England - London • Corporate and commercial
McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP
McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is sought out by both sponsors and portfolio companies for its transactional capabilities across the tech, healthcare, and life sciences sectors. Eleanor West is a highly active adviser who anchors the team’s offering in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Counsel Elisa De Carolis‘ focus ranges from VC-backed growth investors to digital health and medtech-oriented funds. Former practice head Tom Whelan departed to Reed Smith LLP in February 2024, while cross-border PE buyout specialist Fatema Orjela joined from Sidley Austin LLP in April 2024. Fatema regularly advises on major deals for leading European and US firms, with recent engagements including multijurisdictional buyouts and sell-side processes
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Elisa De Carolis is hands-on, a strong communicator, diligent, proactive, ability to handle complex transactions, able to achieve great results for their clients despite immense pressure and tight deadlines.'
- 'Fatema Orjela is deeply knowledgeable and infinitely approachable. She is good at explaining complicated matters in a simple fashion and is a pleasure to work with.'
- 'Fatema Orjela is an outstanding PE lawyer. We particularly value Fatema's ability to find creative solutions in complex situations, working with clients to find viable paths forward where one is not obvious - this really sets her apart from others in the industry. We also appreciate how dedicated she is to her clients. Fatema is always on top of both the details and the bigger picture, even at short notice. Fatema is our go-to PE lawyer.'
Key clients
- SilverTree Equity
- Ampersand Capital Partners
- Senior Management Team of Facile.it
- Atalaya Capital
- Summit Partners
- Auctus and its portfolio company, PharmaLex Group
- H.I.G Capital
- Naxicap Partners and Eqwal Group
- Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc.
- I.Q. Endoscope
- Flair Global (t/a Flair Impact)
- KHP Ventures
Work highlights
- Advised SilverTree Equity on two simultaneous co-investments with the Kantar: the acquisition of Step-Up RGM; and the acquisition of XTEL.
- Represented Ampersand Capital on an investment with KKR in the business combination of Biosynth Carbosynth and Vivitide; the sale of Genome Diagnostics to Eurobio Scientific; and the acquisition of P95 BV.
- Advised the senior management of Facile.it on the sale of their equity interest to Silver Lake.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Fatema is an award-winning private equity partner whose practice focuses on providing strategic counsel to European and US private equity sponsors. She has pan-European cross sector experience on the full range of corporate matters, including leveraged buyouts, strategic mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, structured and minority equity investments, equity and debt restructurings, and management equity plans, as well as related advisory work. Fatema has received acknowledgement from numerous industry ranking guides: Chambers UK 2024 – Ranked for Private Equity: Buyouts: £500 million and above. Sources note, “Fatema is deeply knowledgeable and infinitely approachable.” “Fatema has very high capability and the ability to be creative and think outside of the box.” “Fatema’s ability is wide-ranging and she prioritises client relationships.” The Legal 500 UK 2024 – Fatema has been ranked as a “Leading Individual” for Private Equity: Transactions – Mid-Market Deals. Sources note, “Fatema is an outstanding PE lawyer. We particularly value Fatema’s ability to find creative solutions in complex situations, working with clients to find viable paths forward where one is not obvious —– this really sets her apart from others in the industry. We also appreciate how dedicated she is to her clients. Fatema is always on top of both the details and the bigger picture, even at short notice. Fatema is our go-to PE lawyer.” Fatema is distinguished by her work in promoting diversity in the legal profession. She has been included in the Class of 2021 at Law.com’s Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards as “Mentor of the Year” for which Fatema was the top “Outstanding Winner”. Fatema has also been actively involved in initiatives across the City, including her roles as co-founder of “Women in Law, London” (WILL) a network with over 2,000 members across London aiming to promote and engage the next generation of women leaders in law, an Events Committee member of the “City Women’s Network” (CWN), and advisory panel member of “Oxford Women in Law” (OWL). Read full biography here: https://www.mwe.com/people/fatema-orjela/