Slaughter and May > London, England > Firm Profile

‘Commercial and collaborative, they work in close partnership with us as clients and link in closely with other practice areas in the firm to ensure a ‘one team’ service.’

‘Their advice is presented in a way which is clear to understand for non-lawyers. It also has a good practical focus and the team bring lots of real-life examples to help make the advice more applicable.’

‘Excellent quality of people. Advice is easy to understand and relevant for the business. Very supportive of both our business and people.’

‘Superb grasp of tax law and practice, highly professional, practical advice which is fit for the purpose requested.’

‘Mike Lane is a superb tax professional – a very broad knowledge of tax law and practice, a highly practical approach, and with excellent judgement in relation to tax risks.’

‘A mix of a great team and great collaboration with a high level of knowledge and experience, and always responsive. High quality work.’

‘Deep knowledge of complex tax legislation and full appreciation of the wider commercial factors at play which are handled by the same firm.’

‘Top-class firm. Highly experienced in the biggest and most difficult transactions. They will tell you with as much certainty as anyone can what is going to happen to your deal at the outset which is hugely valuable.’

‘Bertrand Louveaux is a standout partner. Vastly experienced and unafraid to tell you what you need to hear. He is worldly but grounded, and it’s very useful have someone like Bertrand who understands the political dimension of a transaction.’

‘Slaughter and May are just the best. They have a seemingly endless conveyor belt of excellent associates who complement the market-leading knowledge and gravitas of the senior partners.’

‘They know the law back to front. They’re on top of all the debates on current legal changes, and there are many. They are involved in the cases which are driving them. They know our (complex) business well. They command a room. Bertrand Louveaux is our lead partner, and is just wonderful.’

‘The advice obtained is always to the point and easy to digest (even on complicated matters) and always provided in a timely manner.’

‘All members of the team are on hand to provide advice and guidance in a timely manner.’

‘Extremely collaborative and work seamlessly to cover different areas of the transaction based on their respective specialisations.’

‘All members of the team are on hand to provide advice and guidance in a timely manner. Particular stand out corporate M&A partners include Rebecca Cousin.’

‘Richard Smith was essential; he handled all Q&A sessions with poise and command; with strong strategic agility and control over the proceedings.’

‘James Cook showed extreme versatility, and demonstrated full command over every nuanced detail; he was always responsive and on the ball. He was truly impressive as a young partner, and demonstrated a real partnership mindset to all that he did. I would not hesitate to recommend him for any project moving forward.’

‘The banking litigation team at Slaughter and May has strength in depth at all levels. They are able to draw on wider firm expertise in commercial litigation, regulatory/public law and financial regulation. The individual lawyers work phenomenally hard and are able to deliver high-quality work product at  short notice. The team routinely deals with the most complex and high value litigation.’

‘Richard Jeens is tremendously clever and has exceptionally good judgement. He understands the banking industry and has an extremely commercial approach focused on the practical objectives of the client. Richard is a clear and confident communicator and gets the best out of his team, by delegating effectively whilst exercising supervisory control.’

‘Deborah Finkler is hugely experienced and provides great strategic insight for the conduct of banking litigation.’

‘Holistic, qualified and value adding advice. Always available, customer-oriented and trustworthy.’

‘Gayathri Kamalanathan has an incisive mind, broad and relevant knowledge of the complexities of financial institutions and delivers prompt, succinct and actionable advice with a self-deprecating and understated manner. In the middle of a crisis or when we as a client are making some of our most difficult decisions, Gayathri is the person you want in the room.’

‘The team has incredible strength in depth across the full skillset – sector expertise, litigation skills and strategy and case and client management.’

‘Ewan Brown and Camilla Sanger are both perfect performers as partners, fully across the case and managing dealings with the client.’

‘Slaughter and May have undoubtedly developed one of the very top competition litigation teams in the City.’

‘Richard Swallow is the doyen of the team, an outstanding practitioner. Of particular note amongst the other partners are the brilliant tactician Damian Taylor, the formidable strategist Holly Ware and the excellent litigator Jonathan Clark; Camilla Sanger is building a large practice in this area and senior counsel Liz Jordan is a future star to watch out for.’

‘The competition litigation team at Slaughters is unique for the sheer quality of its lawyers across the board. Their junior associates up to senior partners are consistently outstanding, more so than any other firm in the field. The team is also unique in encouraging their lawyers to become involved in multiple types of litigation, meaning that associates tend to have a wider experience of litigation than associates at equivalent firms.’

‘Damian Taylor is outstanding. He is one of the sharpest partners in the competition law world and brings with him the experience of a heavyweight commercial litigation practice. He has an excellent ability to plan a long-term strategy in long-running, complex litigation.’

‘All very versed and experienced in the field of competition litigation.’

‘Intellectually first rate, extremely hardworking and devoted to the highest levels of quality.’

‘Camilla Sanger: charming and shrewd. Isabel Taylor: hugely experienced in merger law. Peter Wickham: newly made partner and deservingly so.’

‘Slaughter and May has a legendary tax team with an excellent reputation spanning many decades.’

‘This is an exceptional team with outstanding legal ability and analysis and a huge range of experience of all areas of tax and industry.’

‘Unrivalled technical expertise, knowledge and confidence in backing own position.’

‘Always on and commitment to deliver results on time.’

‘A deep knowledge of tax and client care that is second to none: they leave me feeling I am in safe hands and even the most intractable problem can be resolved.’

‘Steve Edge is a living legend in the UK tax world. He learned his craft from people who were practicing when corporation tax and capital gains tax were introduced in 1965. His breadth of experience is unparalleled. But he is no mere elder statesman, wheeled out on grand occasions to utter a few platitudes and reel off tired anecdotes from days gone by: he is as sharp as ever and more able to focus on work and clients that he finds interesting and where he thinks he can add value. He is a great ally to have.’

‘The Slaughter and May team were absolute experts in tax litigation, but they were unique in how they brought a very focused and commercial approach as well as their expertise to this litigation. These capabilities with their collaborative and creative approach set them apart from any other advisers and meant that collaboration with the Slaughter and May team was seamless and delivered an exceptional services at all times.’

‘James Stacey and his team William Burrows and Ross O’Mahony were highly skilled professionals, very commercial and focused and quick to get to the nub of matters. They were fully committed to solving the case and any problem was addressed fully and comprehensively.’

‘Philip Linnard provides world-class knowledge, expertise and service. He is very good at tailoring his advice to the particular situation and is a very good listener. Overall, he is an excellent adviser.’

‘The team have been outstanding at taking on the task of assisting us with what is a very complicated set of executive incentive schemes and drawing up rules for the employee share scheme.’

‘Philip Linnard is very accommodating and gives us access to assistance at very short notice and sometimes based on pretty unrealistic timelines.’

‘The team approaches problems in a very pragmatic way, offering solutions that go beyond the basic legalities, providing value-added ideas to smooth issues out. They are extremely quick to respond and are clear with their instructions. I have enjoyed working with them, which makes projects easier to manage.’

‘The team of Padraig Cronin, Ian Brown and Richard Surtees have advised us on a number of projects over the last year. They are all very approachable and have a down-to-earth manner when dealing with queries. Padraig in particular is able to explain detailed technical matters very simply and is very quick to respond, even on weekends and bank holiday. Ian is technically very competent and Richard has drafted and project managed transactions very well.’

‘Slaughter and  May has established itself as a go-to law firm in terms of its detailed analysis of legal issues related to employee share schemes. The firm adopts an all inclusive approach in legal analysis and ultimately offers bespoke and pragmatic solutions to novel and complex legal issues.’

‘Philip Linnard has become our go-to partner for employee share scheme legal questions. He is very responsive and robust in preferring legal solutions.’

‘Always super responsive, articulate, and able to provide advice in a way which is suitable for immediate presentation to a range of stakeholders with varying degrees of legal understanding.’

‘Sandeep Maudgil is a true pensions big-hitter – with a formidable mastery of the technical detail allied with a highly personable approach and a sharp strategic focus.’

‘Chris Sharpe is a pleasure to deal with. He is extremely responsive and competent, and the advice he gives is thoughtful and pragmatic.’

‘Charles Cameron – very client focussed, committed and commercial. Highly approachable and excellent bedside manner. Hugely enjoyable to work with.

‘Sandy Maudgil is our main contact. He is the best technical lawyer out there and gets right down in the trenches with his client – he combines that with a real creative flair and a surprisingly fun and engaging personality (for a lawyer!)’

‘Daniel Schaffer stands out for his analytical skill and capability to cover all aspects of a case to deliver successful outcomes.’

‘Charles Cameron is able to straddle both the big picture and details and delegates as required within the team.’

‘Hugh Gittins – excellent all-round pensions law knowledge. Great at remembering detail, and is a genuine pleasure to deal with.’

‘Dan Schaffer and Isobel Carruthers have very good commercial ideology on the needs of the client.’

‘The service was second to none – the advice was on point, commercial and responsive.’

‘The team has high levels of professionalism, excellent market knowledge and appreciation for clients’ commercial position in addition to legal perspective.’

‘Depth and breadth of knowledge right across the discipline with the ability to leverage the wide range of transactions undertaken to deliver on market commercial transactions.’

‘Pragmatic and commercial with the ability to articulate complex legal points in a way non-legal people can understand.’

‘Philip Snell provides helpful, frank and effective advice that allows us to progress issues.’

‘Caroline Phillips’ industry knowledge, including upcoming developments really sets her apart. She also understood the practical implications for our Treasury team.’

‘Matthew Tobin – excellent management of the broader team, links commercial and legal objectives, and is a sound advisor through complex transactions in a very challenging environment.’

‘Excellent industry knowledge and brilliant people.’

‘They speak in plain English, and are able to explain complex issues simply to non-experts.’

‘The team is always knowledgeable, helpful and diligent. They understand our needs, always respond in a timely fashion and sometimes refer us to other helpful contact in other jurisdictions.’

‘An excellent real estate team with significant experience of acting for tenants on major lettings and complex pre-let developments in London.’

‘John Nevin and Simon Bartle are an excellent team who compliment each other extremely well in their advice to clients.’

‘The team are the most commercially-minded occupier team I have dealt with in the UK market. They are responsive and proactive, with a real strength in depth.’

‘John Nevin provides a high quality of service, with all advice balanced against the commercial reality of the transaction and what’s most important to the business.’

‘Strong understanding of the real estate environment, as well as applicable laws and statutes. Excellent negotiators and clear advice given.’

‘Quick to respond and always accurate. Staffing always appropriate for the job at hand.’

‘One of this team’s particular strengths is its ability to provide commercial and pragmatic advice that is tailored to its occupier client and their business requirements. The team is very good at identifying potential issues and liabilities which it then protects its clients against with robust drafting.’

‘Three factors : 1. The sheer brilliance of their legal expertise at every level 2. Their openness to input from the client and to leverage any insights the client can add 3. Their culture of close teamwork – where the most junior lawyer is made to feel valued.’

‘Richard Swallow : partner par excellence. Gave me as client the clarity and confidence to live free of anxiety as I always felt he would ensure we had the best legal brains preparing the best possible case, and because of his evident skill in ensuring very effective collaboration across the multitude of players involved internationally. He also led his team – and all our meetings – by combining serious professionalism and his own deep expertise, with lightness of touch and humour – empowering his younger colleagues and generating an atmosphere of excellent collaboration.’

‘Slaughter and May is able to offer a 360 degree service, with experts in every field of law in respect of which advice may be required in the context of regulatory investigations and corporate crime.’

‘Every individual at Slaughter and May is an excellent lawyer. Standout partners are: Richard Swallow – a brilliant negotiator who you want on your side. Jonathan Cotton – exceptionally bright, yet practical and pragmatic. Ewan Brown – calm and considered, he is a brilliant lawyer. Jonathan Clark – with fantastic judgment, will fight for his client every step of the way. Holly Ware – sharp and incisive, a fearsome opponent.’

‘Richard Swallow is superb – he acts for all the household names. Johnny Cotton is also superb.’

‘Highly regarded expert team that can offer all the assistance clients need’

‘The Regulatory Investigations & Corporate Crime at Slaughter & May are excellent. Key strength is the extremely high quality of the lawyers.’

‘Jonathan Cotton is excellent. He is an outstanding litigator who has a very calm manner and takes a pragmatic approach to difficult issues.’

‘The team have a drive, passion and dedication to achieve the best result for the client no matter what the domain or area of interest. They are effective in their use of external subject matter specialists to provide additional depth when required, allowing them to expand their area of reach while maintaining incredibly high standards.’

‘The team bring a great understanding of the underlying industry and technology to their work; combined with first-rate legal advice and service.’

‘Rob Sumroy and Richard McDonnell are a highly efficient and dedicated unit that use precision and legal excellence to achieve extraordinary results for their clients.’

‘Their ability to understand complex matters and distil this down in a way that is understood and actionable is the best in the market.’

‘Rob Sumroy is an exceptional practitioner; he is extremely knowledgeable, available and personable.’

‘Always provides very commercial advice and in a timely manner.’

‘First-class team of talented individuals.’

‘Strong intellect, high integrity, demeanour of utmost confidence.’

‘Slaughter and May provide a high quality service. They listen to the nuances of the ask and respond accordingly.’

‘Laura Houston is simply excellent. She understood exactly what I needed and delivered on time, with a great quality product – bravo!’

‘Duncan Blaikie provides a really commercial focus and filters out the unnecessarily distracting components.’

‘Superb client service. Likeable, knowledgeable lawyers who are always prepared to go the extra mile and challenge the thinking of their clients.’

‘First-class lawyers while remaining grounded and modest. Working with them is always a pleasure.’

‘Slaughter & May have deep experience in ECM. The differentiator is that they don’t just tell you the law, they can tell you how regulators and market players will behave in practice. They have mastery of this area.’

‘David Johnson – experienced operator with a practical approach that gets problems solved. Harry Hecht – exceptionally competent and ego-free lawyer. I am extremely comfortable putting him in front of my Board of Directors to explain tricky issues and ECM processes.’

‘Very strong individuals, and an exceptional ability to scale teams up and down to fit the volume of work required. This works because of the quality they have.’

‘Ewan Brown is great for difficult issues, and is quick to win the confidence of boards and senior stakeholders. He has very wide expertise. He is also very pragmatic and approachable.’

‘In general, all team members – partners and associates – bring an exceptional degree of commitment and skill.’

‘Holistic, qualified and value adding advice. Always available, customer-oriented and trustworthy.’

‘Gayathri Kamalanathan is the partner I have the greatest interaction with. I have a very high degree of interaction with. My view of her: incisive mind, broad and relevant knowledge of the complexities of financial institutions who delivers prompt, succinct and actionable advice with a self-deprecating and understated manner. In the middle of a crisis or when we as a client are making some of our most difficult decisions, Gayathri is the person you want in the room and in all the work that goes on after the room has adjourned.’

‘Ewan Brown – smart guy, excellent client manner and my go to for this type of work.’

‘Slaughter and May is unique in the breadth of experience of their lawyers, the quality of associates and their strategic advice. When the chips are down they are ultimately the people you need to have on speed dial.’

‘Ewan Brown is also a standout.’

‘The Slaughter & May team have a rare combination of technical excellence, market knowledge, strong negotiating capabilities and great people skills. They are a pleasure to work with and even in the most stressful time pressured environments always approach their work with complete professionalism and good humour.’

‘Nick Bonsall and the team truly stand out. What differentiates them from competitors is their innate ability to understand and analyse our business goals/needs and construct a way of realistic way to achieve them in a compliant and beneficial way for our customers, our business and our shareholders. They do this quickly and are able to always keep pace with what has been a challenging market and regulatory backdrop.’

‘An ability to focus a number of very able and committed individuals on the matter at hand, and scale up and down teams as required. This is something uniquely well down by Slaughter and May in my experience.’

‘Nick Bonsall is exceptionally friendly and approachable; very strong on regulatory matters. The firm has a wide experience of working on cutting edge and tricky issues across industry sectors and brings this to be bear in its advice and approach.’

‘Kristina Locmele is a fantastic senior counsel who works with our team on complex regulatory and product matters. She is a trusted pair of hands who is able to engage with the real-world challenges faced by our business.’

‘The team provide a depth of experience and expertise with knowledgable and credible individuals supported by experienced partners who work together to provide good coverage in a number of evolving areas.’

‘Tim Fosh at Slaughter & May demonstrated depth of knowledge and understanding of evolving businesses applied to existing regulatory frameworks. Built his understanding of our business and leveraged the team at S&M to provide cohesive and coherent advice and guidance.’

‘The best lawyers and outstanding dedication to the task at hand – overall star quality.’

‘All top performers, clever, and great to work with.’

‘Top quality service. Spot on almost every time. Makes my life easier.’

‘Always appear in control. Listen well. Very responsive.’

‘Team collaborates well – gives practical litigation advice and is efficient.’

‘Efstathios Michael – smart and practical litigator who is delightful to work with.’

‘Jono Clark; James Stacey; Damian Taylor; Camilla Sanger – all top performers, clever, and great to work with’

‘The team is extremely responsive and very personable, making them (from a client perspective) a pleasure to deal with. I have been particularly impressed by the intellectual clarity and structure which underpins their legal analysis and advice. This greatly contributes to them being able to communicate effectively with us. This is allied with a formidable approach to negotiations. Crucially, the link between the pensions and dispute resolution specialists in the team is seamless.’

‘Richard Jeens has led for us on the disputes side. From a client perspective, he is extremely straightforward to deal with, and has a very firm grasp of both the details and the strategic big picture. He is very bright and commercially aware, and highly responsive. He is also a really excellent communicator.’

‘Highly sophisticated team, with both transactional and advisory/litigation capabilities in the pension sphere.’

‘Dan Schaffer is the leading intellect among London pension solicitors. He is tireless in exploring every angle that might serve a client’s commercial agenda.’

‘They need no introduction. You go to Slaughter and May for them to get the job done, and done exceptionally well.’

‘Strength in depth and calibre of the people are outstanding.’

‘Dan Schaffer in particular is a stand-out advisor. His depth and breadth of experience and clarity in communicating the key issues is invaluable in advising the trustees.’

‘Very cohesive and exceptional quality team. Excellent communication and draw out key points for non-specialists. Very effective relationships with Counsel and high quality instruction.’

‘The team is responsive, and knowledgeable.’

‘Slaughter and May have an extreme breath of knowledge across all debt capital market transactions, providing useful insight that helps the client with important decision-making. They are thorough and efficient with their work, and always add value to our transaction. Resourcing has never been an issue, and they are always able to meet even the tightest of deadlines, delivering the highest quality of service every time.’

‘I have been working with Matthew Tobin at Slaughter and May for over ten years. His knowledge of the transactions, our sector, but also our specific business is incredible. It means Matthew is able to add value and challenge in the most efficient ways.’

‘Slaughter and May has done an excellent job of providing legal services to and on behalf of the English entity, representing the entity to the Board of Directors, and otherwise providing high-level legal advice and professionally managing an atypical lawyer-client relationship.’

‘Peaches Stanforth has provided exceptional quality for an associate of her level. She is a thoughtful, responsive, respectful, professional associate who has managed various workstreams to a high level of professionalism and responsiveness.’

‘The Slaughter and May team under Matthew Tobin advised us on both our unsecured bond and convertible bond issuance in 2021. The team held the pen on the listing prospectus and key transaction documents, helped us maintain position on key legal points, and managed the process well which ensured the bonds were executed as planned.’

‘Matthew Tobin is very knowledgeable and experienced, he was able to provide us solutions to unexpected challenges, and was very responsive to queries.’

‘The team bring a great understanding of the underlying industry and technology to their work, combined with first-rate legal advice and service.’

‘I’ve worked with Rob Sumroy, the head of the practice. Rob is an exceptional practitioner, he is extremely knowledgeable, available and personable.’

‘Strength in depth is exceptional throughout firm’.

‘Excellent advice’.

‘They have a very deep knowledge of all areas related to the infrastructure space (M&A, Finance, regulatory and FDI)’.

‘Working with the team is like flying first class’.

‘Outstanding service’.

‘Mike Corbett leads the team and is always available for important calls. He is extremely commercially-minded and gives very practical advice from a position of great experience’.

‘Very flexible with fees’.

‘The team always go above and beyond’.

‘There is a strong combination of depth of industry knowledge and recognition of client needs that provides both the required legal support but also a broader advisory role’.

‘Primarily listening to and understanding the client requirements and providing the right support ranging from a full legal document to a simple phone call’.

‘Unmatched excellence in M&A matters and in the strategic elements of negotiating a deal’.

‘High quality subject matter experts at every level of the firm’.

‘First-class in the corporate and M&A sphere’.

‘Hywel Davies is as good as there is in the City’.

‘Hywel Davies offers first-class intellect, excellent judgment and is always very calm under pressure’.

‘The structure of the engagement, with two partners for one M&A deal, worked extremely well: we benefitted from both of their knowledge, while at the same time there was an appropriate division of work such that it never felt like there was double-counting’.

‘Slaughter and May are very good at considering every angle of a potential issue and considering how best to address this with recognition of their client’s key commercial/business requirements.’

‘Simon Bartle is exceptional. Consistently comes up with creative practical solutions to issues, and is highly effective in delivering them.’

‘I find the commercial pragmatism the most compelling reason to work with John Nevin and his team. Our deals often have a high risk, high reward nature to them and being able to distill down what the key issues are and mitigate against them requires sharp legal minds and experienced leadership.’

‘John Nevin has very deep expertise in the London property market, but is able to explain, in simple language, the key points and arguments. He has a marvellous talent for distilling the key points so that I as a client feel in full control of complex situations.’

‘In my work with John Nevin and his team and I have consistently enjoyed the value they bring to structuring around the challenges. To my mind, John excels in this space.’

‘Simon Bartle is an effective negotiator, he understands his client’s requirements and is very good at delivering what matters.’

‘Clear and straightforward advice. Complete understanding of us as an organisation, our ethos and mission. John Nevin and Simon Bartle have looked after us for many years and long-term relationships are very important to us.’

‘Good variety of expertise in the team, able to cover in depth technical as well as commercial challenges.’

‘Very pragmatic and strategic legal advice.’

‘A high-powered team that leaves no stone unturned in seeking the best outcome for the client.’

‘Super smart, diligent and engaging lawyers from top to bottom. Their meticulous approach and eye for detail marks them out in the largest fraud cases, in my experience. Whether claimant or defendant you cannot be in better hands.’

‘Efstathios Michael – simply the best.’

‘Jonathan Cotton – brilliant and so experienced in fraud matters.’

‘Peter Wickham is a young partner with a can-do attitude.’

‘The Slaughter and May employment team are focussed on their client’s needs in the context of the client’s strategy. This enables for complex and time sensitive activities to be completed quickly, accurately and where required innovatively.’

‘The teams global network is valuable and their global partners provide very similar service levels.’

‘Phillipa O’Malley has been exceptional at delivering commercial solutions that involve high levels of change and complexity. She is a true business partner.’

‘Philip Linnard is a brilliant lawyer, who is extremely fast and relevant in the legal analyses and advice that he gives to the clients. He has a very pragmatic and result oriented approach that is essential to our work.’

‘Slaughters provide a professional, commercial and responsive service.’

‘They offer quick advice that is thoughtful and considers what the business is trying to achieve, not just the legal answer to the question.’

‘I can attest to the outstanding quality of the work produced by the team and to the legal technicity and reactivity of its members.’

‘The firm provides pragmatic advice on complex restructurings.’

‘They have excellent technical skills, a depth of expertise and experience across their team.’

‘The team’s responsiveness, engagement and capability to handle a fast moving, complex matter was excellent.’

‘Ian Johnson is very calm and gives pragmatic advice on complex transactions.’

‘Ian Johnson has been a stellar support through a contentious and complex matter – his robust and helpful commercial advice has been a valuable asset to the business.’

‘Partner contact was superb.’

‘We had excellent senior counsel on the matter too.’

‘Ed Fife is exceptional on the legal documentation but in addition his deep commercial understanding of transactions was such that rather than solely being our counsel, it felt as if we had another investment manager in the team too. This was highly beneficial when dealing with such a fiendishly complicated financing structure.’

‘They have been involved in top-notch deals.’

‘Richard Jones is a very technical and hand-ons partner. He is very reliable and a pleasure to work with.’

‘Committed to client objectives. Proactive and collaborative. A pleasure to work with.’

‘Duncan Blaikie – very responsive, we have valued his experience in helping us understand the longer term, commercial consequences of certain decisions and positions.

‘Great collaborative working.’

‘Expertise in the relevant market sector, including a good understanding of existing sector as well as upcoming changes. Willing to work in a way which works best for the client, with appreciation of the clients own governance processes. Providing advice outside of just legal issues, such as policy and finance.’

‘Broad knowledge base and experience.’

‘Knowledge base, experience, work ethic, willingness to go the extra mile’

‘Outstanding lawyers and legal product. Excellent client service.’

‘John Niven is personable, hugely knowledgeable, commercially astute, a joy to work with.’

‘The team is extremely clear, accurate and responsive.’

‘Simon Bartle is very efficient and effective.’

‘They understand the big picture and the key points very quickly, an then tailor advice to consider this and the commercial circumstances.’

‘Form part of the project team alongside other client advisors, not just an external lawyer. Proactive, foreseeing the next steps weeks ahead of when they are required.’

‘The breadth of experience, ability to deliver to demanding deadlines, and cross-border experience and knowledge are all key strengths.’

‘They have a good knowledge of the sector, committed to building sustainable long-term relationships, and are very flexible in helping the client navigate peaks and troughs in workload and resourcing.’

‘Chloe Halloran is first rate; hard-working and ready to roll her sleeves up and get stuck in to anything.’

‘Jodi Haigh is an excellent addition to the client team. She is hard-working, has good understanding of the sector, and keen to understand the client business.’

‘Tom Inker has excellent client relationship management, keen to develop sustainable long-term relationships, flexible in structuring overflow support arrangements, proactive in providing support and oversight of junior lawyers when needed.’

‘Richard Todd is personable, committed, and proactive in identifying opportunities to further develop the relationship and introducing us to other Slaughter and May teams.’

‘Absolutely stellar practice with some of London’s best lawyers. A cut above in both preparation and presentation, always one step ahead, never stressed, and acting in quality, high-value arbitration cases – simply one of the best arbitration teams in town! ’

‘Excellent team with depth, and very smooth and international, which is ideal for arbitration.’

‘Damian Taylor is a visionary arbitration partner, who is hugely experienced, fantastic with clients and down to earth. He’s the arbitration lawyer that should be on everyone’s shortlist.‘

‘James Stacey is highly intelligent and always one step ahead of opponents.‘

‘James Stacey – excellent strategic thinking.‘

‘Efstathios Michael – simply the best.‘

‘Peter Wickham is handling some amazing arbitration cases.‘

‘Peter Wickham and Megan Sandler are both complete stars.‘

‘A small but partner-led team with best in class lawyers from the most senior to most junior.’

‘The team is very knowledgeable, experienced and flexible.’

‘Ed Fife and Robert Byk are top-notch banking and finance lawyers with intimate knowledge of the salient risks and how to address them in a commercial manner.’

‘The team is highly pragmatic and commercial, efficient, responsive and switched on. They are also a pleasure to deal with.’

‘Efstathios Michael is a truly class act – he approaches even the most difficult, complex insurance and reinsurance disputes with good humour, excellent commercial judgement and an incisive legal mind. Not only an impressive all-rounder but always great fun to work with.’

‘Nupur Upadhyay is a bright and energetic insurance lawyer with an eye for detail and a very engaging manner. A great team player.’

‘The practice remains unique in the breadth of experience of the team and their ability to cover such a broad range of issues. They are, contrary to reputation, extremely practical and commercial in their approach with a willingness to give clear, strategic advice.’

‘Matthew Tobin has an incredible knowledge of not just the transactions, but of the client’s sector and company. He is always adding value to every deal.’

‘Slaughter and May have provided great support for licensing and master service agreement contracting. As an early stage biotech company focused on our science and drug development, they have been a trusted partner in helping us secure long-term productive partnerships with these third parties.’

‘Duncan Blaikie – very responsive, we have valued his experience in helping us understand the longer term, commercial consequences of certain decisions and positions.’

‘Appeared to have resources to cover any questions or issues that popped up.’

‘David Ives was thorough, timely and always pleasant to deal with. I never had any reason to question his judgement, and that built trust.’

‘A collegiate, innovative and totally committed team. Constantly striving to achieve their clients’ objectives, their pursuit of commercial and legal excellence is unsurpassed.’

‘David Ives is a top tier IP lawyer with an ability to assimilate multiple complex issues and condense them into a creative and commercial IP strategy. He is calm, confident and a delight to work with.’

‘Richard McDonnell has an astute eye for contentious IP and litigation strategy.’

‘Richard Jeens is particularly knowledgeable in F1.’

‘Mark Zerdin is a principled lawyer with a remarkably creative mind, an impeccable attention to detail and tactical nous that has never proved wrong. He is a lawyer driven by his love for the game of football and his desire to ensure the fan’s place in that sport remains a central one.’

‘Andrew Jolly is very knowledgeable about the inner workings of top-level football clubs. Practical advice. Great communication.’

‘We use Slaughter and May for all of our UK transactions because of their efficiency and thoroughness. Sally Wokes, the partner we use, drives this behaviour. She has a very good commercial understanding of our needs and what she needs to focus on.’

‘Quality and depth of team. Industry knowledge. Availability.’

‘Extremely diligent, very knowledgeable and confident in the advice they provide which in turn, gives us the confidence we need on which to base our decisions. They pull in resources who have specific knowledge from within their team as required.’

‘Richard Keckzes – very professional, knowledgeable and diligent. Richard is able to set out situations and his advice in such a way that people with a non-legal background fully understand what is being discussed, which has been invaluable.’

‘Excellent at grappling with complex commercial situations and finding sensible contractual solutions.’

‘Approachable, tenacious and highly efficient.’

‘They are thorough and precise, their understanding of the practice area of planning is second to none.’

‘Intellectual ability.’

‘Slaughter and May always provide cutting edge advice which is also highly practical.’

‘The team is proactive and commercial and delivers succinct, client-friendly advice. Advisers are prepared to take a position and do not sit on the fence.’

‘Anna Lyle-Smythe is a commercially astute, technically strong and practical adviser who thinks outside of the box and provides consistently commercially relevant and client-friendly advice.’

‘S&M is a top firm with an impressive client list, very smart lawyers and a committed work ethic. They also have exceptionally good gender diversity within their competition team.’

‘Very experienced team, well-connected to the commission and other influencers. Breadth of clients across wide range of sectors which gives them useful cross-fertilising insights. Can draw on other partners and skills as required, very effectively.’

‘Anna Lyle-Smythe is excellent. She has a clarity of communication and an ability to present the legal analysis in the relevant commercial context. She is realistic and sees the essence of the client challenges and is always focused on finding great solutions.’

‘Top quality team with a very high standard of client service. Commitment to getting to know the client’s business and putting forward the same individuals to build that understanding over multiple deals. Outstanding at explaining complex matters in a simple way including when working with non-lawyers. Responsive and fun to work with. Overall, a very impressive team.’

‘The individuals in this team stand out for their ability to get to grips with the underlying businesses and developed a good understanding of very technical product areas. Their advice is practical, clear and timely and their standards are always upheld. They take genuine ownership and responsibility and are low maintenance from a client perspective.’