Withers LLP has a strong record of delivering both claimants and defendants ‘consistently high quality, commercially savvy advice.’ The firm is particularly active in professional negligence cases against insured parties, including legal, financial, and real estate professionals. Eleni Polycarpou has experience in advising complex, high profile, sensitive matters for both claimants and defendants, and jointly leads the team alongside Caroline Thompson, who specialises in actions against legal professionals, particularly concerning tax and finance. Senior associate Joshua Swift is experienced in both domestic and international matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Eleni Polycarpou gives sound commercial advice.’
  • ‘Consistently high quality, commercially savy advice, and always willing to go the extra mile for a client.’
  • ‘Eleni Polycarpou has great overview of her cases and finds a way to make things work for her clients. Joshua Swift is extremely bright, with a great handle on the detail. Caroline Thompson is very astute and on the ball.’
  • ‘They have a large pool of exceptional associates.’
  • ‘This is a strong team working in difficult cases.’
  • ‘Joshua Swift is a particularly impressive senior associate.’

Key clients

  • Barrowfen Properties Limited
  • Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund
  • Stephane Roland Etroy
  • RBC Trust Company

Work highlights

  • Succeeded in establishing that our clients' claim in negligence against their former solicitors is not time-barred at a preliminary issue hearing, at which novel points of law were determined.
  • Obtained judgment in favour of Barrowfen Properties Limited with findings of professional negligence against Barrowfen's former solicitors, the Second Defendant, and findings of forgery against its former director, the First Defendant.
  • Obtained a security for costs order in favour of one of the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund's insureds in respect of claims brought against him in relation to advice given over a four year period encompassing advice in relation to an enforcement notice under s173 TCPA 1990 and criminal proceedings against the former clients.

Lawyers

Leading associates
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Withers LLP
Caroline's practice is varied and covers both commercial disputes and media law issues, acting for international and domestic clients. On the commercial side, Caroline has a particular focus on professional negligence claims and acts for claimants and defendants. This is fairly unusual in the professional negligence field, and ensures that she is well-placed to anticipate and understand how an opponent's legal team intend to approach a dispute. On the defendant side, she specialises in defending barristers facing negligence actions, acting on a number of high value cases for Bar Mutual’s insureds. Caroline has experience of litigating in both the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. As part of the media and reputation team, Caroline regularly advises individuals and companies in relation to media and information law issues including: defamation; misuse of private information; breach of confidence and data protection. She acted for a number of high profile claimants in the ‘phone-hacking’ litigation against both News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers and continues to have a particular focus on privacy law issues and the legal issues accessing from unauthorised accessing of private and confidential information. In 2017, Caroline was listed as a Next Generation lawyer in the Legal 500 professional directory in the field of professional negligence and has subsequently been listed as a Rising Star in that category. Previous feedback for Caroline in the Legal 500 includes the following: 'the experienced and practical Caroline is one to watch', ‘one to watch, providing really skilful and measured input’ and she has been recognised for her ‘quick grasp of the detail’.Caroline frequently works with clients to seek to resolve disputes before any formal legal proceedings are commenced. Where legal action is ongoing, she retains focus on settlement and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options, including mediation, where appropriate and in line with the client’s objectives.Caroline speaks Italian and Spanish, and regularly acts for Italian clients.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Eleni Polycarpou, Caroline Thompson

Other key lawyers

Roberto Moruzzi, Stephen Ross, Joshua Swift, Peter Leckey