Iain Cockburn > Withers LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Withers LLP Offices
20 Old Bailey
LONDON
EC4M 7AN
England
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Iain Cockburn
Work Department
Corporate Tech
Position
Iain is head of Withers tech innovation and client delivery.
He has a specialist practice advising venture capital investors and venture-backed companies operating in the innovation economy.
Iain has over ten years’ experience advising investors, companies and founders on venture capital financings, from seed stage through to later stages, with a particular focus on companies scaling up at the Series A/B stage and beyond.
Iain also advises on other types of transaction commonly used in the industry, including convertible bridge rounds (Safes; ASAs; convertible notes), venture debt transactions, and venture-backed M&A.
Iain has worked alongside Susanna Stanfield as part of the team that was involved in the publication of the British Venture Capital Association model form documentation for Series A financings, and coordinates the technology and venture capital special interest group within the firm.
Lawyer Rankings
London > Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
(Next Generation Partners)Although it has taken a while for the legacy JAG Shaw team to bed into their new surroundings at Withers LLP, the team has now well and truly found its footing, leveraging the firm’s strong private wealth credentials to good effect, as well as drawing upon its international footprint and broader full-service offering. This consolidated offering has proved very effective for early stage companies, in particular, as they scale up and require not only pure VC advice but also a range of commercial, employment and tax counselling. Drawing upon a ‘deep understanding of the early-stage and scale up ecosystem’, team head James Shaw is a ‘fantastic all-round trusted adviser’, whose underlying tech and science sector knowledge combines with transactional prowess to good effect for companies looking to scale up and for university spin-outs. In Cambridge, Susanna Stanfield ‘brings a calm presence to discussions and negotiations’ for both high-growth companies and investors in the life sciences and technology sectors. The ‘brilliant’ Sarah Melaney, who joined the firm at the beginning of 2022 from Brown Rudnick LLP, further enhances the firm’s transatlantic capabilities and ‘delivers first-class work’ for high growth companies and investors, including in relation to impact investment. The team is rounded out by Iain Cockburn, who ‘is driving forward the firm’s innovation and cost-efficiency and data management using legal tech’, in his new role as head of the client delivery programme.
Lawyer Rankings
- Next Generation Partners London > Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Venture capital London > Corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Private client > Agriculture and estates
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Private client > Court of protection
- Private client > Family
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Employment > Senior executives
Firm Rankings
- Private client > Art and cultural property
- Private client > Family: mediation
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
- Dispute resolution > Public international law
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management
- Real estate > Residential property
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Public sector > Education: institutions
- Public sector > Education: schools
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Employment > Immigration
- Insurance > Professional negligence
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- Employment > Employers
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: white-collar crime (advice to individuals)