Watson Farley & Williams LLP
Client SatisfactionWatson Farley & Williams LLP is a leading name in tonnage tax and maritime, and takes an active role in thought leadership and the development of legislation in the sector. Richard Stephens, a noted expert in maritime tax with a client base of numerous major shipping companies, co-leads the department alongside Claire Miles, who is qualified as a CTA and is experienced in cross-border corporate tax matters.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Highest knowledge possible in terms of advanced UK tax laws, applied in a commercial and solution oriented way. ’
‘Richard Stephens is excellent in his solution oriented, well-based advice. Efficient and timely and to the point.’
‘Richard Stephens is the go-to for UK tonnage tax advice. His approach is practical and easily digestible for matters related to tax.’
‘Richard Stephens is very client friendly and accessible, and simplifies complex areas of law.’
‘Very strong in maritime tax across jurisdictions, including structuring and M&A knowledge. Deep and up-to-date knowledge of shipping business, commercial conventions etc. Attentive to detail.’
‘Richard Stephens - effective communication of technical analysis. Practical, pragmatic and useful advice. Claire Miles - very focussed and dedicated to providing solutions tailored to client needs, detail oriented with effective communication.’
‘The WFW tax team have an impressive ability to provide reliable and understandable, commercial advice in an efficient and collaborative manner.’
‘Claire Miles is excellent on the technical aspects of tax law and wonderful to work with. She is a superb legal technician and a valuable addition to the WFW partnership.’
Key clients
- MSC Cruises
- The Republic of Guinea
- TotalEnergies
- Sonnedix
- African Export-Import Bank
- Infranity SAS
- Mauritius Commercial Bank
- Taylor Maritime Group Limited
- Temeraire Holding Limited
- Dana Petroleum Limited
- NYK Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
- Star Energy
- Beacon Energy
- Anglo American
Work highlights
- Advising the Republic of Guinea on the development, financing and corporate aspects of the US$15bn Simandou project.
- Advising TotalEnergies on its sale of a 25.5% equity stake in the Seagreen offshore wind farm for £522m to PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited.
- Advising Sonnedix on an innovative €500m loan facility to finance the construction of its renewable development pipeline.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Richard Stephens, Claire Miles