About us
We have 8 offices worldwide, a variety of sectors to explore and unlimited opportunities for you to develop an incredible career. Here, you can expect to work in tight, focused teams alongside associates and partners, where you'll always be right at the heart of the action.
Our work
We’re dedicated to helping our clients achieve their objectives and we’re proud of the consistently impressive work we do in every practice area of our firm.
We pride ourselves on delivering ground-breaking work across the globe. As one of our 25 trainees, you’ll be exposed to high-profile clients and cutting-edge projects. With offices in London and across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, our diverse mix of expertise and culture provides deep, local insight and the capability to provide a seamless international service to our clients.
The clients we work with are hugely varied. Whether they’re corporations, institutions or individuals, we assemble teams of bold thinkers to match our clients’ needs and ensure they receive the right advice, from the right person, at the right time. Our experience encompasses: corporate; commercial litigation; employment, pensions and private wealth; finance; marine and international trade; and real estate and projects.
Major practices
As a trainee, you'll have access to a huge breadth and depth of expertise as you work alongside our partners and associates to develop your knowledge of our key practice areas.
Commercial litigation
Our commercial litigation team has a long track record of advising clients on their most challenging disputes and we’ve acted on many of the largest, bet-the-company cases. Clients span every major industry and sector, ranging from multinational corporations, financial institutions, large and medium sized companies, professionals and trustees, to governments, charities, and high net worth individuals and their corporate interests. We represent clients in High Court litigation, international and domestic arbitration, manage proceedings in other jurisdictions, and co-ordinate proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
Corporate
Our award-winning corporate team provide a range of expertise, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investment funds, equity capital markets, corporate governance, private equity, venture capital, commercial, competition and tax. Comprising dedicated and pragmatic individuals, our corporate team has an international client base across a variety of sectors, with particular focus on life sciences, corporate real estate, financial and professional services, insurance, healthcare, transport, decarbonisation and technology.
Employment, pensions and private wealth
Our multidisciplinary employment, pensions and private wealth team advises on both litigation and advisory matters. We work closely with our specialist experts and our international offices to provide a breadth and depth of expertise in all areas of employment, pensions and private wealth. Our employment team handles the full range of contentious and non-contentious, transactional and advisory employment work, and is a market leader in restrictive covenants and employee competition. Our pensions group advises on a variety of matters – ranging from advice on day-to-day legal issues to documentation, corporate transactions, investment, member disputes and litigation. Our private wealth team is renowned for giving no-nonsense practical advice on complex tax, contentious and non-contentious private wealth issues in an agile and responsive way. We act for ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices internationally, predominantly for entrepreneurial wealth generators. We’re best known for advising on some of the most complicated, sought after work in the market, with a focus on international, cross-border work.
Finance
Our award winning finance team is highly regarded for its excellence, broad experience and versatility. We work on demanding and innovative deals globally acting for many leading UK and international banks and financiers, investment companies, corporates, lessors, funds and other stakeholders on challenging transactions, which often involve novel instruments or structures. Our team’s expertise covers a broad range of assets including ship and offshore assets, aircraft, rolling stock, machinery and equipment, infrastructure projects, oil and gas projects, real estate and renewables. Our team is particularly known for its work advising on real estate finance, but also boasts market leading practices specialising in leveraged and acquisition finance, trade finance, Islamic finance, leasing and restructuring.
Marine and international trade
Our international practice is serviced by specialist lawyers based in key shipping and trade hubs worldwide. We’re well positioned to advise on any shipping or trade-related concern, from the most complex marine incident or financing structure to the more straightforward sale and purchase dispute or cargo claim. We’ve acted on some of the most high-profile and important cases in the maritime industry for some of the world’s largest ship owners, ship yards, ship finance banks, marine insurers, P&I clubs, offshore services companies and commodity traders.
Real estate and projects
This combined team advise across the spectrum of infrastructure and real estate project development and financing, providing full lifecycle support. This includes investment acquisition and disposals, financings development projects, sale and leasebacks, disputes, tax, as well as ongoing property and asset management matters. Our real estate and projects team support virtually every sector including transport, energy particularly in renewables, and all real estate asset classes and clients include the spectrum of public and private sector participants, including major institutional investors and financiers, developers, fund managers, hotel groups, public sector bodies and corporates operating in the space.
Our culture & values
We're committed to being the best and delivering the highest standard possible in everything we do.
That's why we encourage creativity and continuously develop our people, harnessing individual talent to create the most effective teams. Ours is a culture that clients feel the benefit of too, as we work together to forge strong and open relationships. In our experience, relationships based on candour, trust and ease in each other's company are the very best foundations on which to deliver and demonstrate great value on every piece of work.
Whilst it's no surprise that delivering pioneering, influential and complex £multi-million deals is extremely pressurised, we see no reason why performance and enjoyment at work can't go hand-in-hand. Our small trainee intake and open culture means you'll get to know your colleagues at all levels, work shoulder-to-shoulder with partners and have the opportunity to make a huge impact on the future of our progressive firm.
Achievements
Naturally, we're delighted when our know-how wins independent industry recognition. Here are a few of our most recent achievements:
- Private equity deal of the year - IFLR Europe Awards 2022
- Recognition in India Business Law Journal's International A-List 2022
- Citywealth's Top 100 International Private Client Litigation Lawyers 2022
- Excellence in Servicing North American Clients - WealthBriefingAsia Greater China Awards 2022
- Governance Service for Families - WealthBriefingAsia Greater China Awards 2022
- Hong Kong office - Caring Company Award 2021/2022
- Recognition in Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers 2022
- Recognition as an outstanding practitioner in WIPR Leaders 2022
- Recognition in Global Restructuring Review's (GRR) 40 under 40 list 2022
- Recognition in The Times 'Best Law Firms' – The Times 2022
- Private Client Law Firm - WealthBriefingEuropean Awards 2022
- MENA Super 50 list - Thomson Reuters Asian Legal Business 2022
- Recognition in Legal Week's Private Client Global Elite Directory 2022/23
- Recognition in The Spear's 500 2022
- Recognition for Intellectual property in IAM Patent, IP Stars and WTR 2022
- Lexology Legal Influencers Q4 2021
- A-List China Business Law Journal 2021
- eprivateclient's 50 Most Influential' Advisers 2021
- Maritime/Transport Team of the Year - The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2021
- Recognition in the Global Restructuring Review 2021
- Korea Super 30 Lawyers list - Asian Legal Business 2021
- Managing Partner - Asian Legal Business SE Asia Law Awards 2021
- Spear's Magazine's Best Tax & Contentious Trust Lawyers - 2021
- Recognition in Euromoney's Women in Business List 2021
- Asset Finance Legal Provider of the Year – Leasing Life Awards 2021
- Recognition in The Times 'Best Law Firms' – The Times 2021
- Private Client Law Firm – WealthBriefingEuropean Awards 2021
- Named one of Singapore's 'Best Law Firms' – The Straits Times 2021
- Winner of the awards' pro bono category – China Business Law Journal's 2021 China Business Law Awards
- Recognition in the Leading Admiralty, Maritime and Shipping lawyers’ category – Doyles Guide 2021
Help us deliver ground-breaking work
We excel at solving complex problems and generating novel solutions.
The quality of our people and our partner-led approach has enabled us to steer the most high-profile deals through to a successful outcome. Here are a few we've tackled recently:
Hoegh Autoliners
We assisted Hoegh Autoliners on a series (up to a total of 12 new ships) of zero carbon Aurora class PCTC vessels, each able to carry up to 9,100 cars at a time. This innovative, market-leading deal showcases the firm's expertise in both decarbonisation and shipbuilding.
Supreme Court success in “B Atlantic”
We advised war risks underwriters following the detention and confiscation of the vessel "B ATLANTIC" in Venezuela following the discovery of drugs below the waterline. We successfully represented the underwriters in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court proceedings, arguing that the loss was excluded.
Representing over 1,000 claimants
We represent over 1,000 claimants within the hospitality, leisure, retail, arts, ticketing, online betting, financial services and several other sectors in group claims brought against Mastercard and Visa. Our clients seek to recover losses incurred as a result of unlawful Multilateral Interchange Fees (“MIF”) set by the card schemes on every Visa and Mastercard card transaction processed by our clients in the UK and Europe.
Advising LXi REIT plc on its proposed merger with Secure Income REIT plc
We continue to advise LXi REIT plc (LXi) on its proposed merger with Secure Income REIT plc (SIR). The planned merger of the two property trusts, which will create a combined group with assets of almost £4 billion, will generate a portfolio of operating assets that are let on long-term, index-linked leases to tenants across a diverse range of property sectors. The firm is acting for its long term client, LXi, on all aspects of the merger including the substantial real estate due diligence exercise and the £385 million acquisition finance facility.
Advising Merrill Lynch International, a subsidiary of Bank of America Merrill Lynch
We acted for Merrill Lynch International (“MLI”) in successfully defending a claim brought by CFH Clearing Limited ("CFH"), a former foreign exchange trading counterparty of MLI following the foreign exchange market volatility caused by de-pegging the Swiss Franc from the Euro. The first-instance decision in our clients’ favour was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Securing finance for landmark multi-million pound real estate development
We advised Great Western Developments Limited on the financing of a £825 million development, the Paddington Cube in West London. This £360m development financing, designed by star architect Renzo Piano, will include a 1.35 acre public square and will deliver a new entrance to Paddington Station in London.
Advising Seraphim Space Investment
We advised Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc on the successful launch of its £178.4 million IPO fundraising. The closed-ended company, which is the world’s first investment trust focused on space technology, will invest in a diversified international portfolio of early, and growth stage, space tech businesses.
Disability and neurodiversity – how do you do your best work?
We want to ensure that all our colleagues have what they need to do their best work. For those with disabilities, neurodiversities and long-term health conditions, adjustments can make all the difference.