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Edward leads our London Real Estate team and is a senior partner and shareholder. He is also a member of our Senior Leadership Team. After leaving DLA Piper, Edward established real estate and real estate finance boutique law firm Maple & Black in 2011. The firm grew to encompass corporate and commercial law before a successful merger with Acuity Law in 2017. A specialist in property finance, Edward has an impressive record of acting for several large and boutique financial institutions, as well as developers and investors across all forms of investment and development transactions. He has a longstanding and varied client portfolio spanning property investors, developers, asset management firms, lending institutions and restructuring practitioners. As a senior partner and shareholder at Acuity, Edward has focused on further developing the firm’s banking and finance client base with key specialist and alternative lenders. Notable clients include Zorin Finance, Ingenious Real Estate Finance and Global Growth Capital. Expertise: \tAcquisitions, disposals and developments \tJoint ventures and private equity funded transactions \tReal estate finance \tReal estate restructuring and distressed situations
Jonny Beck

Jonny Beck

Jonny is a real estate lawyer with a focus on transactional work and property finance, acting for property entrepreneurs, portfolio owners and funds. With 20 years of experience, Jonny has established himself as the go-to lawyer in Bristol for HMO landlords and property investors. Working in a non-traditional challenger law firm gives Jonny the flexibility to work at times and in ways that suit the client and transaction. Expertise: \tProperty investment \tProperty finance \tPensions SIPP/SSAS \tCommercial landlord and tenant \tHigh-net-worth residential
Chelsey Bishop

Chelsey Bishop

Chelsey is an Associate in the firm’s real estate department. She graduated from the University of Lancaster in 2016 and then interned at a Chambers in Hong Kong where she focused on construction contracts before she completed her LPC course at BBP in 2017. She went on to qualify into real estate in October 2019 and worked at Birketts LLP prior to joining Acuity. Chelsey has gained experience in a wide range of real estate transactions which includes landlord and tenant matters such as drafting and negotiating leases, licences and supplemental documents as well as investment sales and acquisitions of commercial, mixed-use and residential property (both leasehold and freehold). Chelsey also has a broad range of experience in real estate finance matters which include the acquisition and funding of development sites for developers and the acquisition and funding of park home and caravan sites, having acted on matters in excess of £300m as well acting on a number of portfolio transactions and refinancings which involved the preparation and negotiation of CLLS Certificates of Title. Expertise: \tAdvising on landlord and tenant matters \tAdvising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions \tAdvising on acquisitions and disposals \tAdvising on property aspects of corporate transactions \tAdvising on commercial and residential developments
Harriet Butterfield

Harriet Butterfield

Harriet is a Consultant Barrister in our Real Estate team. She has practised as a Barrister for over 20 years, beginning her career at the criminal Bar. She then moved in-house, representing a variety of clients in construction and engineering, energy and utilities on the full breadth of transactional and contentious matters. Harriet’s construction clients include employers and contractor organisations in the residential, commercial and infrastructure sectors, and she has acted for clients in several of Acuity’s high-profile construction matters. She acts for funders on the construction aspects of transactions and prepares construction documentation for developers. Harriet also has specialist knowledge of all forums of ADR, including mediation, adjudication, and arbitration. Expertise: \tAll aspects of contentious and non-contentious construction work \tAdvising funders on the construction aspects of transactions \tPreparing construction documentation for developers \tADR, including mediation, adjudication, and arbitration
Nigel Davis

Nigel Davis

Nigel is a consultant in our Corporate team. He has extensive experience in private and public company M&A and corporate finance transactions, with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related matters. After training with Simmons & Simmons, Nigel moved to the firm’s Hong Kong office in the early 2000s, working in the Asian market until 2017. He teaches company law, corporate governance and finance at the University of Bristol and the University of Hong Kong. Expertise: \tPrivate and public company M&A \tCorporate finance transactions (with an emphasis on cross-border, financial services and technology-related transactions) \tCompany law \tCorporate governance and finance
Lizzie Elliott

Lizzie Elliott

Lizzie is a senior associate in our Real Estate team. She is an experienced commercial real estate lawyer with a broad range of experience across all real estate sectors, acting for developers, investors, funders and occupiers. She has a particular emphasis on work in the office sector. Expertise: \tAdvising on acquisitions and disposals \tAdvising on landlord and tenant matters \tAdvising on commercial and residential developments \tAdvising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions \tAdvising on property aspects of corporate transactions
Duncan Freeman Freeman

Duncan Freeman Freeman

Duncan trained and qualified into the real estate group at DLA Piper, where he specialised in all areas of property litigation. Duncan acts for owners, occupiers, developers, and funders of corporate real estate. His practice covers most aspects of contentious real estate, including rent reviews, development disputes, landlord and tenant disputes (including rent and service charge recovery, forfeiture and possession claims, and contested lease renewals), title, rights of way and rights of light disputes, mass protest evictions and property-related professional negligence claims and insolvency.
Diego Garrigues

Diego Garrigues

Diego’s experience extends for over 20 years in Aviation, handling aircraft financing, purchase and sale transactions for airlines, lenders, high-net-worth individuals and operators. He also project manages aircraft and fleet acquisitions from contract negotiation to delivery. Diego qualified as a Spanish abogado in 2000 and as an English solicitor in 2009. He trained and spent five years at Iberia Airlines in Madrid as legal counsel, where he gained considerable experience with the airline in multijurisdictional work. Diego moved to London in December 2007, entering into private practice. Since then, he has advised clients on ownership and operating structures, negotiating and drafting loan, lease and purchase agreements, security documentation, and all ancillary documentation, including registration applications, legal opinions, and conditions precedent for delivery, insurance, and escrow arrangements. Diego also has extensive experience in regulatory, commercial dispute resolution, corporate law, and commercial agreements, including aircraft operating and maintenance contracts. Expertise: \tAircraft acquisition and sale – project management from letter of intent to delivery \tAircraft finance – operating and finance leases and secured debt finance \tACMI, dry leasing and chartering \tOwnership and operating structures, impact on tax (including VAT and import taxes) \tRegulatory compliance; commercial air transport, Part-NCC and Operational Control \tAircraft Registration; International Registry & Cape Town Convention advice \tPower by the Hour, maintenance agreements and service programmes \tCommercial dispute resolution \tCorporate compliance; General Terms and Conditions and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Ray Goodman

Ray Goodman

Ray is a partner in our Corporate Healthcare team. Having co-founded a specialist dental team at Goodman Grant, a Leeds and Liverpool-based firm acquired by Acuity Law in 2022, Ray has spent his extensive and exemplary career providing legal advice to dentists. In this time, he has accumulated deep insight into their needs, and is strongly committed to supporting the commercial and professional objectives of running a dental practice. His professional knowledge and experience are reflected in the recognition he has received from the industry, as past Chairman of the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers and as a member of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentists.
John Grant

John Grant

John is a partner in our Corporate Healthcare team. He has built an enviable reputation over 30 years in the healthcare field, twice building up the country’s largest team of specialist dental lawyers. This included co-founding a specialist dental team at Goodman Grant, a Leeds- and Liverpool-based firm acquired by Acuity Law in 2022. Having created a business focus entirely on the full range of legal services needed by dentists today, John is an authority on every aspect of acquiring, running and selling dental practices. His longstanding role in the industry means he has seen it all and can advise from experience as well as legal expertise. He applies his comprehensive knowhow to all issues faced by dental practices and their leaders, across the length and breadth of the sector. John is on the BDA panel of recommended solicitors and enjoyed two tenures as Chairman of the Association of Specialist Providers to Dentists (ASPD). Expertise: \tDental sales and purchases \tAdvising on associate agreements
John Haggis

John Haggis

John is a highly experienced commercial lawyer and acts as General Counsel and trusted advisor to an enviable portfolio of founders and business leaders in the technology, creative and marketing industries. Having trained and qualified at a well-respected London firm, John has honed his expertise in advising clients ranging from large global companies to start-ups and business-owners. As a trusted advisor to his clients, John guides them through the entire life cycle from start-up to growth and exit. John is a UK legal advisor to SoDA, the global society of leading business in the digital and creative industries. Expertise: \tCommercial advice \tMergers & Acquisitions \tIntellectual Property
Karen Halsey

Karen Halsey

Karen is an experienced lawyer specialising in all aspects of real estate. Before joining Acuity, she was a legal director at DLA Piper. She has acted for some of the UK’s biggest institutional landlords and tenants, undertaking all types of investment and management work. She has a particular specialism in distressed real estate. Expertise: \tReal estate \tCommercial property investment and asset management \tDistressed real estate \tResidential property development \tLandlord and tenant
James Hardy

James Hardy

James is a corporate and commercial lawyer with 20 years’ experience in public and private mergers, acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, private equity and corporate finance. James specialises in corporate finance work, acting for both companies and brokers, and advising on public company takeovers and mergers, private acquisitions and disposals, AIM and full listings, corporate restructuring, and general corporate matters. James acts for clients across a large variety of sectors, including media and entertainment, renewable energy, property investment funds, venture capital trusts, retail, industrial and financial services. After spending ten years at Freshfields, James moved into partnership roles at mid-City and West End firms before joining Newlawslegal, which merged with Acuity Law in 2018. He also worked for Simpson Thacher in New York. Expertise: \tPublic and private mergers, acquisitions and disposals (domestic [UK and US] and cross-border) \tAIM listings and secondary fundraisings \tJoint ventures and shareholder arrangements \tPrivate equity and venture capital \tCorporate reorganisations, demergers and share buybacks \tGeneral corporate, corporate finance, commercial, corporate governance
James Harris

James Harris

James is a Consultant Partner in Acuity’s Real Estate team. He specialises in all aspects of non-contentious commercial property matters. James acts for a wide variety of clients including landlords, tenants, HNW investors (both UK and offshore), developers, schools, national charities and finance providers on a wide range of property transactions. His experience includes freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals, leases, property management, development option and promotion agreements and secured lending for clients within the retail, investment, charity, sport and development sectors. He also provides support on property aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. James trained at Ashfords in Bristol and was a partner at Russell-Cooke in London. Expertise: \tAcquisitions and disposals \tProperty development projects \tPortfolio management \tCharity property work \tSecured lending \tCorporate support
James Kilgour

James Kilgour

James is a partner and highly skilled banking and finance specialist with broad experience of general asset and structured finance, and particular expertise in real estate finance across the UK and Europe. Having trained and worked at a large City firm, James has acted on a wide range of UK and large pan-European deals for borrowers and lenders. He has gained valuable insight from secondment opportunities at Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and with Barclays’ structured property finance team, equipping him with a deep understanding of lender processes and requirements. James has a proven track record advising on a wide variety of development and investment transactions across all asset classes, including student accommodation, mixed-use developments, logistics, retail, care homes and hotels. He regularly advises borrowers, banks, institutional investors, debt funds and other alternative lenders on senior and mezzanine positions across a full range of sectors. Expertise: \tStructured property finance \tDevelopment finance \tCross-border property finance \tSenior and mezzanine finance
Tessa Laws

Tessa Laws

Tessa is a corporate and business lawyer based in our London office. After qualifying at Rosenblatt, where she was a partner, head of the corporate team, and founder of the firm’s Japan Desk and renewable energy practice, Tessa left to set up her own practice, Newlawslegal. In 2018, Newlawslegal merged with Acuity Law, bringing Tessa’s more than twenty years’ of City legal experience, working on flotations, investments and mergers in London, the UK and internationally to the firm. At Acuity, Tessa provides hands-on commercial advice and guidance to a wide range of clients, from individuals to institutions. Her recent work has focused primarily on the marketing, media and renewable energy sectors, where she advises management teams on share sales and acquisitions, investment vehicles on their investments and individuals on their business structures. She particularly enjoys advising management teams in the media arena, be that content creation, TV production, advertising or public relations, on receiving external investment and ultimate exit. She has completed multiple deals within the sub-£20 million agency space and enjoys working for buyer or seller. This year, Tessa has led several successful and high-profile deals including the acquisition of Karian and Box by Ipsos. She has served on several AIM-listed company boards and was previously a member of the Quoted Companies Alliance. Expertise: \tCorporate deals and transactions – mergers, acquisitions and disposals \tPrivate equity funded transactions and PE backed buy and build strategies \tEIS and VCT structures and investments \tManagement buyouts and buyins \tShareholder arrangements \tEngineering and procurement contracts \tOperating and maintenance arrangements \tBond structures
Ralph Lovesy

Ralph Lovesy

Ralph is a consultant in our Banking & Finance team. He has a wealth of expertise in financial services regulation, including consumer credit, regulated mortgage contracts, payment services, insurance intermediation and fintech products. He has advised a wide range of clients, from established retail banks and credit card lenders to SMEs and start-ups. Ralph was previously the Head of Legal at a private bank and Lead Counsel at a high street retail bank. He also has extensive experience advising senior executives on a range of risk and compliance matters at a separate bank and a major credit card issuer. Expertise: \tGeneral financial services regulatory compliance (FCA Handbook) \tRegulated mortgage contracts (FCA MCOB sourcebook) \tConsumer credit (Consumer Credit Act) \tPayment services (PSD2) \tInsurance intermediation and administration activities (ICOBS)
Stephen McColgan

Stephen McColgan

Stephen has been a qualified as a solicitor for over 35 years. He has been a partner in a variety of transactional property roles based in Bristol and Somerset with Clarke Willmott, Davies and Partners and Michelmores. Stephen’s passion and expertise are in advising landowners, developers and investors in residential-led and mixed-use schemes. He has worked with several of the top 10 PLC housebuilders, including on significant town extensions with multimillion-pound land assemblies. He has advised design-led SME housebuilding entrepreneurs to realise their projects, and has also acted for landowners, particularly those unfamiliar with the development process, to help them understand transactions with developers and investors, to add value leading to sales of development land. Expertise: \tPromotion of land, disposal, acquisition, preparation for development through the planning process and arranging the infrastructure and utilities agreements \tSite set-up preparations for disposal, as both serviced sites or individual plot sales \tSecured acquisition and development finance from UK and foreign banks and investors \tAdvising SME housebuilders in securing finance from Homes England
Andrew McGlashan

Andrew McGlashan

Andrew is a partner in our Corporate Team. He is an accomplished M&A, capital markets and corporate specialist with a City background, having trained at Fox Williams and previously practised at BDB Pitmans. Andrew is highly experienced in capital markets transactions, acting for listed companies, nominated advisors and brokers in relation to IPOs, fundraisings and reverse takeovers. He also has vast experience in supporting private equity funds, as well as in advising both sellers and buyers on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions with deal values of up to £100 million. Andrew is extremely conversant with the start-up ecosystem, having spent a number of years advising start-ups, founders, university spinouts, universities and incubators. He works closely with a number of London-based universities and a variety of co-working spaces and incubators to provide legal help to their start-up companies. He also acts as a mentor to early-stage founders. In addition, Andrew handles general corporate and corporate governance matters. Outside of the Law, Andrew enjoys playing sports, including football, golf, rugby and cricket, and is an avid American football fan. He is also a former director of the Swansea City Supporters Trust (a shareholder of Swansea Football Club). Andrew is a very average guitarist but keen music fan, and likes cooking so much he almost became a chef. Expertise: \tMergers and acquisitions \tCapital markets transactions \tAdvising entrepreneurs, start-ups, university spin-outs, incubators and universities \tPrivate equity transactions \tCorporate governance
Daniel Moores

Daniel Moores

Daniel is an associate in our Corporate Healthcare team. He joined the Liverpool office of Goodman Grant (acquired by Acuity Law in 2022) in 2017, as part of our dental team. Daniel completed his Law degree and LPC at Northumbria University. Expertise: \tMergers and Acquisitions of dental practices and within the wider healthcare sector \tDental practice business structures (including partnerships, shareholders agreements, expense sharing arrangements and incorporations) \t24 hour retirement for NHS pension drawdowns
Robert Morgan

Robert Morgan

Robert is a Partner in Acuity’s Real Estate team. Having trained and worked at both large City and regional firms, he specialises in all aspects of non-contentious commercial property matters. Robert has significant experience with the acquisition and disposal of office, retail, and industrial properties, secured lending, development, and landlord and tenant and is exceptionally competent dealing with both the transactional and due diligence elements of such matters. Robert acts for a variety of clients, including national car dealerships, public bodies, landlords with large industrial estate portfolios, well-known high-street retail tenants across England and Wales, as well as pub and restaurant tenants in Central London. Expertise: \tProperty development projects \tAcquisitions and disposals \tPortfolio management \tLandlord and tenant (acting for both landlords and tenants)
Anisha Patel

Anisha Patel

Anisha is a senior associate and an integral member of the Real Estate team. She is experienced dealing in a broad range of property transactions, focusing predominantly on real estate finance. Anisha acts for several private funders in relation to the funding of residential developments, and advises many of the department’s key clients in relation to regeneration and development projects, as well as on the property aspects of transactions. Expertise: \tAdvising on landlord and tenant matters \tAdvising on property aspects of real estate finance transactions \tAdvising on acquisitions and disposals \tAdvising on property aspects of corporate transactions \tAdvising on commercial and residential developments
James Ryan

James Ryan

Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: \tTown and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) \tCompulsory Purchase \tThe law of Highways and Rights of Way \tThe law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
Jim Ryan

Jim Ryan

Jim is an experienced specialist town and country planning lawyer whose practice also includes contentious matters, compulsory purchase, highway law, rights of way and the law of commons, and town and village greens. Jim also provides planning advice to lenders of development finance as part of the lenders’ necessary due diligence processes. His early career was spent as an engineering technician in local government and then as an infrastructure designer in the housebuilding industry, before reading for a law degree at UWE Bristol and subsequently training with Burges Salmon in Bristol. In June 2010, Jim was appointed to an in-house role as Head of Legal Services to M J Gleeson Group plc, a role he held until the end of 2014. Expertise: \tTown and Country Planning (with a bias towards contentious matters) \tCompulsory Purchase \tThe law of Highways and Rights of Way \tThe law of Commons and Town and Village Greens
Richard Voke

Richard Voke

Richard is a partner specialist in Risk and Regulation, with longstanding experience in environmental law defence work, which he has practiced for 20 years. Richard’s clients appreciate his tactical and pragmatic approach, augmented by time spent in industry and his environmental science background. Richard has a Master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology and, prior to qualifying as a lawyer, spent a number of years with the HSE as a specialist in environmental major hazard legislation in the Hazardous Installations Division, where he prosecuted his own cases. He also spent two years as a risk management consultant, most notably leading a World Bank project on environmental catastrophe prevention in West Africa, and developing environmental and health and safety protocols for energy companies in the Sahara. Richard advises and defends organisations in their dealings with the Environment Agency, HSE, Local Authorities and other government regulators. Expertise: \tInterpretation and advice on regulatory legislation (environment, health and safety, food, fire, security, planning, trading standards, bribery etc) \tSpecific major hazard industry regulatory representation in UK (COMAH and abroad) \tRegulatory litigation – defending criminal cases brought by HSE/EA/EHOs, etc \tDirectors, senior officer and shareholder risk/liability management from threats such as corporate manslaughter, bribery and environmental law \tInquest representation for organisations and individuals \tLiability on internal and external security issues \tContractor control and risk limitation \tEnvironmental, health and safety accident/incident investigation leadership \tRegulatory risk and liability management systems such as ISO 14001, 18001/45001, etc \tMediation of commercial disputes
Jenny Wilde

Jenny Wilde

Jenny is a Partner in our Healthcare and Regulatory teams. Having qualified and practiced for over a decade at a market-leading boutique firm, Jenny is an expert in health and social care regulatory law. Her caseload includes any matters concerning the regulation of health and social care services. She represents care providers in responses, challenges and appeals to inspection reports and regulatory enforcement actions. Jenny is highly experienced in advising care providers in relation to safeguarding allegations, investigations and serious care reviews, as well as inquests, prosecutions, and commissioning fee disputes. She also supports care professionals in connection with professional disciplinary matters. In addition, Jenny advises vendors and purchasers of care services regarding regulatory due diligence. Her clients include care homes, domiciliary care services NHS hospitals, GP practices, adult social care services, children’s homes, private hospitals, dental practices and hair transplant clinics, alongside the professionals providing care within these settings. Jenny takes a team-based approach to advising her clients. She avoids jargon and legalese, instead providing personalised, practical and informed advice based on her many years of experience. She trains and educates professionals on regulatory and compliance matters, including preparing for CQC inspections. Outside of the professional realm, Jenny is passionate about team sports, especially women’s football. She is Chair of East London Ladies Football Club, a grassroots club that also coaches girls from age two upwards. Expertise: \tChallenges to inspection and regulatory outcomes \tSafeguarding matters \tFirst-Tier Tribunal (Care Standards) representation \tCQC prosecutions \tRegulatory due diligence during the sale or purchase of care services \tProfessional disciplinary matters