Simkins LLP > London, England > Firm Profile
Simkins LLP Offices
LYNTON HOUSE
7-12 TAVISTOCK SQUARE
LONDON
WC1H 9LT
England
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Simkins LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media and entertainment (including media finance) Tier 1
With clients such as Universal Music, ATC Management, Wizarding World, and Bronte Film and Television, Simkins LLP represents players across a substantial part of the media and entertainment industry. Practice head Euan Lawson is a go-to adviser for issues arising around live events, social media, and taxation of talent. On the contentious side, Paddy Gardiner is a heavy-hitting litigator, particularly in music matters. For their commercially-oriented practice, Ed Baden-Powell and Caroline Copeland come recommended. Jonathan Blair is an expert on film & TV production and has recently advised clients such as Dayout Productions and Stonehouse Productions on the financing, development, and production of several projects. Within the firm’s music division, partner Tom Iverson is a strong litigator and partner Ed Weidman an expert on the non-contentious aspects of the industry.Practice head(s):
Euan Lawson
Other key lawyers:
Giao Pacey; Tom Iverson; Dionne Clark; Nick Eziefula; Paddy Gardiner; Ed Baden-Powell; Ed Weidman; Caroline Copeland; Jonathan Blair
Testimonials
‘High standards, good division of practices. In addition to the firm’s specialities, it acts as a “one-stop shop” where sensible so that the client can simply pick up the phone and get things done.’
‘High standards, good, transparent communication between team members, excellent understanding of the issues, plus a can-do attitude. Part of the firm’s culture is an awareness of cost, and the farming out of work to the most reasonably-priced resource.’
‘I’ve dealt with Giao Pacey, and Tom Iverson and they’re all highly competent, high integrity people. Dionne Clark has a bright future ahead of her.’
‘They are experts in their field, provide very focused and commercial advice and are responsive to tight deadlines.‘
‘Nick Eziefula is knowledgeable and advises to the highest of standards. His advice is always catered for its business recipients and he makes my life as an in-house lawyer that much easier.’
‘They take a sensible pragmatic approach to a contentious situation. Their legal analysis of the issue is good and they provide a number of options to me as the client as to how to move forward.’
‘Paddy Gardiner is measured, thoughtful, very clear in his analysis and advice and very pragmatic in his advice. He gets to the heart of the issue quickly.’
Key clients
Universal Music
Snowed-In Productions
Iron Maiden
Cake Entertainment
The Extreme Music Library
Wizarding World
Da Beat Freakz
ATC Management
Experience Hendrix
BMG Rights Management
Cutting Edge Music
Bronte Film and Television
Filmwave
TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management Tier 2
The 'fantastic' reputation management practice at Simkins LLP specialises in pre-broadcast and pre-publication work, as well as takedowns, corrections, and apologies post-publication. Team lead and 'doyen of the media law world' Gideon Benaim
represents leading businesses and individuals across the tech, food, and entertainment sectors, advising on a wide range of reputation matters. Jon Oakley specialises in crisis management and reputation protection, regularly acting for high-profile clients in emergency situations, while Tom Iverson takes on data protection, harassment, and breach of confidence matters across multiple jurisdictions. 'High-quality associates' Jessica Welch and Thomas Moore are also recommended.Practice head(s):
Gideon Benaim
Other key lawyers:
Jon Oakley; Tom Iverson; Jessica Welch; Thomas Moore
Testimonials
‘The Simkins media team are particularly good at high pressure, high profile battles where expertise must be accompanied with a sharp focus on reputational damage.’
‘Gideon Benaim and Jon Oakley are tenacious, 24/7 advocates with vast experience.’
‘A high-quality niche practice in libel and privacy law, which provides a good complement to the firm’s music and entertainment practice.’
‘Gideon Benaim is a doyen of the media law world: hugely experienced, shrewd and an excellent communicator, always attuned to clients’ needs. Jon Oakley is an extremely talented lawyer and has phenomenal judgment. They are able to call on high-quality associates, in particular Jessica Welch and Thomas Moore.’
‘The team are fantastic, super quick to respond, I recommend to all my clients. They always deliver.’
‘Jon Oakley and Gideon Benaim are the leaders in their field. Outstanding.’
‘Gideon Benaim remains the oracle to for reputation management and protection. I cannot overemphasise how welcome his cool and calm advice is often in fast moving and fraught situations. His counsel is also sought on a pre-emptive basis and for a lawyer of his profile and ability to remain so humble and kind is a refreshing change, I really value Gideon as an advisor beyond the black letter law he is truly one of the great consiglieres and a real mensch to boot.’
Key clients
JK Rowling
Sir Cliff Richard
TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design Tier 6
Media and entertainment trade mark and copyright infringement claims are within the purview of Simkins LLP‘s dispute resolution practice, which is led by Paddy Gardiner. Within the team, Jim Dennis is a highly experienced soft IP litigator, having represented clients in infringement and passing off claims before all levels of the court system. The team is well-regarded as ‘knowledgeable, easy to deal with and client friendly’, with Caroline Copeland and Stuart Smith also recommended.Practice head(s):
Paddy Gardiner
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘The team are first rate, knowledgeable, easy to deal with and client friendly.’
‘Jim Dennis is quick to respond, and gives clear commercial advice.’
‘Great team, clever, personable and commercially astute, thanks to Jim Dennis, Caroline Copeland, and Stuart Smith.’
Key clients
David Bowie Estate dba Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC
KPMG LLP
LDN CBD
Lonza Group/Arxada
Jason Atherton Restaurant Holdings Limited
The Bobath Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy
Fuwa Fuwa
Frank Recruitment Group Limited
Rude Health Foods Limited
Ali-A Entertainment Limited
Work highlights
- Advised the David Bowie Estate on a significant expansion of its trade mark portfolio in the UK and EU.
- Advised Fuwa Fuwa on UK trade mark oppositions and a cancellation action against Fuwa Brands, Inc.
- Advised Rude Health Foods on the expansion of its trade mark rights into East Asia.
Private client > Family
Simkins LLP > Firm Profile
The firm: Simkins LLP is a leading media and commercial law firm. The firm was founded in 1962 as one of the pioneering firms for the entertainment and media industry and is still best known for its market-leading practice in that area. Today the firm works with clients from a broad range of industries, and offers a full range of legal services in corporate and commercial law, property law, employment law and dispute resolution. Across the practice, lawyers have an outstanding reputation for providing high-quality, responsive advice that is always commercial and focused on clients’ needs.
Types of work undertaken
Commercial: the commercial practice is at the heart of the firm’s business. Its lawyers are experts in drafting and advising on commercial contracts of all kinds. They have a wide range of experience in all commercial contracts, but have a particular expertise in advising on contracts for the acquisition, protection and exploitation of rights.
Corporate: the corporate group acts for clients across a wide range of industry sectors including the media, entertainment and leisure sectors. The firm can advise on all stages of a company’s life cycle – from fledgling start-ups and through every stage of development, including equity and debt financings, joint ventures, international expansion and IPOs.
Disputes: wherever possible, the firm helps clients avoid disputes or nip potential problems in the bud. But if litigation is necessary, the team has the necessary expertise and experience in a wide range of courts and tribunals to take cases to trial. Simkins offers advice and representation on general commercial disputes and has a specific focus on media-related cases.
Employment: Simkins’ lawyers pride themselves on delivering concise, timely and practical employment law advice. The team has wide expertise in the media and entertainment sector but is equally at home with clients from other industries, including retail, charities, finance and professional services.
Media: the firm covers all the major industry sectors, including advertising, digital media, film, television, music, publishing, sport and theatre. In those sectors, we advise a wide range of clients from large multinational corporations to private individuals, and owner-managed businesses to cultural institutions.
Property: the property group has extensive experience in all aspects of commercial property work. The firm’s approach is highly commercial, and the team gets under the skin of every business it works with, whether they are developers, property financiers, high-net-worth individuals or public and private companies.
Reputation: businesses and individuals, whether they are high-profile or not, sometimes need to take decisive action to protect their reputations. Simkins has extensive knowledge and experience in this area and offers clients tailored legal services to protect their reputation, privacy and confidentiality as effectively as possible.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managing partner | Euan Lawson | ||
| Corporate | Caroline Copeland | ||
| Commercial | Ed Baden-Powell | ||
| Disputes | Paddy Gardiner | ||
| Employment | Victoria Willson | ||
| Media | Euan Lawson | ||
| Property | David Campbell | ||
| Reputation | Gideon Benaim |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ed Baden-Powell | Ed is a partner in the commercial group and advises on all… | View Profile |
 | Gideon Benaim | Gideon is a lawyer specialising in reputation protection for high-profile individuals and… | View Profile |
 | Jonathan Blair | Jonathan is a commercial lawyer with a strong sectoral focus in film,… | View Profile |
 | David Campbell | David is a partner in the property group. He merged his practice… | View Profile |
 | Caroline Copeland | Caroline is a corporate and commercial lawyer with a wide range of… | View Profile |
 | Jim Dennis | Partner | View Profile |
 | Nick Eziefula | Nick is a Partner in the Commercial group. He specialises in commercial… | View Profile |
 | Paddy Gardiner | Paddy is head of the firm’s disputes group. He handles disputes across… | View Profile |
 | Ben Gisbey | Ben is a corporate and commercial lawyer with broad experience across different… | View Profile |
 | Paddy Grafton Green | Paddy is senior partner at Simkins LLP. He is a commercial media lawyer,… | View Profile |
 | James Harman | James is a partner in the commercial group and specialises in entertainment… | View Profile |
 | Tom Iverson | Tom specialises in dispute resolution in the media and entertainment industries. His… | View Profile |
 | Euan Lawson | Euan is a commercial lawyer and managing partner at Simkins LLP. He… | View Profile |
 | Jon Oakley | Jon specialises in reputation protection and crisis management for companies and high-profile… | View Profile |
 | Giao Pacey | Giao is a corporate lawyer experienced in dealing with a broad range… | View Profile |
 | Eleanor Steyn | View Profile | |
 | Susan Thompson | Partner | View Profile |
 | Ed Weidman | Partner | View Profile |
 | Victoria Willson | Victoria specialises in employment law and advises on the full range of… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of UK partners : 21 Number of other UK fee-earners : 21- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media and entertainment (including media finance)