Spear’s is a multi-award-winning wealth management and luxury lifestyle media brand. The legal rankings they create are brought together by peer nominations, client feedback and interviews as well as research gathered by the Spear’s editorial team and are developed to help their readers make wise choices when it comes to their wealth.

Matthew Ball, Partner in the Litigation department at Sherrards and Head of the Classic and Supercar specialism was ranked alongside just five other ‘Top recommended’ Classic Car lawyers within the UK.

Matthew says “My colleague Jonathan Silverman and I have developed this specialism at Sherrards to support our clients with their cars, whether they are purchasing their first classic or supercar, adding to their collection, selling, or whether they need commercial advice on restoration. It is our passion, both commercially and personally, and I am very grateful to the Spear’s team for being recognised alongside such talent.”

Jonathan Silverman and Matthew Ball have many years of experience in assisting with legal matters relating to classic and supercars (alongside other high-value assets). If you would like to speak to Matthew or a member of our Classic and Supercar department, please contact him on the details below.

Firstly, we welcome Guy Morgan who joins us as Partner in our Commercial Property team. Guy specialises in banking and finances, and health and social care. He will also help to build up our international offering by supporting our French and German desks and joins our London office.

We also welcome Arthur Byng-Nelson, Legal Director, who will head up the newly formed Sherrards’ Art and Heritage Property team. Arthur joins our growing Private Wealth department and will be based in our London office.

Promotions

Shane Knight joined our Commercial Property team as a Senior Associate and has now been promoted to the Partnership. His client base includes property developers, offshore commercial interests with property investment portfolios, in addition to a range of clients from the charity sector.

Not only does Shane provide strength to our Commercial Property team, he also leads our German Desk, strengthening our international offering.

In the Litigation team, Greg Pooler has been promoted from Senior Associate to Legal Director. Greg’s experience stretches across several industries, where he has developed a joined specialism in cross-border disputes and international fraud. He has participated in numerous high-profile international cases and has established himself as an all-round excellent lawyer.

Recently, Greg spoke on behalf of the Firm in conjunction with Alliott Global Alliance at a Crypto conference in Mauritius and is developing this niche specialism at the Firm.

Emma O’Meara originally joined the firm as a consultant before engaging full-time as an Associate for the Employment team. She has quickly become the go-to lawyer for clients and referrers alike, with her pragmatic approach and commercial solutions. We are delighted to share the news that Emma has been promoted to Senior Associate.

Shen Hussein remains an integral part of our Residential Real Estate team. Based in our St Albans office, Shen has also been promoted to Associate level. Clients say they cannot recommend her enough and we tend to agree.

Piers Fransman has been promoted to Senior IT Analyst. Piers is our on-hand IT expert and in his short time with us he has proven himself to be extremely capable, helpful and kind. We are delighted to announce his promotion to Senior IT Analyst.

Abby Cowan a started at Sherrards in August 2021 as an Apprentice. Through her dedication and hard work, we are absolutely thrilled that she is staying on board and has been promoted to Marketing Assistant. 

Managing Partner Alasdair McMillin says, “It is great to see so many new faces at Sherrards, and also celebrating those in the team who have received very well-deserved promotions. We look forward to welcoming a number of new people to the team over the coming months as we continue on our growth strategy.”

This was a great opportunity for Karen to consolidate our contacts among the great and the good from the insolvency profession – lawyers, insolvency practitioners and recovery specialists, providing our clients and contacts with excellent connectivity.  The R3 is the trade association for the entire community of the UK’s insolvency and restructuring professionals. 

Hot topics included crypto-currency, where we have established a unit led by Greg Pooler, and multi-jurisdictional, cross-border issues, which we are heavily involved in on a regular basis.  The highlight for Karen was a talk by the BBC’s Frank Gardner, the UK’s first full-time security correspondent, who gave a fascinating talk on international affairs which was gripping, if not a little scary!

Frank Gardner

Karen is pictured here with Chloe Shuffrey, a barrister with Radcliffe Chambers.

Guy Morgan represents a wide variety of clients including banks, high net-worth individuals, overseas investors, developers, public sector bodies, charities, health and social care organisations and professionals (including care home operators, supported living scheme investors, GPs, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists) and vets.

Guy has been repeatedly ranked and acknowledged in the leading UK legal directories, including The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, and we are delighted he has joined Sherrards’ growing Commercial Property team.

Guy is also a French and German speaker and will join our International desks, assisting such clients with their UK real estate investments.

Speaking about Guy’s appointment, Managing Partner Alasdair McMillin said “I’m delighted that Guy has joined us. He not only brings a wealth of experience and knowledge, but he also brings another dimension to our team with his expertise in health and social care.”

Guy said: “It’s wonderful to be part of such a talented and well-supported team that really understands the value of great client service.”

To find out more about our Commercial Property department, and to see the 23 members of our Commercial Property team, click here.

The AGA has been ranked band one for law firm networks which is a powerful validation of the alliance.

Chambers rankings are the definitive mark of excellence across the legal industry and highlight those firms, networks and individuals that have stood out as the best in field in the most rigorous, independent, and in-depth research process of any legal directory on the market.

The criteria for getting ranked as a Leading Law Firm Network states that a network should exist without relying on a central law firm, must position itself as a cost-effective alternative to an international law firm with many international branches and, if effective, should help members generate cross-referral work and benefit clients when combining solutions when work crosses borders.

Head of international at Sherrards Solicitors, Paul Marmor commented:

“This is a real testament to the strength of the alliance and the powerful punch we can deliver for our clients, contacts and friends providing a global reach which is second to none. Whether it’s through the AGA alliance or through the International Bar Association as well as our regional desks in Europe, South East Asia or Eastern & Central Europe we can provide connectivity and support on a global scale.”

Giles Brake, Alliott Global Alliance CEO, commented:

“We are honoured to be recognised by Chambers in this elite category and to enter straight into Band 1 alongside a small number of prestigious law firm networks.

“AGA has law firm members that extend deep into Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific region, and our lawyers serve clients in 300+ locations around the world. We have worked diligently to build our alliance organically and to raise the standards required to become and remain a member firm. Furthermore, our Together as One service model ensures clients can count on a leading mid-size, independent law firm to represent them all over the world and ensure service is of a consistently high standard wherever it is needed. This is a wonderful seal of approval for the alliance, our member firms, and our London-based Executive Office team.”

All of us at Sherrards are delighted for the alliance and our fellow members at this landmark achievement. You can click here to read more about our international connectivity via the AGA.  

Alternatively, click on the link below to go to Chambers & Partners for the ranking table and comments from clients:

This year National Apprenticeship week takes place from the 6th to 12th of February.

The campaign #skillsforlife encourages employers, communities, and training providers to consider how apprenticeship programmes can help provide the much-needed skills for each industry.

At Sherrards we currently have 2 apprentices across 2 different departments, and we are hoping to expand this over the next few years. This is an introduction to them.

Rachael Drane is our Solicitor Apprentice, who started her apprenticeship with Sherrards in 2019, after working as an Admin Assistant in the company from 2017. Rachael’s apprenticeship programme includes study with University of Law and working at Sherrards, this offers an alternative and unique route to qualifying as a lawyer by combining part-time studying for a law degree and the completion of solicitor qualifying exams, with hands on experience in the workplace. During her time with Sherrards, she has worked alongside a variety of departments, including Litigation, Private Client, Residential Property, and she is now seated with the Employment Team.

“The Solicitor Apprenticeship programme is certainly gaining increasing popularity, and I hope it becomes an option that many more students consider, as it offers such an exciting and rewarding career path, with the opportunity to gain a sought-after set of skills to become the next generation of lawyers!”

Our other Apprentice is me! I am the Firm’s Marketing Apprentice (Click here to go to my profile). I am working alongside the Marketing team to gain practical hands-on experience whilst completing my Level 3 Business Administration course. I work and learn from the Head of Marketing and Business Development, and am starting to understand my specialised areas, helping the firm with its social media, events, and data management.

“The team has given me the opportunity to expand my skills, build on my strengths, and they have supported and helped me with my weaker areas. I am thankful for the amazing opportunities I have been given and look forward to where my future with the company takes me.”

We look forward to expanding our Apprentice team soon as part of The Sherrards Training Academy, look out for updates on our website and Instagram.

Topics included:-

• Remuneration – is there an approach which keeps all parties happy – now and for the future?
• Lateral hiring – getting it right (and wrong) could determine a firm’s future
• Merger – a sign of defeat or success? What options do you have for the future?
• Strategy – living is believing – how to live a strategy to define your future
• Adopting technology now and in the future – myth or reality?
• The General Counsel client speaks! What are the future needs of our clients?  Three things General Counsel want in the future that law firms are not delivering today.

With delegates travelling to London from across the world, this truly was a conference in the vanguard of the legal profession.  Indeed, the IBA is considered to be among the foremost organisations for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies, borne out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world’s leading lawyers and bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice, protecting the rule of law.

The present membership is comprised of more than 80,000 individual international lawyers, from most of the world’s leading law firms, and some 190 bar associations and law societies spanning more than 170 countries.

The IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community, and through its membership it influences the development of international law reform and shapes the future of the legal profession around the world.  The IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee, of which Paul is the co-vice chair, is very much in the forefront of the organisation.

Through our engagement and involvement in the IBA – together with our deep involvement in the Alliott Global Alliance – we have outreach literally across the whole international legal community.  Nowhere is beyond our reach.

Click here to read through the IBA’s programme on Building the Law Firm of the Future.

For more information about the IBA, influencing and developing law firm management across the globe and about our international reach, please contact Paul Marmor.

Sherrards’ international team was in action at the recent AGA annual Worldwide Conference, held in Washington DC, with Paul Marmor (head of Litigation and International Services); Jean-Paul da Costa (head of Corporate); and Nicole Marmor (head of Private Wealth). What a conference and what a great group of lawyers and accountants we are connected to, across the globe.

The team really contributed to the conference, with Paul speaking at the opening session for lawyers, hosting a session on law firm management.  Jean-Paul co-hosted a session on the global issues facing the international legal community.  Nicole made her presence felt at the global mobility session. 

Giles Brake, CEO of AGA, comments: “This was our largest-ever Worldwide Conference, bringing together leading mid-size law firms such as Sherrards, from nearly 50 countries across all world regions. Sherrards’ talented team took leadership of and contributed to a full range of international practice group breakouts and firm management related forums. We are grateful for the role Sherrards play in sharing and creating engaging, substantive content at our conferences, and in ensuring a friendly, safe pair of hands whenever overseas clients need legal support in the UK. Law firms such as Sherrards are at the heart of our ongoing success as one of the world’s fastest-growing international alliances.”

With 220 member firms in 95 countries, spreading across 247 cities in 6 continents, the Alliance is one of the leading organisations of its kind, providing Sherrards with a global reach that is second to none when it comes to looking after the needs of our clients, contacts and friends.

For more information about the Alliance and our membership, and the support we can provide to our clients and friends across the globe, do get in touch.

Paul Marmor, Head of Litigation and International Services, has recently co-chaired a panel at the IBA’s annual worldwide conference in Miami, together with David Burgess, Publishing Editor of the Legal 500, saw a panel in real-time address questions from the audience using “Slido” technology, on how lawyers in private practice can best work with General Counsel.

We heard from a really heavyweight GC panel which included: Michael Coates of Shell; Edna Falla-Quintanilla of FedEx; Jessica Fierman of BUPA; Rushi Kaushal of Cable & Wireless Communications; Melanie Sanchez of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; Harpreet Sidhu of Pethealth Inc. and Alex Tolston of Hemisphere Media Group.

The session was hosted by the IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee, of which Paul is the co-vice chair.  The IBA is said to be among the leading international organisations helping to influence the development of the legal profession across the globe, of which the Law Firm Management Committee is in the vanguard.

If you want more information about the firm’s international offering, do get in touch with Paul and the international team.

They spoke alongside Anna Wardell from the UK’s Ministry of Justice on the hot topic of Brexit’s impact on the UK’s dispute resolution market. The panel was chaired by Adrian Andrychowski from Warsaw law firm JDP Law. James Hughes, the Minister-Counsellor for Economic affairs, gave the keynote speech.

It was fitting for a topic like Brexit that the panel discussion commenced against the backdrop of high drama in Downing Street with the news that minutes before, the then UK prime minister, Liz Truss, had just announced her resignation.  However, the talk then proceeded to strike a different tone, with the message that in terms of Brexit’s impact on the legal services market, there was no such drama to feast on. Despite Brexit changing the cross-border landscape and creating new competitive pressures, English law was still the governing law of choice for commercial contracts and the trends since 2016 remained in positive territory as far as the number of disputes being litigated in the UK by non-UK entities were concerned.  

The Ministry of Justice emphasised the UK government’s commitment to ensuring English law and England as a dispute resolution forum retain their pre-eminence in the international disputes market and that they were focussed on addressing some of the gaps left by the UK’s departure from the EU in relation to both commercial and non-commercial disputes. There is also a concerted endeavour to support London as a growing hub for Arbitration, as the number of referrals continues to grow year on year.

From the perspective of private practice, Marta and Greg affirmed the view that there is cause for (cautious) optimism that the popularity of English law or England as a dispute resolution forum is unlikely to be dislodged by the changes resulting from Brexit. Much of the export value of English law is attributable to properties that exit outside of (and pre-date) the EU framework. While there is no equivalence between anecdotes and raw data, Sherrards’ cross-border practise continues to be extremely busy and that shows no signs of abating.     

The event was otherwise a fantastic opportunity for Sherrards to get to know local firms and practitioners in Warsaw, a city that is fast establishing itself as growing hub for business in Eastern Europe and the centre of gravity for legal services in the region (not to mention a city with an emerging trendy restaurant and bar scene to boot!).