisted an international multibillion AUM fund management group, for example, with a restructuring to ensure uninterrupted operations in the event of a "no deal" Brexit. This included forming new entities across Europe and restructuring client relationships across the EU, the UK and United States and working through complicated regulatory, personnel and tax issues. Whatever the scope of an engagement, Neil provides responsive and agile advice aimed at satisfying his client's commercial objectives.

Oliver Williams

Clients rely on Oliver Williams to manage their most complex transactions, both domestically and globally. A skilled practitioner, Oliver is well-versed in both M&A and private equity. He has Higher Rights of Audience in the Civil Courts as a solicitor, and was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn. Oliver maintains a broad practice covering private equity, corporate M&A, investments and shareholder arrangements. He has considerable experience representing private equity sponsors and corporate clients on a wide range of domestic and international transactions, debt and equity arrangements, and restructurings. Oliver has significant experience of working with multidisciplinary teams involving legal, tax, accounting and corporate finance advisors. As such, he appreciates the value of a team approach to address the full scope of a client's unique needs. Oliver focuses on private equity sponsors, portfolio companies, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate restructuring.

Peter Englund

When debt funds, hedge funds, sponsors and borrowers/platforms find themselves in uncharted deal waters, Peter Englund is their safe harbor. He is known for handling complex middle-market debt finance transactions that require a creative approach. For Peter, a successful deal is one that both funders and borrowers see as the foundation of a beneficial long-term relationship. No matter which side he's on for a particular transaction, he makes it a priority to understand his client's goals and areas of concern. For debt funders, that means keeping in mind their appetite for risk, how they operate and the regulatory environment in which they do business. For borrowers, Peter makes sure financing arrangements won't restrict their day-to-day operations and plans for growth.Peter brings more than 15 years of experience in finance to his deals. Throughout his career, he has taken time away from top law firms to work directly with global financial services institutions, where he assisted with restructurings in Europe and the Middle East, and one of the world's largest multinational gas and oil companies, where he served as senior legal counsel. His diverse experiences make Peter particularly adept at handling deals that don't fit any template and require bespoke structuring. He was very much at home representing a lender in a financing involving 11 jurisdictions in the Caribbean, where neither side nor their advisors had ever done a similar transaction. Peter guided both his fund client and the platform through the deal's tricky requirements.Meanwhile, Peter's repeated work in fintech, alternative finance, hospitality and platform lending give him special insight into deals in those sectors. Knowing what questions to ask helps Peter — and his clients — cut to the issues that matter quickly.

Peter Sugden

Peter Sugden focuses his practice on real estate investment, finance and development, hospitality and leisure, real estate joint ventures and other corporate real estate transactions in the UK and across Europe. Peter represents private equity funds, institutional investors, property companies, overseas investors, pension funds and hotel owners and operators. His transactional experience extends over more than 30 years and spans all asset classes and transactions, including asset and corporate sales and purchases, fundings and financings, joint ventures, debt purchase, portfolio transactions and complex development. Peter has very significant experience in relation to the hospitality and leisure sector. Clients appreciate the personal touch that Peter brings to his work. He is known for the pragmatic application of his deep experience in transactional work and ability to focus on key issues, and for personally handling many of the matters that cross his desk.

Prav Reddy

Prav Reddy guides office holders, creditors, debtors, banks and distressed companies through transactional corporate and personal insolvency matters. His practice focuses on office holder driven contentious work including fraud, undervalue, preference, misfeasance and s423 actions. Clients trust in his significant experience in administration work and counsel related to real estate matters. Prav understands the unique needs of banks when it comes to enforcement work, most notably matters involving Law of Property Act (LPA) receiverships. In addition to his vast corporate experience, Prav manages personal insolvency matters and has particular experience with asset recoveries and disputes relating to trusts and beneficial interests.

Terry Green

Terry Green is the deputy managing partner of our London office and a trusted advisor to international banks, investment funds, large hotel groups and luxury retailers. He serves as a project leader for their international business operations, and frequently addresses issues relating to financings, litigation, insolvencies and corporate real estate.Terry maintains a global practice, which has seen him manage projects in the UK, Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. He makes himself available to his clients at all times, and believes in working closely with every client. Based on feedback, he makes regular adjustments to enhance the value of his role.In all of his projects and transactions, Terry works to ensure that all parties walk away from any deal feeling that they have been fairly treated. He takes a long-term view and knows one deal, if done correctly, can lead to many more for his clients and their counterparties. That forward-looking approach has been critical when acting for his high-level banking, funds, high-net-worth, luxury retail and hospitality clients.Given the global nature of his work, Terry has strong business relationships all over the world. These prove invaluable when working on matters like a real estate joint venture he handles for a large investment fund based in the Middle East, banks in Asia and Europe and hotel groups internationally (including in the United States).Terry's work on complex matters means he has learned to be flexible, and that applies to his client relationships. He is open to exploring fee arrangements that work for those he represents and is prepared to invest in relationships.