The ‘agile and technical’ practice at Howard Kennedy LLP has a strong reputation advising debtors, creditors and investors across a range of domestic mid-market insolvency and restructuring mandates. As well as having core insolvency expertise, the team is also able to leverage the expertise of lawyers within complementary practice areas, including real estate, corporate, and dispute resolution. As part of his broad ranging insolvency expertise, team head Vernon Dennis is particularly skilled advising on strategic and advisory support for company boards when planning programmes of business turnaround or restructuring. Crispin Daly's arrival in October 2024 from Paul Hastings LLP strengthens the firm’s capacity to handle complex contentious insolvency matters both in and out of court.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘An expert team with particular strength in the retail sector and any sector with a large property footprint. Extremely approachable, professional and solutions oriented.’
- 'An agile and technical practice that puts the client experience at front and centre of service.'
- 'The team's key strengths are strong insolvency credentials as well as an ability to deal with the areas where there is frequently an overlap with insolvency (such as corporate finance).'
- ‘Vernon Dennis clearly cares about our industry and provides excellent thought leadership on existing restructuring tools and also where legislation and processes could be improved.'
- 'Vernon Davis is excellent at thinking outside the box.'
- 'Crispin Daly provides technically excellent advice with the ability to be agile and apply facts on the ground along with the statutory and regulatory provisions.'
Key clients
- IP Topco Ltd (a subsidiary of White Rabbit Projects LLP)
- Crowe
- Muji Europe Limited
- Begbies Traynor
- Moorfields
- BDO
- Kroll
- Chapter 11 Plan trustee of City Home Inc
- Leonard Curtis
- S&W (formerly Evelyn Partners)
Work highlights
Acting for Leonard Curtis as administration managers of ITI Trade Ltd, advising on cross-border insolvency matters involving securities worth over £53bn, including claims under Russian law and coordination with counsel in Guernsey, London and Moscow.
Acting for Muji Europe Limited on the £5.5m pre-pack administration sale of its European business to a connected purchasing party, advising on cross-border restructuring and facilitating a smooth transition across multiple jurisdictions.
Acting for the Liquidators of the Cambridge Analytica Group, handling complex cross-border insolvency matters, including data protection issues involving 40TB of information and asset realisation claims against a former director.
Practice head
Vernon Dennis
Other key lawyers
Dominic Offord; Rebecca Hume; Crispin Daly; Hannah Hooper; Rebecca Stratton