Ms Sarah Melaney > Withers LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

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.

Withers LLP‘s growing London team draws praise from a range of clients for its ‘expertise’ and ‘knowledge’ across the pharmaceutical and life sciences, technology, hospitality, sport and luxury brands sectors. The practice is spearheaded by Paul McGrath, who has a particular focus on closely-held businesses and their owners, including entrepreneurs and families. Sarah Melaney is a tech specialist who has extensive experience advising high-growth companies and investors on investment rounds, scale-ups, exits and general corporate governance. The team has been strengthened by the arrival of Phil Robinson, who joined from Ignition Law Services Limited in September 2022.