United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has 3 jurisdictions, England & Wales, Scotland and NI
ENGLAND
IRWIN MITCHELL
40 Holborn Viaduct
London
EC1N 2PZ
- bryan.bletso@irwinmitchell.com
- +44(0) 207 650 3820
- http://www.irwinmitchell.com
For businesses, we offer the full range of services working closely with management teams and general counsel. For individuals, we manage and protect the global wealth and reputation for them and their family.
Our international expertise is recognised throughout the global legal industry. We’ve been shortlisted for the Excellence in International Legal Services Award at the Law Society Excellence in Law Awards 2021. Our international lawyers regularly receive honours from organisations such as Citywealth, Legal Week, Spears 500, and the legal directories Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. The key to our success is the fact that we do international law a bit differently.
Our different international teams work closely together to give you fully integrated and seamless advice at a global strategic level. We’ll get to know you or your business quickly, so all advice is tailored to your exact situation from an early stage. As well as working with experts around the world, our dedicated international desks each have a deep knowledge of their specific region and often the language skills to match.
AVRIO REPRESENTATIVES
BRYAN BLETSO
CORPORATE PARTNER & HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL
Bryan is a Partner and Head of International business, leading Irwin Mitchell’s international project and strategy. Having led our London corporate team for many years, he is an experienced corporate lawyer. Bryan has a particular focus on advising clients who set up or invest in the UK and advising on cross-border mergers and acquisition transactions and joint ventures and is recognised by the Legal 500 for his expertise on the international front. As Head of International, Bryan is responsible for growing the firm’s ‘international best friend legal’ and other professional relationships in country and bringing English law work into the firm from international clients. He sits on the board of Avrio Advocati, a long-standing law firm network of mainly European firms. He also sits on the strategic board of the Commonwealth Economic and Investment Council (CWEIC) where Irwin Mitchell is a strategic member.
SCOTLAND
Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP
Crescent House, Carnegie Campus, Enterprise Way
Dunfermline
KY11 8GR
- jbc@wjm.co.uk
- +44 01383 608203
- Mobile: 07714 411412
- http://www.wjm.co.uk
WJM is a commercial law firm with offices in Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Salisbury.
We specialise in providing legal advice to successful entrepreneurs, owner and family managed businesses and those who invest in business and land. We also have a long history of acting for media, education and arts organisations.
OUR APPROACH
We pride ourselves on delivering excellent service levels that are underpinned by an unswerving focus on getting the best result for our clients.
We aim to understand our clients’ business as much as we do the law. Knowledge of the law is useless unless it can be applied to achieve the best results for our clients’ business.
If we are instructed to act for you our priority will be to cut to the chase commercially and establish what really matters to you and your business then we will then crunch the detail and get your business done.
AVRIO REPRESENTATIVES
JOHN CLARKE
PARTNER - CORPORATE & INSOLVENCY
John is a Solicitor in Scotland, and one of the three founding partners back in 2003.
Based out of our offices in Edinburgh and Dunfermline, he heads up our corporate and business strategies team. He offers corporate, business recovery, corporate finance and general commercial advice.
He is also a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner and an Accredited Specialist in Insolvency Law, providing advice to both insolvency office holders and to businesses facing insolvency problems. John works closely with our colleagues in Avrio-Advocati, and is the former Secretary-General.
ALISON MARSHALL
PARTNER - CORPORATE & TECHNOLOGY
Alison is a Solicitor in Scotland and a member of the firm. She works in our technology and creativity team and our corporate and business strategies team.
Based in Dunfermline, she provides advice to business clients to protect new innovations, and realise the value of their “intellectual property” - including copyright, designs, trademarks and patents. She also advises on buying and selling companies and businesses as well as corporate restructuring.
Alison is a director of both the Scottish Society for Computers and Law and the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland.
In 2010, Alison graduated with an LLM in IT and Telecommunications Law from the University of Strathclyde.
MICHAEL DEWAR
PARTNER - COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
Michael is a Solicitor in Scotland and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. He is a partner based out of our offices in Edinburgh and Dunfermline.
Michael is a partner in our property & infrastructure team. He gives legal advice to clients involved in the acquisition, development and disposal of major property assets, especially premises within industrial parks and commercial office blocks; acting for owners throughout Scotland in relation to utilisation and management of property assets; acting for tenants in negotiating and advising on commercial and retail leases; and the provision of Stamp Duty Land Tax advice. He has a particular interest in advising in property disputes, whether in respect of boundaries, leases or compulsory purchase orders.
Michael has tutored in both Commercial Leasing and Conveyancing at Edinburgh University Diploma Unit. He is the course tutor of CLT’s Specialist Paralegal Qualification in Commercial Conveyancing Practice. He is the author of “A Tenant’s Commercial Guide to Leasing Property in Scotland”.
OUR PRACTICE AREAS
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CHARITY COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL PROPERTY COMPANY COMPETITION COMPUTER AND IT CONSUMER DEFAMATION DISCRIMINATION EMPLOYMENT ENVIRONMENTAL EU FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT SERVICES INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY INSURANCE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL (NON EU) LANDLORD AND TENANT LICENSING MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS PARTNERSHIP PLANNING PROFESSIONAL REGULATION PROJECTS REAL ESTATE SPORTS TAX TRAVEL AND TOURISM
NORTHERN IRELAND
Caldwell & Robinson
Artillery Chambers,
10-12 Artillery Street,
Derry Londonderry,
Bt48 6rg
- enquiries@caldwellrobinson.com
- +44 2871 261334
- www.caldwellrobinson.com
Caldwell & Robinson have been providing legal advice on personal and commercial matters for nearly a hundred years. Most of our clients, whether commercial or personal, are individuals, and our approach is built around the primacy of their needs.
Our key strengths lie in the fields of family and child law, entrepreneurial business and commercial property law, as well as litigation, conveyancing and probate.
Our success has been built on the experiences of our Partners over many years in these areas combined with an international reach unrivalled in this region - from our offices within Derry’s historic walls, we are licensed to practice law in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and England & Wales, and have built up solid experience working on our clients’ behalf with agent lawyers in continental Europe (western, central and eastern) and the Far East.
AVRIO REPRESENTATIVES
PHILIP GILLILAND
HEAD OF CORPORATE-COMMERCIAL PRACTICE GROUP
The Corporate Commercial practice area of Caldwell & Robinson is headed by Philip Gilliland who in addition to his legal experience has over ten years of senior management experience in international manufacturing, sales and procurement.
A native of Derry, he read History at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Pennsylvania (where he was included on the prestigious Dean’s List for Academic Excellence), and subsequently studied Law at the College of Law in London and Chester.
Philip qualified as an English Solicitor in 1993 and worked for Clifford Chance in the City of London and in Brussels before moving back to Derry to work in a non-legal capacity for international clothing manufacturer Desmond & Sons Ltd for seven years, Marks & Spencer plc for three years (Sourcing Director Childrenswear) and then J. Sainsbury plc (General Manager Asia, based in Hong Kong), all of which gave him extensive commercial and senior management experience. He has been a partner at Caldwell & Robinson since 2004.
Philip advises on all aspects of corporate commercial law, from company sales, acquisitions and restructurings at home and in England, to commercial contracts and corporate arrangements in emerging markets, particularly China. He is a director of Avrio Advocati and was appointed president of the board in 2014.
Outside of work, Philip is President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and is a regular speaker on the subject of doing business in China and emerging markets. In February 2013 he was appointed a Director of the Northern Ireland Science Park.
KAREN O’LEARY
INTERNATIONAL FAMILY LAWYER
Karen is a family lawyer who is tri-jurisdictionally qualified (Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and England and Wales) with extensive expertise on all of the issues which may arise on the breakdown of a relationship. She has specialist expertise in cases involving an international dimension, both public and private law. In 2011 she was invited to join the prestigious International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is regularly consulted by State agencies on registration of orders in other jurisdictions.
Karen is a native of Cahersiveen in County Kerry and was educated at the United World College (New Mexico USA), Birmingham University and The College of Law (Chester). She qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales in 1994 and worked for three years for Gouldens in the City of London and Brussels before moving to Northern Ireland in 1995 when she was admitted as a Solicitor in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
She has been a partner in Caldwell & Robinson since 1998. She is an accredited member of the Northern Ireland Children’s Panel, and is a member of the International Academy of Matrimonial Law, an organisation of leading global family lawyers. Karen is also a trained mediator. She is a member of the Family Law Committee of the Law Society of Northern Ireland. She has a Diploma in European Competition Law from King’s College London, a Diploma in State Aid from the University of Louvain in Belgium and is a qualified Advanced Advocate in Northern Ireland.
Karen is a regular speaker on family law matters and has spoken at prestigious conferences such as the Four Jurisdictions Family Law Conference and to the EU Policy Unit.