Firm Profile > King & Spalding LLP > London, England
King & Spalding LLP Offices
125 OLD BROAD STREET
LONDON
EC2N 1AR
England
King & Spalding LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
International arbitration Tier 3
King & Spalding LLP has a large portfolio of complex, high-value arbitrations, with approximately 30 pending arbitrations currently being run out of the firm's London office. The practice acts for many of the world’s largest and best-known corporations and governments, and it boasts three silks in Thomas Sprange QC, Stuart Isaacs QC and John Savage QC, who specialise in international arbitration and conduct their own advocacy. Also highly rated are Ruth Byrne, whose practice is particularly focused on energy, and Egishe Dzhazoyan, who specialises in arbitration matters involving Russia and the CIS. Giorgio Mandelli was hired from Volterra Fietta, while Nicholas Cherryman left for Kobre & Kim LLP.
Practice head(s):
Thomas Sprange QC; John Savage QC
Other key lawyers:
Key clients
Obrascón Huarte Lain
Emirates International Investment Company
Samsung C&T
Reliance Industries
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Ascom Grup
Government of Turkey
Chevron
Shell
Islamic Development Bank
Betamax
Reliance Industries
Shell Philippines Exploration
Oil and gas Tier 3
From London, King & Spalding LLP advises on major LNG export and import projects around the world, including Anadarko’s Mozambique project. The team also covers a diverse range of M&A, corporate and project development work in the upstream sector, including production sharing contracts and licences, joint operating agreements, and gas transportation and sales agreements. In recent highlights, Martin Hunt and his team advised Sierra Oil & Gas on the first major upstream corporate deal in Mexico since the energy reforms of 2014. Also notable is the team's dispute resolution offering, which has a particular emphasis on commercial and investor-state arbitration within the sector. Nina Howell moved to Bracewell (UK) LLP and Gary Pegg retired from the profession.
Practice head(s):
Martin Hunt
Key clients
Anadarko Petroleum Company
Transocean
Baker Hughes, a GE Company
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
Total
Sierra Oil & Gas
German LNG Terminal GmbH (a joint venture between Gasunie, Vopak and Oiltanking)
Sequa Petroleum
SigmaBleyzer Investment Group LLC
Shell and Chevron
Commercial litigation Tier 4
King & Spalding LLP's London disputes practice is a key part of the firm's broader global litigation practice.. It has experience handling corporate and commercial disputes before the English courts for domestic and international clients. Sarah Walker's practice encompasses disputes in the financial services, aviation, IT, communications and energy sectors; Egishe Dzhazoyan acts for clients in the banking, financial services, telecoms, mining and energy sectors. The group also boasts four silks in Thomas Sprange QC, John Savage QC, Stuart Isaacs QC and Gareth Rees QC, while Ben Williams is a notable senior associate. Nicholas Cherryman left for Kobre & Kim LLP.
Practice head(s):
Sarah Walker; Thomas Sprange QC
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘Sarah Walker has an excellent understanding of the offshore world in the context of financial services disputes‘.
Key clients
Attock Oil
Motorola
Libya Africa Investment Portfolio
Antracite Investment
Urgula Platinum
Menrela
Ascom Grup
Aldersgate Investments
Flushing Bank
Fraud: civil Tier 4
King & Spalding LLP's London team has a particular focus on handling fraud-related disputes before courts and arbitral tribunals, for both domestic and international clients. Areas of expertise include enforcement claims, freezing orders, multi-jurisdictional disputes, and bribery and corruption. Key client sectors for the US firm's London office include aviation, banking and finance, IT, communications and energy. Sarah Walker and Thomas Sprange QC head the team, while Robert Dedman joined as partner from Navigant Consulting.
Practice head(s):
Sarah Walker; Thomas Sprange QC
Other key lawyers:
Robert Dedman; Ruth Byrne; Gareth Rees QC; Aaron Stephens
Testimonials
‘Thorough, structured and diligent’.
‘Very diligent and high stamina’.
Key clients
Motorola
Antracite Investment Limited, Urgula Platinum Limited and Menrela Limited
Aldersgate Investments Ltd
KFH Capital
Attock Oil
Ascom Grup S.A., Anatolie Stati, Gabriel Stati and Terra Raf Trans Traiding Ltd
WesternZagros Resources Ltd
IREO
Bank & Clients
TURN8 Innovation Fund
Regulatory investigations and corporate crime Tier 4
King & Spalding LLP's growing team is adept at handling enforcement investigations, internal investigations, as well as advising on allegations of tax evasion, fraud, bribery, sanction breaches and compliance matters. Its lawyers often deal with regulators including the FCA, SFO, CFTC and DoJ, advising clients such as retail and investment banks, fund managers, insurers and insurance intermediaries. The firm has been expanding in London in recent times; Robert Dedman joined as a partner from Navigant and Aaron Stephens joined as a partner from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. The pair both head the team alongside Gareth Rees QC, who specialises in fraud, and Hayley Ichilcik, who joined as counsel from O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Practice head(s):
Robert Dedman; Aaron Stephens; Gareth Rees QC
Other key lawyers:
Hayley Ichilcik; Joanna Harris
Testimonials
‘Thoughtful and proactive engagement, practical and pragmatic advice’.
‘A brilliant mix of US and UK expertise’.
‘Aaron Stephens never fails to impress with his calm advice and obvious expertise. He is a big player and a major catch for the team’.
‘Gareth Rees QC is a great tactician for the big cases’.
Key clients
Polar Capital
Platinum Capital
NFU Mutual
Financial services: contentious Tier 5
King & Spalding LLP’s non-contentious financial services practice focuses on market abuse regulation, securitisation and hedge funds, with particular experience within the insurance and asset management sectors. On the contentious side, the firm is known for acting in Senior Managers and Certification Regime and white collar crime related matters. The team was strengthened by the 2018 arrivals of Aaron Stephens, from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, who has expertise in representing financial institutions, corporate clients and senior individuals in highly sensitive litigation and investigations; and former Head of Enforcement at the Bank of England / Prudential Regulation Authority, Robert Dedman, who joined from Navigant.
Employment: employers Tier 6
King & Spalding LLP 's London practice was launched in 2016 with the hire of practice head Jules Quinn from Jones Day, where she also led the City employment team. Quinn, who works in tandem with counsel Kim Roberts, advises on a broad range of employment issues including recruitment, workforce downsizing and Brexit-related employment strategies, as well as internal investigations; she has advised MasterCard on all aspects of employment law for more than 20 years. The practice counts a range of multinational corporates among its clients and has particular experience advising companies in the technology and financial services sectors.
Practice head(s):
Jules Quinn
Other key lawyers:
Key clients
MasterCard
AEW Europe LLP
Envirogen Group
Cobham plc
Bank of East Asia
Capital & Regional plc
Sojitz Europe plc
SCSK Europe Ltd
Sumi Agro Europe Ltd
Simba Sleep
LCCG
Gett Taxi
Bank and Clients PLC
BearingPoint, Ltd.
Nexant Limited
Pioneer Investment Management Limited
Quintain Limited
Toronto Dominion Securities
Mark Newton- Jones
Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory Tier 6
King & Spalding LLP’s non-contentious financial services practice focuses on market abuse regulation, securitisation and hedge funds, with particular experience within the insurance and asset management sectors. On the contentious side, the firm is known for acting in Senior Managers and Certification Regime and white collar crime related matters. The team was strengthened by the 2018 arrivals of Aaron Stephens, from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, who has expertise in representing financial institutions, corporate clients and senior individuals in highly sensitive litigation and investigations; and former Head of Enforcement at the Bank of England / Prudential Regulation Authority, Robert Dedman, who joined from Navigant.
M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £500m+ Tier 6
King & Spalding LLP's corporate practice covers public and private M&A, including joint ventures and private equity-backed transactions. The firm has a strong track record in its traditional sectors, namely energy and natural resources, as well as financial services, and within both the firm acts for international and domestic clients, including Baker Hughes and Sierra Oil & Gas. The practice is led by William Charnley, who has a particular focus on the private equity and financial institutions space, acting on mergers, acquisitions, disposals and providing general corporate advice. The firm recently hired Derek Meilman from Hogan Lovells International LLP, who has a particular emphasis on corporate M&A within the energy and infrastructure and consumer retail sectors.
Practice head(s):
William Charnley
Other key lawyers:
Marcus Young; Martin Hunt
Key clients
GlaxoSmithKline
General Electric
Baker Hughes
Simba Sleep
United Parcel Service
Global Switch
Global Payments Inc.
ERM
Sierra Oil & Gas
Transocean Ltd
Life Company Consolidation Group
Promethean Investments LLP
Indonesia > Foreign firms Tier 3
Energy and infrastructure projects have long been a mainstay of King & Spalding LLP. Merrick White leads the team and has advised both sponsors and lenders on major oil and gas, LNG and petrochemical projects. Richard Nelson is also a key figure and has a strong background in advising on oil and gas projects. The team also has additional expertise in the corporate and M&A space, which is primarily handled by Simon Cowled.
Practice head(s):
Merrick White
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘The King & Spalding team is highly experienced in Indonesian upstream contract law, which is hard to beat.’
‘Merrick White has in-depth technical, commercial and legal knowledge of the assignment in Indonesia, which makes him an invaluable asset to the project team.’
Key clients
Paiton Energy
Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Minejesa Capital BV
Ophir Energy
Baravia Oil
Conrad Petroleum
Coro Energy
India > Foreign firms Tier 4
The India practice at King & Spalding LLP undertakes inbound and outbound work in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity, finance, international tax, trade, intellectual property and dispute resolution. Typical instructions also include projects and energy matters, as well as advice on government investigations and real estate. Cross-border transactions feature highly in Atlanta-based, co-head Rahul Patel's workload. Singapore-based Andrew Brereton has a wealth of experience in complex multi-jurisdictional financing arrangements; while commercial and treaty arbitration are some of the core areas of activity for Sajid Ahmed from the London office. Thomas K. Sprange QC in London, Richard Nelson in Singapore and Atlanta-based Brian A. White are also noted.
Practice head(s):
Rahul Patel; Thomas K. Sprange QC; Richard Nelson; Sajid Ahmed; Brian A. White Andrew Brereton
Other key lawyers:
Krishna Omkar
Testimonials
‘Highly motivated and seasoned professionals with in-depth knowledge who provide seamless round the clock support through their various offices across the globe.’
‘Sajid Ahmed is a troubleshooter and will always go an extra mile to ensure that quality work products are made available within timelines and always appreciates business context.’
‘Thomas Sprange QC has a very sharp legal mind and is an excellent advocacy choice across dispute resolution forums.’
‘Thomas Childs is a very detail-oriented lawyer who would ensure that every point gets desired client attention.’
‘Martin Hunt is the most responsive lawyer we have ever come across. He is virtually available 24X7 and provides high quality work products well within testing timelines.’
‘Professionalism and ability to turnaround quickly on the problems referred. Work across time zones.’
Key clients
Hiranandani Gas Company Private Limited (“H-Energy”)
TV Asia
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Lumis Partners
Reliance Industries Ltd
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
The Aditya Birla Group
The Avantha Group
King & Spalding LLP > Firm Profile
The firm: Celebrating more than 130 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 1,100 lawyers in 21 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm also represents hundreds of clients with new ventures and mid-sized companies in emerging industries.
The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognised for the results it obtains, its uncompromising commitment to quality and its dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Robert D Hays | ||
| Managing partner, London office | Thomas K. Sprange |
Top Tier Firm Rankings
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Firm Rankings
- International arbitration
- Oil and gas
- Commercial litigation
- Fraud: civil
- Regulatory investigations and corporate crime
- Financial services: contentious
- Employment: employers
- Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory
- M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £500m+