James Shaw > Withers LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

The Cambridge office of Withers LLP is the firm’s UK life sciences hub and clients note that ‘the corporate team has deep specialist knowledge of venture capital transactions in the technology sector’. The Cambridge team consists of lead partner Susanna Stanfield, who has ‘deep specialist knowledge in venture capital transactions and is an authority in the field‘, and senior associate Mary Harley. They work closely with IP specialist Richard Penfold and venture capital expert James Shaw, who both work in Cambridge and London, as required. Stanfield advised biotech research firm Kynos Therapeutics on its spin-out from the University of Edinburgh and its £9m financing round.

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.