Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP — England

Adam Heather

Partner // Head of Real Estate // Office Managing Partner Newcastle · Real Estate

Alexander Dickinson

Alexander is a partner in Private Wealth Department advising wealthy individuals and their families across the UK and internationally, particularly in the delivery of commercial advice across multiple service areas. He is responsible for the development of the London office. Additional emphasis on capital taxation, heritage property, trusts, wills and probate. Alexander acts mainly for family offices and individuals with significant property interests (landed estates, commercial and residential portfolios) and entrepreneurs. · Private Wealth

Alistair Walton

Alistair is a partner in the real estate team specialising in acting for large corporate occupiers and retailers. He leads the firm’s retail property team and has extensive experience of advising many national retailers on the management of their trading portfolios, acquisition programmes and disposal strategies across all locations from high street, shopping centre to out of town retail park destinations. · Real Estate

Andrew Farquharson

Andrew is a partner in the agriculture, farms and estates team and advises clients in relation to all aspects of rural property. He routinely acts in the sale and purchase of farms and estates, sporting estates and agricultural and rural residential property portfolios. His particular area of expertise lies in acting for landowners in relation to renewable energy projects, and on residential and commercial developments. Andrew also represents several substantial estates and landowning clients in relation to the management of their mineral interests. He has significant specialist expertise in advising mineral owners in the commercial exploitation of their mineral interests and regularly advises on issues relating to reinstatement of quarry sites. · Agriculture

Andrew Harding

Andrew specialises in commercial property transactions, with particular emphasis on the investment, development and leisure sectors. He has wide ranging experience of funding developments, complex sale and purchase contracts conditional on planning, site assembly, re-financings, acquisitions, disposals and portfolio investment management. He also has expertise acting for occupational tenants on pre-lets, sales and leasebacks and portfolio management. His recent work includes: leading on the statutory transfer scheme to separate the legal property interests of Royal Mail and Post Office Limited across 150 properties; acting for an institutional pension fund on various investment asset purchases to a value of over £200m in the last three years, including leisure, industrial and retail property; acting for a national transport infrastructure company on redevelopment projects, including overage arrangements, for retail, leisure, office and residential purposes. · Real Estate

Andrew Hirst

Andrew is a projects and procurement lawyer advising on public sector contracts and public procurement. His areas of focus are PFI handback, heat networks / decarbonisation, leisure and waste. Examples of experience include advising: PFI/PPP on PFI handback arrangements in order to maximise the benefits for clients and mitigate procurement and contractual risk on the renegotiation of a number of major PFI contract funders to the successful bidders on a number of PPP schemes a bidder on its bid for a PPP in central Europe (the first PPP in the country) a bidder on its successful bid to deliver a private patient unit within an NHS hospital Heat Networks and Decarbonisation the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on guidance for local authorities on the procurement of finance for heat networks a number of local authorities on the procurement of heat networks including advice on procurement and commercial structuring a local authority on its park and ride contract including the introduction of ultra-low emission buses Leisure City of York Council on its award winning community stadium project and transfer of number of leisure facilities Barrow in Furness Borough Council and South Holland District Council on the transfer of their leisure services a range of local authorities on managing the impact of COVID-19 on their leisure arrangements Waste Hereford and Worcester Councils on a variation to their circa £900 million waste PFI scheme to deliver an EfW facility Wrexham County Borough Council on a variation to its waste PPP in order deliver savings and higher recycling rates a middle eastern municipality the structure and contract for its EfW PPP. · Projects & Procurement

Andrew Kimble

Andrew is a partner and Head of the data privacy and e-commerce team. He advises on all aspects of data protection, privacy and freedom of information work including client audits, complex outsourcing, international data transfer arrangements and data licensing projects. Clients include major retailers, hospitality and leisure sector organisations and public sector bodies. He also specialises in information technology including IT procurement and e-commerce. He advises the Interactive Media in Retail Group (the industry body for the online retail industry) on data protection and ecommerce matters. · Data Protection & Privacy

Andrew Parsons

Andrew is a partner who specialises in commercial disputes. He has expertise in managing disputes through a variety of forums including litigation, arbitration, expert determination and mediation. Andrew has an established practice in technology and data protection disputes. This includes advising on software licences, IT procurement disputes, data transfer/processing agreements, enforcement action by the ICO and managing security breaches. · Commercial Litigation

Andrij Jurkiw

Andrij is a partner and head of the UK Competition Team. As well as obtaining merger clearances, defending clients under investigation for alleged competition law breaches and counselling clients on a wide variety of competition law issues, he deals with competition damages claims, competition disqualification orders, consumer protection enforcement cases, NSIA filings, state aid/subsidy control, procurement challenges and commercial litigation which involves competition defences or heads of claim. Cases include Firstgroup/ScotRail Phase II merger clearance, Toys and Games price fixing investigation, Servier – Perindopril pay for delay investigation, Argos & Ors v Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited & Ors competition damages claim, Eurotunnel v Secretary of State for Transport procurement claim, Tempus Energy & Ors v Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy State Aid JR, Rest & Play Footwear Ltd v George Rye & Sons Ltd standalone damages claim. · Competition / Antitrust

Andy Stirk

Andy is a partner in the restructuring and insolvency team in Leeds. Before joining the firm he worked at DLA Piper in Leeds for over 11 years. Andy specialises in advising banks, other financial institutions and companies on restructuring and turnaround of businesses and property investments. He has spent 9 months on secondment at one of the main UK banks working closely with the business support and distressed property teams. He regularly advises insolvency practitioners and other specialists in restructuring and insolvency related assignments. Andy has advised on various sectors including healthcare, hotels, leisure, retail, real estate, charities, education and football clubs. · Restructuring & Insolvency

Anthony Alderman

Anthony is a partner specialising in commercial real estate, focussing on projects and transactions in the energy, marine, industrial and infrastructure sectors. His clients include Babcock International Group, The Crown Estate and E.ON. · Real Estate

Ben Butler

Ben is a partner in the Corporate Team and since joining in 2001 has undertaken a diverse range of corporate based transactions in a range of sectors. He has particular expertise in public company work, private company merger and acquisitions, asset finance, joint venturing (both in the private and public sectors), group reorganisations and governance. His work in a broad range of sectors, including the transport, health, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and property investment and development sectors, has enabled him to develop an excellent understanding of a range of commercial practices. · Corporate / M&A

Carly Holt

Carly is a Partner specialising in corporate finance, advising clients on a wide range of corporate work including M&A, group reorganisations for UK and international groups, shareholder and joint venture agreements and general corporate governance. She is a sector specialist having advised on a broad range of corporate matters for clients in the financial services sector. Carly has also worked in-house for a multinational FTSE 250 company. · Corporate / M&A

Caroline Churchill

Caroline is a partner in the commercial team specialising in non-contentious commercial, technology and data protection work. Her practice involves advising on a wide variety of commercial contracts including distribution, agency and franchising arrangements, contractual joint ventures, terms and conditions of supply, licensing and manufacturing arrangements, outsourcing agreements (IT and BPO), cloud computing, systems integration, general IP, e-commerce, data protection and privacy law matters. Extensive data protection and privacy law advice to organisations operating in marketing, data analysis, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, transport, technology and financial services sectors. · Commercial

Charles Robson

Charles is a partner specialising in infrastructure and project finance. He advises project sponsors, lenders and public sector authorities on project structuring, risk allocation and bankability aspects of projects across a broad range of sectors, including energy and defence. In addition to primary market work, Charles also advises on the acquisition and disposal of interests in project assets and on refinancings. · Project Finance

Charlie Reid

Charlie is a finance lawyer based in London. He has extensive experience advising lenders (banks, development finance institutions, funds and other alternative lenders) and borrowers in developed and emerging markets (including within Africa). He has advised across multiple sectors (including infrastructure, real estate, transport, energy, technology, pharmaceuticals, mining, commodities, retail and entertainment) on a broad range of finance transactions including corporate lending, real estate finance, acquisition finance, infrastructure and other project finance, private equity and funds finance, asset-based lending, trade finance, private placements and restructurings. · Banking & Finance

Charlotte Bloomfield

Charlotte advises on all aspects of employment law covering a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious matters with particular expertise in all aspects of acquisitions, disposals and outsourcing, employment status and IR35/off-payroll. She has a particular interest in advising on complex and strategic non-contentious employment issues. Charlotte has in-house experience working on secondment for a postal services provider, in particular she was required to advise in a highly unionised environment in relation to all aspects of employment law, including to day to day industrial relations, unlawful strikes (including seeking injunctive relief) and amendments to collective agreements as well as maintaining a flexible and dynamic workforce. She was also responsible for advising the senior executive team on strategic and sensitive matters. · Employment

Chris Ledgerwood

Chris is Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP's expert on matters of leasehold reform and enfranchisement together with transactions where the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and the potential pre-emption rights of tenants need to be taken into account. He was member of the Law Commissions legal advisory group on residential enfranchisement and lease extension reform and provides high-level advice to clients arising out of these highly technical areas of practice. Chris acts for a number residential investment clients including Grainger and Walworth Investment Properties Limited as well as registered providers such as Places for People. In addition, Chris advises on all other residential investment work including sales and acquisitions both of individual units and of portfolios. With over 20 years’ experience of the residential sector, Chris is able to provide considerable insight to his clients given his wide knowledge of the field. · Real Estate

Christopher Towner

Chris specialises in commercial projects work with particular expertise in the energy sector. Chris spent six years in the energy and projects team at Herbert Smith, advising a range of companies, merchant banks and public sector clients in relation to a wide range of issues connected with the UK electricity and gas markets. The matters he has advised on range from large cross-border mergers and acquisitions to day-to-day advice on the terms of contracts with customers and suppliers. Chris has also spent six months on secondment to Eastern Natural Gas and Calor Gas. · Energy

Claire Brook

Claire is a partner and national head of the real estate group at Womble Bond Dickinson. She specialises in planning and environmental law, with an MA in environmental law. She has particular expertise in the energy, waste and chemical sectors. Experience includes advising on several nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) on hazardous waste, energy from waste and CCGT developments. Claire also provides strategic planning advice to owners, developers, promoters and housebuilders on major development schemes, including dealing with examinations in public, public inquiries and judicial review proceedings. · Real Estate

Claire Kistner

Claire is a partner specialising in corporate and acquisition/leveraged finance transactions across the mid-market finance sector, principally acting for institutional lenders and corporate borrowers. She specialises in the healthcare sector, from care homes and nurseries to pharmacies and dental practices. Claire's clients include HSBC Bank plc, Santander UK plc and OakNorth Bank plc. · Corporate / M&A

Claire Wilkinson

Claire is a partner in the developers and investors team and Head of Retail. She has over 17 years' experience in all aspects of real estate transactions advising investors, occupiers, and developers from site assembly through to letting and on-going asset management. Claire heads up our full service UK hospitality practice advising all types of businesses on all aspects of their requirements touching hospitality and real estate. Claire routinely leads multi-disciplinary and multi-locational teams advising on portfolio acquisitions/disposals, financing and development. She has particular expertise in retail, transport and logistics, and the hotel and leisure sectors. Claire has completed account management training designed by the Cranfield School of Management and for many years has acted as client relationship partner helping some of the country's largest companies achieve their ambitious plans for growth. · Real Estate

Craig Moore

Craig has 20 years’ experience in commercial property acting for a variety of clients, in a number of sectors. He specialises in all aspects of commercial property work, with a particular emphasis on property finance, regularly acting for a wide variety of lenders, insolvency practitioners, property receivers, public bodies, charities, education institutions, investors, developers and commercial clients. Recent experience includes acting for a client on a conditional sale to a supermarket chain, an option to acquire commercial premises, acquisition of a disused airfield, a sale and lease back of an office and factory complex, acquisition of a ship building facility and the purchase of a cemetery. Craig leads the 20 strong real estate team based in Plymouth and heads our property finance work nationally. He led on the property elements of the Game administration following the collapse of the retailer (which had over 600 shops) at Easter 2012. · Real Estate

David Brown

David is the Head of the firm's national casualty liability and commercial & insurance recoveries teams. His experience covers employers’ and public liability, product liability, disease and motor claims. David deals exclusively with large loss and catastrophic claims, including brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputee cases and fatalities. He advises major insurers on the complexities of these types of cases and works closely with all parties to the claim to bring matters to a resolution. David's teams defend all types of personal injury and disease claims on behalf of insurers and commercial clients, as well as making subrogated and non-subrogated recovery claims. · Insurance

David Dale

David is head of Private Wealth, and a member of the firm's board. He has over 20 years' experience at major national and international firms. David has built up a specialist knowledge in all areas that would affect an individual, his or her family and their business. As wealthy individuals' affairs become more complex, it is more and more rare to identify specialists who are familiar with both legal, taxation and investment matters. These rare qualities therefore, are ideal for leading the department and bringing the best out of each particular discipline to the clients' benefit. David is also accustomed to dealing with significantly wealthy individuals and their families. His work often involves working with wealthy individuals, business owners, lottery winners and beneficiaries of significant estates. His team of over 80 provides a wide range of services to private clients and charities, across the country. · Private Wealth

David Rewcastle

Partner and Head of the transport sector, specialising in transport; railway franchising; railway-related projects. · Transport

Deborah Ramshaw

Deborah is a Partner and heads up our procurement team and is well regarded for her pragmatic and commercial advice. She is a highly regarded practitioner with substantial experience of advising a wide client base including central and local government, health bodies, education institutions, housing providers, energy and transport utilities, private sector clients and charities. She advises on procurement law aspects of a range of projects including large scale PPP projects, major outsourcing initiatives, joint ventures, regeneration projects and challenges. Deborah lectures regularly and also writes for Westlaw and Lexis PSL. · Procurement

Emma Moody

Emma is a partner and head of the firm's charities and not for profit team. Emma’s clients are both national (Addaction, Katie Piper Foundation, Children in Need, Crisis UK) and regional (Mental Health Matters, Gateshead College, St John of God Hospitaller Services); and she has provided support to trustees and senior management on a variety of legal issues ranging from governance reviews and restructuring exercises, incorporations and mergers, fundraising trading and tax, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Emma is also an approved Interim Manager, appointed by the Charity Commission on cases where there are regulatory concerns relating to a charity. Emma's clients benefit from comprehensive advice in areas such as employment and pensions, data protection, property and health and safety. Emma's approach is to understand what her clients wish to achieve, so she can deliver excellent technical advice, but in a straightforward and commercial manner, focusing on solutions and outcomes. Emma has worked on a number of college mergers resulting from a consolidation of the FE sector, she has acted as Interim Manager for a charity in relation to high profile safeguarding concerns, and is Interim Manager for a charity with internal governance issues to resolve. Emma is supporting a large membership body in its move to independence (creating an entirely new constitutional and governance framework) and is working with a significant national charity looking to develop its partnership arrangements with commercial fundraising partners. Emma is immersed in the sector through her trustee roles, through her interaction with umbrella bodies and regulators. She is a regular speaker at events on issues affecting the sector, and is a member of bodies including ACEVO, CFG and AoC. · Charities & Not For Profit

Fiona Graham

Fiona spent 11 years running her own business before coming to the law. She trained as a barrister and was called to the bar by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. She joined the firm in 2005 and specialises in commercial property litigation. Fiona advises both landlords and tenants including CEG, Govia Thameslink Railway, Grainger PLC, the National Trust, Standard Life and a number of Administrators, including Deloitte and KPMG, as well as major institutional lenders and large-scale residential developers on contentious property matters including: opposed and unopposed lease renewals, break clauses, surrender and forfeiture; insolvency related matters; the enforcement and release/modification of restrictive covenants; possession claims, including claims brought against commercial tenants, trespassers and squatters; adverse possession claims, easement disputes (including rights of light) and boundary disputes; valuation disputes at arbitration, mediation and expert determination and professional negligence claims. Fiona’s most notable court case to date was at the Court of Appeal in the case of Erimus Housing Limited v Barclays Wealth Trustees (Jersey) Limited [2014] EWCA Ccv 303. Fiona’s tenant client held over after expiry of a contracted out lease and the case concerned whether or not her tenant held over as a periodic tenant or a tenant at will. Her most notable arbitration to date was acting for CEG in a complex valuation involving the satisfaction (or otherwise) of planning conditions. · Real Estate

Fiona O’Kane

Fiona is a Partner, Head of the Real Estate Business Group and sits on the Management Board. She specialises in Real Estate with a particular emphasis on advising corporate occupiers. She has over 20 years’ experience dealing with acquisitions and disposals of investment, retail and industrial property, landlord and tenant issues and general estate and portfolio management. She is responsible for the provision of the firm’s Real Estate Services across a spectrum of specialisms and sector expertise. · Real Estate

Gavin Ellison

Gavin has over 15 years' experience of providing strategic and practical advice to employers and trustees on all aspects of pensions law. He helps employers manage their pension scheme liabilities and trustees in protecting members' interests. He specialises in working closely with clients on formulating and progressing benefit restructuring, de-risking and transition management exercises for a combination of defined benefit, hybrid and defined contribution schemes. Gavin is insightful, pragmatic and particularly skilled at finding solutions which strike the middle ground between employers’ and trustees' interests. Gavin also heads up WBD's auto enrolment practice. He is recognised amongst clients as an expert in this field and has written extensively on the subject and delivered numerous training sessions to clients, intermediaries and industry experts. · Pensions

Gavin Matthews

Gavin is a partner specialising in work for national retailers with particular specialism in all areas of trading standards, health and safety and other regulatory issues. He advises clients in relation to advertising and publicity law and also deals with heavy commercial disputes for retailers, including supplier disputes, security matters and actions against suppliers of professional services. Gavin was commissioned by the BRC to write ‘Age Restricted Sales, Due Diligence and Best Practice’, a guide for retailers and employees and ‘A Retailer’s Guide to Legal Compliance’ which provides clear, practical advice for store managers in areas including health and safety, Sunday trading, environmental issues and employment. · Commercial Litigation

George Lyall

Senior Counsel George is a personal tax and private/charitable trust specialist. He advises private clients from a holistic viewpoint and specialises in the taxation of private individuals, partnerships and trusts, and has particular experience of capital tax planning. · Private Wealth

Graham Jeffries

Graham is a partner specialising in banking. He has substantial experience in advising banks, financial institutions and borrowers on financial transactions specialising in project and asset finance as well as enjoying working pro-actively with clients to develop new financial products and structures. In the projects field Graham has extensive energy experience and has participated in industry forums including in relation to the viability of financing the Round 2 offshore wind farms and he has worked on the finance aspects of Zephyr II. · Banking & Finance

Helen Tavroges

Senior Counsel and head of the private capital team within the firm’s private wealth department Helen advises on tax efficient wills and trusts, pre-death and post-death tax-planning strategies, including advising on death benefits under pension and life policies. Acts as a trustee for many family trusts and advises on trusteeships and trust management. Mainly acts for high-net-worth individuals and has a particular interest in cross border issues, issues affecting people suffering from physical or mental incapacity and in relation to end of life decision making. Helen is also a notary public. · Private Wealth

Hilary Du Randt

Hilary is a Partner who joined the Employment Team on qualification in 2005, having completed a training contract with the firm. She acts for both public and private sector clients and advises on all aspects of employment law, from recruitment through to dismissal. Her particular expertise lies in advising and defending clients in relation to claims in the Employment Tribunals (and higher courts) for discrimination, including equal pay, in respect of which she has acted for local authorities and retailers in the defence of multi million pound claims. She advises on the full range of employment issues, from executive terminations, to disciplinary and grievance matters, redundancy and managing ill-health absence. She provides strategic support and assistance to manage the process of reorganisations and changing terms and conditions, and has significant experience assisting her clients with the industrial relations issues associated with these. Hilary provides strategic advice on disputes arising from contractual terms of employment, with expertise in both drafting and taking action in relation to enforcement of restrictive covenants in order to protect the business interests of her clients. Hilary delivers training on the full range of employment issues, including bespoke packages developed specifically for the firm's clients. She regularly presents seminars and runs workshops, offering practical advice and guidance to employers on the employment law challenges which they face. Hilary is also Co-Chair of the firm’s Informed Counsel programme, which offers a range of services and networking opportunities for in-house lawyers. · Employment

Iain Greenshields

Partner in property departments and head of public services team. Handles a wide variety of PFI/PPP projects in the health, education, blue light, energy and waste sectors, where he has advised health trusts, the Home Office, local authorities and private sector companies. Is also heavily involved in the higher education sector, advising universities and colleges. · Real Estate

Ian Atkinson

Partner specialising in transactional construction and engineering matters. Experience includes real estate development, site remediation, social housing, energy and infrastructure but primary focus on education, health and local government regeneration projects. Considerable experience of major capital projects such as PFI/PPP, Building Schools for the Future/Priority Schools Building Programme and NHS LIFT schemes. · Construction

Ian Holden

Ian is a corporate finance partner specialising in M&A, corporate reorganisations, shareholder and joint venture agreements. Ian has also had considerable experience in private equity transactions and has advised both private equity houses and management teams on their investments. Ian also worked in the Paris office of a leading international law firm where he gained considerable experience in advising UK and French companies on doing business in both France and the UK. · Corporate / M&A

Ian Newcombe

lan is a partner who advises in a broad range of high value and complex commercial disputes including those in connection with procurement, joint venture agreements, share purchase, IT and media disputes. He specialises in working for national retailers and energy companies, particularly in the downstream arena. Ian has a reputation for delivering results within commercial timescales and has become the dispute resolution lawyer of choice for a number of national retailers and one of the big six energy providers. · Commercial Litigation

James Cook

James is a Partner experienced in advising a broad variety of clients, from small owner-managed businesses to large corporates, on the full range of corporate matters. He has a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions and in putting in place arrangements between shareholders. James has wide experience of advising on private equity transactions, having acted recently for LDC, Cairngorm Capital, NorthEdge, Enact, Nimbus and NVM. Key recent highlights included having acted for LDC in connection with its investment in Aspire Technology and NVM on its investment in Easby Electronics. Finally, James has lots of experience advising management teams in connection with private equity investment and this year advised the management team of Boxpark in relation to the investment in that business by LDC. · Corporate / M&A

James Love

James is a partner and national head of Intellectual Property. His expertise extends to all aspects of intellectual property including patents, trade marks, copyright, designs, passing off, database rights and confidential information. He has top level experience, spanning more than 30 years, of the protection, exploitation, challenge and enforcement of intellectual property including disputes in the Supreme Court. Work examples include patent litigation, cybersquatting, intellectual asset management, anti-counterfeiting, brand enforcement, licensing, commercial contracts and franchising, mediation, IT and software issues, and search and seize orders (including as supervising solicitor). Assisted by a Cambridge University science degree, James is also a solicitor- advocate, giving him full rights of audience in the higher courts. · Intellectual Property

James Radcliffe

James is a partner in the private capital team advising individuals and their families on tax, succession and estate planning issues. Much of his work is focused on UK resident and domiciled families interested in the long term preservation of inter-generational wealth. He helps with the mitigation of capital taxes through the use of suitable lifetime gifting strategies and the creation of Trusts and other asset structures. James also advises on the preparation of Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney. James has a strong international practice advising non-UK domiciled individuals on UK tax issues impacting them such as pre-UK arrival planning, the remittance basis of taxation, the ownership of UK real estate and the use of Excluded Property Trusts. He regularly advises the trustees of offshore trusts on the UK tax implications of having beneficiaries based in the UK. James has a specialist practice in US/UK estate planning. Typically, clients will be US citizens living in the UK (but they can also be US citizens living in the US with other connections to the UK such as property ownership or children in the UK). He also works with US qualified professionals to provide cross-border transatlantic estate plans mitigating taxes in both jurisdictions. · Private Client

James Rees

James is a partner and head of the firm’s property litigation team. He specialises in dispute resolution involving contentious commercial property matters, advising a broad range of clients (both landlords and tenants) in all aspects of contentious commercial property. Particular areas of expertise include dilapidations; service charges; restrictive covenants and easements; rent reviews; contractual and development disputes; nuisance claims; complex contested lease renewals; insolvency related disputes; contested rating appeals and boundary disputes. He has published articles and lectures to clients and property professionals on a wide variety of property litigation topics. · Real Estate

James Robins

James specialises in professional risks work and acts for insurers and professional services firms in dealing with a wide variety of professional indemnity claims concerning solicitors, barristers, surveyors, accountants, financial advisers, insurance brokers, stockbrokers, IT specialists and other professionals. He also advises on policy coverage issues and has managed complex, multi claimant litigation involving a large volume of property related claims. James also has particular experience of professional regulatory work including complaints handling and advising a variety of professionals on disciplinary and regulatory investigations. · Insurance

Jen Smurthwaite

Jen is national head of the firm's property litigation team. Her practice covers all aspects of property-related litigation and advice on contentious aspects of property including rent reviews, lease renewals, dilapidations, breaches of covenant, restrictive covenants and easements. She acts for a diverse range of clients, including property developers, management companies, landed estates, property investors, banks and retailers. · Real Estate

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy is a partner and head of the corporate tax team. He advises businesses generally on tax issues relating to their business activities and transactions with particular expertise in corporate and property acquisitions and disposals and employee share schemes. · Tax

Jo Coleman

Jo specialises in advising charities and those who work with charities on all aspects of charity law and regulation. Whether establishing new charitable organisations for philanthropists, or advising national household name charities on new projects, structures and ventures, Jo delivers complex projects efficiently and in a straightforward manner to ensure her clients can achieve more for their beneficiaries. Jo also has significant experience in conducting governance reviews of all types of charitable organisation, providing practical and tailored advice to help improve governance processes and systems. She has also advised membership charities on disagreements with their members. She advises across the range of charitable activity and has particular experience in advising religious bodies on restructuring and managing complex trust arrangements. Jo has also advised on many multi-party charity mergers, helping to guide her clients smoothly through the process. She also provides reassuring support when charities face financial difficulties and provides advice designed to ensure that trustees are protected from liability and the best outcome possible can be achieved for the charity and its purposes. With the Charity Commission becoming a more active regulator, Jo has advised numerous charities who need to report serious incidents, charities facing compliance visits and inspections and those who are subject to a section 46 Inquiry. Jo is currently the Chair of the Charity Law Association. She chaired the working party on the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 and gave evidence to the Joint Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords. Jo lectures on issues of charity law and writes for the sector press. · Charity / Not-for-Profit

Joanna Beattie-Edwards

Jo, a Partner, works in real estate and is a sector specialist advising clients on large energy projects involving complex property agreements incorporating funding and development arrangements. She has been involved in various clean energy technologies including solar and onshore wind developments. One of her clients is The Crown Estate and she has extensive experience in maritime estate management carrying out onshore, foreshore and offshore property related work. This has included drafting options, leases and licences for pipelines, cables, outfalls and bridge crossings, marine aggregate extraction agreements including capital and commercial dredging agreements. Alongside this she works on more traditional property transactions advising local developers, national bodies, research councils and energy clients on land based transactions ranging from purchases, sales and leases through to redevelopment projects, joint ventures and logistics centres. · Real Estate

John Connor

Partner in the banking team specialising in corporate finance, property lending and asset-based lending. Focussed on new lending and turnaround. · Banking & Finance

John Ralph

John is the head of the firm's real estate sector. Clients include a full range of private and institutional real estate investors, registered providers, developers and funders. John has over 25 years' experience in the sector with particular focus on large scale finance related real estate transactions. The real estate sector team is well networked nationally, and provides a comprehensive range of integrated specialist skills including optioning and promoting strategic land, enfranchisement, environmental and regulatory, planning, real estate tax, real estate corporate vehicles, agricultural and rural property, public and private sector regeneration and procurement. · Real Estate

Jon Cooper

Jon is a partner specialising in health, safety and environment, whose work covers not only prosecution and enforcement action but also advisory work in relation to risk management, health and safety policies and due diligence in corporate transactions including advice on all aspects of health and safety. Jon’s practice encompasses all aspects of contentious and non-contentious health, safety and environmental issues including advising on formal investigations and prosecutions, advising on appeals against Notices and dealing with judicial review proceedings relating to health, safety and environmental issues. He regularly appears as an advocate before the criminal Courts and employment tribunals on health and safety matters. He also advises on formal investigations and Boards of Inquiry. He advises clients in the private and public sector, including on formal investigations by the Environment Agency and local authorities, criminal investigations and defending prosecutions, statutory nuisance proceedings on behalf of local authorities and others and advising on judicial review relating to environmental issues, particular in the nuclear industry. Jon and his team have been involved in many of the leading health, safety and environmental cases in recent years. He sits on the editorial Board of Lexis Nexis Health and Safety at Work magazine. · Health & Safety

Jon Hales

Jon is Head of the firm's employment team and also Head of the Southampton office. He specialises primarily in the transactional aspects of employment law and in particular has extensive experience of advising on the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, both in relation to acquisitions and disposals and outsourcing agreements. He also advises on strategic employment law issues affecting his clients such as group reorganisations and board level restructuring. · Employment

Jonathan Blair

Jonathan is a former Managing Partner of many years' experience, leading the strategic and operational direction of Womble Bond Dickinson and its predecessors for 14 years. Using his extensive knowledge of the legal sector, Jonathan now heads WBD's Professional Practices Group advising professional service businesses on strategic and operational matters across the UK and beyond. Jonathan is the Head of the London office. Jonathan sits on WBD's global board and is an active member of WBD's International Group. · Management

Jonathan Bower

Jonathan is a partner and head of the planning and Infrastructure team. His expertise includes major infrastructure, compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), highways, town and country planning and compensation. Jonathan acts for several local authorities and commercial clients both promoting and opposing schemes including a retail and highway schemes for local authorities and a gas storage scheme requiring CPO powers. He has promoted a CCGT power station and offshore wind farms requiring Development Consent Orders and has acted for statutory undertakers making representations in connection with other schemes. He appeared as a Parliamentary Agent for a number of petitioners in the House of Commons on HS2 and represented some petitioners in the House of Lords. Jonathan acts on a number of Lands Tribunal compensation claims for both claimants and acquiring authorities. He also lectures regularly on CPOs & development and has written articles on both policy and legal issues. He is a council member of the National Infrastructure Planning Association. - See more at: http://www.legal500.com/firms/910-bond-dickinson-llp/offices/7971-bristol-england/lawyers/113284#sthash.C8C3gB6E.dpuf · Real Estate

Jonathan Dunkley

Jonathan leads the London Restructuring and Insolvency Team of Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP. He is a seasoned lawyer with extensive experience advising on non-contentious corporate restructuring and insolvency matters, acting for a range of stakeholders at each stage of the business distress curve including lenders, insolvency practitioners and boards of directors. Jonathan's practice includes advising: Boards of directors on their duties in circumstances of financial distress and the restructuring options available to them Insolvency practitioners and acquirers on business and asset sales via formal insolvency processes Lenders on security enhancement and enforcement options. Jonathan has undertaken work in a broad range of sectors including energy, care homes, casual dining, retail and manufacturing. · Restructuring & Insolvency

Jonathan Hobbs

Jon is a partner in the real estate team. He specialises in investment transactions and leads a number of our key investor client teams, including for Tristan Capital and Moorfield. Jon acts on all core aspects of real estate direct investment transactions across the UK, including acquisitions, development and disposals and real estate support on property financing. In recent years he has been particularly active in value add and core plus markets. Jon also leads a busy and highly effective asset management team. · Real Estate

Julian Gill

Partner acting for insolvency practitioners, banks, asset-based lenders and companies in formal and advisory roles, such as restructuring and turnaround, including manufacturing, retail, hospitality, energy, real estate and service industries with particular expertise in contentious asset recovery cases. · Restructuring & Insolvency

Julian Hamblin

Julian is a highly skilled technology lawyer, having been involved with technology law since 1998. Julian’s main areas of practice are in information technology and e-commerce, including the development and licensing of software, outsourcing, online and cloud services. He also advises on data protection issues, usually relating to the use and transfer of customer data in IT implementations, and on intellectual property rights, particularly in the context of open source software and website/software development. · Information Technology

Katherine Douglas

Katherine specialises in commercial property with particular expertise in relation to acquisitions, disposals and regeneration and development work. She has broad experience in drafting and negotiating development agreements, building leases, occupational leases and other ancillary documentation. Katherine is also experienced in acting for both landlords and corporate occupier tenants in drafting and negotiating conditional agreements for lease, leases and other ancillary documentation required for all landlord and tenant relations. She advises numerous local authorities and public sector clients on their property needs. Recent work includes advising South Gloucestershire Council and the University of Bath on the acquisition of Bristol and Bath Science Park and advising the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice on their property portfolios. · Real Estate