Nicholas Harries > Macfarlanes LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Macfarlanes LLP is lauded by clients for ‘building solid personal relationships, working hard to understand the client’s business and for always being willing to go the extra mile’. Nicholas Harries heads the practice, which draws on specialist teams from across the firm to provide a range of services to both operational charities and individuals with their philanthropic aims. Clients are active in many sectors, from education and healthcare to sustainable development and the promotion of science. Much of its work has an international dimension.

Macfarlanes LLP ‘is the yardstick of private client advice, setting standards’. Piers Barclay heads an ‘absolutely first-rate team’, which advises wealthy clients across all aspects of private client work. The group particularly stands out for its expertise in complex international matters, typically for very wealthy clients with assets, business interests, and families across multiple jurisdictions. It has a plethora of excellent practitioners among them, including Charles Gothard who has a significant Middle East/GCC practice. Nicholas Harries‘ expertise spans international trusts and estate planning matters and he has a particular emphasis on the Far East. Edward Reed‘s practice has a large European element, while Jennifer Smithson has built up a specialism in advising financial services executives (private equity, hedge funds, and investment bankers), as well as entrepreneurs moving to the UK. Richard Giangrande is recognised for his advice on the tax treatment of fund management executives, as well as supporting entrepreneurs in the technology sector. Paul Hardwick was recently promoted to the partnership, and Mark Hunter and Sebastian Prichard Jones are among the other key members of the department.