Stephenson Harwood

The ‘fantastic’ team at Stephenson Harwood is appreciated for its ’proactive and very knowledgeable’ service to a variety of clients engaged in the financing and leasing of the full scope of transportation assets. Acting on its own as well as often alongside other practitioners based across offices in key maritime centres, shipping remains the team’s main calling card, with many operators and banks regularly instructing the firm across a range of new money and refinancing mandates. The ‘approachable’ Ian Mace heads up the ship finance sub-group that also includes the vastly experienced Jonathan Ward, who excels in handling work with a Chinese nexus; the ’solutions-oriented’ Dora Mace-Kokota; and the ‘exceptional’ Jon Cripps, who is adept at handling complex matters including those involving JOLCO structures. Although the aviation offering lacks the visibility of its more mature maritime counterpart, under the leadership of Richard Parsons the practice continues to grow its airline and lessor client base, with the ’exceptional’ James Collins being particularly effective at nurturing new clients on the lessor side. On the rail front, both Tammy Samuel and Suzanne Tarplee have well-established ties with train operators, with broad-based transactional and regulatory expertise that also includes some finance and leasing mandates.