Fox & Partners > London, England > Firm Profile
Fox & Partners Offices
4-6 THROGMORTON AVENUE
LONDON
EC2N 2DL
England
Fox & Partners > The Legal 500 Rankings
Corporate and commercial > Partnership Tier 2
Fox & Partners is hailed for ‘ bursting with talented individuals‘. The practice predominantly assists partnerships and individuals in the legal profession in addition to clients in the accountancy, insurance and financial services sectors. Catriona Watt advises on the full range of advisory and contentious cases including departures and arrivals, partner rights and entitlements and negotiating terms of exit for both firms and LLP members. Caroline Field is an experienced litigator who handles some of the most contentious and often novel cases; where necessary in the Employment Tribunal, High Court, and other dispute resolution forums. The team however aims to negotiate cases in order to preserve reputations. Dean Fuller undertakes advisory and disputes work in conjunction with related regulatory and corporate law while Ivor Adair also advises on acrimonious exits; the enforceability of post-termination covenants and potential claims under the equality act legislation and where partnership cases are entangled with issues such as alleged discrimination or harassment. Associates Shiv Raja (‘one to watch in the future‘) and Eleanor Diamond are highlighted and Ronnie Fox
continues with the firm as a consultant. Senior associate Shoshana Bacall is also recommended.Practice head(s):
Catriona Watt; Caroline Field
Other key lawyers:
Ronnie Fox; Dean Fuller; Ivor Adair; Shiv Raja; Eleanor Diamond
Testimonials
‘This is the best boutique firm in the City bar none.‘
‘Caroline Field is far more than an excellent lawyer – she is a fount of emotional insight and tactical wisdom. She saved my bacon. Catriona Watt is definitely the person to go to if you are a professional or a professional firm dealing with a dificult exit. Shiv Raja has what it takes to be one of the greats in employment law – but he will do it without ostentation.’
‘Specialist firm to have acting on your partnership issues and litigation The rival to CM Murray’
‘A formidable female leadership. Nimble and strategic.’
‘A small boutique firm, bursting with talented individuals who offer a fantastic service for clients for partnership matters.’
‘My main contact at the firm throughout the engagement was Dean Fuller. The service I received from Dean was excellent – he was very responsive and very thorough. I had a high degree of confidence in him throughout the process.’
‘Also worthy of mention is Eleanor Diamond who is always en pointe and very thorough.’
‘The firm has strength and depth in the team that it presents. They can gear up and muster a diverse team quickly to deal with complex issues. They are transparent, speak in plain English, and are commercially focused. They will happily tell you when it might make sense to consider a settlement, rather than continue to incur legal costs and embark on litigation – which is refreshing advice.’
Employment > Senior executives Tier 3
The ‘subject matter experts’ at Fox & Partners ‘come up with pragmatic, smart recommendations’, with a particular focus on the professional, insurance and financial services sectors. Alongside an experienced contentious practice, the firm advises on post-termination covenants and the implications for executive moves. Caroline Field is experienced at litigating in the Employment Tribunal, courts and other dispute resolution forums. She co-leads the team with Ivor Adair, who is ‘a brilliant technical lawyer and very strategic’. Also active in the area is Catriona Watt , whose expertise includes contentious departures and arrivals and negotiating terms of exit.Practice head(s):
Caroline Field; Ivor Adair
Other key lawyers:
Catriona Watt; Eleanor Diamond; Dean Fuller
Testimonials
‘They are subject matter experts and come up with pragmatic, smart recommendations. Always available and prompt on their responses regardless of the documentation they have to go through. Provided diligent feedback.’
‘Very pragmatic and out of the box thinking in recommendations. Explored different options and design the strategy and roadmap accordingly. Solution oriented with can do mentality.’
‘Fox & Partners are a well-run, professional outfit. From the work I’ve done with them, I can see their clear desire to get the best outcome for their client, with good commercial nous. They work hard for the client’s interests – at whatever time of day, and get results accordingly.’
‘Ivor Adair is a brilliant technical lawyer and very strategic. An experienced litigator, he knows how to get the best results for his client.’
‘Ivor Adair is a dynamic litigator whose intellectual prowess is buttressed with commercial astuteness and versatility. Ivor’s experience shines through in heavyweight commercial disputes. He is formidable.’
‘The team provides a first class service in the most complex senior executive disputes. The partners at Fox are experts in their fields and they quickly assemble a team to provide practical solutions to difficult legal problems.’
‘Ivor Adair is superb. He takes an innovative approach to legal problem-solving, providing creative solutions to tricky situations. He is extremely experienced and his technical knowledge base is stand out. Catriona Watt routinely handles some of the most high value senior executive exits in the country. She combines very experienced intuition with rock solid judgment to negotiate the very best positions for her clients.’
‘They are a young practice, dynamic, hard working and user friendly, especially strong for partnership work.’
Fox & Partners > Firm Profile
Lawyers at Fox & Partners collectively have decades of experience resolving high profile and sensitive City issues involving employers, employees, directors, shareholders, firms, partners and LLP members. Potentially litigious matters are often resolved discreetly and efficiently; when that is not possible Fox & Partners litigates vigorously on behalf of clients in court, tribunal and arbitration proceedings. Fox & Partners combine employment, partnership and dispute resolution in one team and prides itself on its understanding of how the law intersects with the regulation, culture and practice of the clients it represents.
Partnership law: Fox & Partners is engaged by partners/members and partnerships and LLPs within the legal, insurance and financial services sectors (including hedge funds, asset management and private equity), where there are not only high value financial issues at stake, but also regulatory and reputational issues to consider.
The firm has undertaken partnership litigation in multiple jurisdictions and forums including in arbitration, the dispute resolution forum of choice for many partnerships and LLPs. Business protection issues are common in the partnership space and the firm has acted for recruiting firms, departing partners and firms seeking to protect their clients and teams, including bringing and defending injunctions. It has represented clients in large scale team move cases and arbitrations addressing highly technical areas of partnership law, including dissolution and forfeiture claims.
The firm has long been recognised as the “partner’s partner”. Advising on sensitive partner conduct issues, performance issues, discrimination and whistleblowing complaints are core aspects of the firm’s practice. Fox & Partners receive regular instructions from LLP members to advise on issues at the cutting edge of partnership law, including relating to discretionary decision making to expel or retire partners. In the financial services sector this typically involves disputes concerning the loss of multi-million pounds of carried interest or profit share.
The firm has been instructed on a number of high profile matters, including complex misconduct investigations, including harassment, against a backdrop of regulation and detailed scrutiny of proper process. Fox & Partners’ experience in acting for many players – the victim, the alleged perpetrator and the firm – means the firm is uniquely placed to assist clients in these sensitive (with potentially career-ending and business reputation damaging consequences) matters.
Employment law: Fox & Partners has undertaken employment litigation in multiple jurisdictions and across a variety of forums, with increasing cross-border elements.
The firm is often instructed on business protection and team move cases across a variety of sectors and regularly provide the full spectrum of advice, including initial review of express and implied restrictions, advice on fiduciary duties and the law relating to confidentiality, coordinating the interrelationship with other participants’ advisers through to bringing and defending injunctions. The last few years have seen a growth in the firm’s instruction on complex business protection work. With experience acting for all players a major strength is understanding the issues from all angles. Our recent experience, acting in some of the most high profile team move cases amongst the best in the business has cemented the firm’s reputation as a go-to firm in the employee competition space.
Fox & Partners is regularly instructed by employees and employers bringing or defending high value and sensitive discrimination and whistleblowing claims and have seen many through to a final Employment Tribunal hearing.
The firm’s employer clients, often small and medium-sized businesses or firms, typically seek us out to advise on “bet the business” type work. Work regularly relates to business protection (restrictive covenants and team move matters) or high value, sensitive and potentially reputation damaging claims threatened or brought.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | Dean Fuller | dfuller@foxlawyers.com | +44 20 7618 2883 |
| Partnership | Catriona Watt | cwatt@foxlawyers.com | +44 20 7618 2887 |
| Litigation | Caroline Field | cfield@foxlawyers.com | +44 20 7618 2880 |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Mr Ivor Adair | Ivor is a highly experienced, specialist contentious employment and partnership lawyer, acting… | View Profile |
 | Shoshana Bacall | Shoshana is a highly experienced Senior Associate specialising in the full range… | View Profile |
 | Caroline Field | Caroline is a Partner and head of Fox & Partners’ litigation practice.… | View Profile |
 | Mr Ronnie Fox | Partner at Fox & Partners specialising in Partnership and Employment Law | View Profile |
 | Mr Dean Fuller | Dean is a partner who brings more than 30 years’ experience as… | View Profile |
 | Catriona Watt | Catriona Watt is a Partner specialising in contentious partnership law as well… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of UK partners : 4 Number of other UK fee-earners : 7Memberships
Association of Partnership Practitioners ELA (Employment Lawyers Association) IBA (International Bar Association) London Solicitors Litigation AssociationDiversity
Fox & Partners is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work, from recruitment to engagement of services from others.
The firm has developed a clear strategy to ensure our commitment to a fairer community is evidenced by action. We engage with and support the local community through charitable initiatives. We undertake internal training and events to increase our understanding of inequalities which exist in the workplace and how we can champion a culture where everyone feels they belong. We include a handful of examples below of our activity in this area.
We are proud to have gender equality at partnership level.
We have a charity sub-committee so that right across the firm staff can take an active part in decisions on how best to support our local and wider community as a responsible and sustainable law firm.
The firm has also recently commissioned research into the gender pay gap and regularly speaks out regarding different efforts to level the playing field.
Finally, the firm has introduced volunteering time for staff to enable them to pursue their own charitable endeavours and maximise their impact in their own communities.