Sherrards’ team, including Paul Marmor (head of Litigation and International Services); Jean-Paul da Costa (head of Corporate); Nicole Marmor (head of Private Wealth) and Emma Peacock (Employment and Immigration), attended the flagship EMEA regional conference.  Paul, Jean-Paul and Nicole were all involved in giving various presentations to a packed conference. 

The event attracted over 100 delegates from 40 countries within and outside of the EMEA region.  The first day of the conference was dedicated to specialist practice meetings, which set out to encourage members to think laterally, get creative and look out for client development opportunities for each other with their existing and new clients.

The second day included motivational speakers, including British Winter Olympian Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards and Attila Mizsér, Olympic Gold Medallist (1988, Modern Pentathlon), coach and former head of Treasury Sales at UniCredit Bank, Hungary, who shared their unique and inspiring stories with delegates.

With members from over 95 countries spanning 6 continents, we truly are at the heart of an international organisation providing our clients, friends and contacts with connectivity that is second to none from the Alliott Global Alliance (www.alliottglobal.com).

SustFest is all about sustainable living and protecting the environment. The festival is run by the people of the St Albans City holding a number of events all over the district, encouraging people to live with a lighter impact on the planet. 

As part of the festival we are running a photo competition. For a chance to win simply ‘capture nature in all its glory’. Post your photo on Instagram, follow us @sherrardssolicitors1 and tag us in your post. Alternatively email events@sherrards.com to enter.

The top three entries will receive a £100, £50 or £25 voucher from Lussmanns Sustainable Kitchen, a local sustainable restaurant chain. 

You can enter between 3rd May- 27th May. The winners will be announced on 1st June.

Good luck! 

Photo Competition T&Cs

This competition is hosted by Sherrards Solicitors and is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram in anyway.

1. The competition will run from 3rd May 2022 and closes at midnight on 27th May 2022 (GMT).
2. All entrants must be over 18 years of age and live in the UK.  
3. To enter, follow @sherrardsSolicitors1 and tag us in your post or alternatively email events@sherrards.com
4. The winner(s) will be chosen anonymously via an impartial judge.
5. The winner(s) will be announced via Instagram or email 1st June 2022 and will be contacted by a member of the Sherrards Marketing team. The prize will be emailed to the winner(s).
6. The voucher is the only prize on offer and no cash or other alternatives are available. First place winner will receive a voucher to the value of £100, second place £50 and third place £25.
7. By entering you confirm that you own all rights in and to any images or works submitted.
8. By submitting a photograph, you hereby grant all permissions and rights necessary for Sherrards to repost and use the image in any and all forms of media.

 

We welcome Matthew Ball, Partner in our Litigation department. Not only does Matthew provide extra strength to our busy team of litigators, Matthew also brings depth to our International team, with many of his clients based in North Africa and the Middle East. Indeed, he will be setting up the latest international desk at Sherrards and will help our clients from those regions and via Alliott Global, an international alliance of lawyers and accountants.

Emma Peacock has joined our Employment team as a Partner, growing our Employment law capabilities from our London office. She advises on the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law and will work closely with the Head of Department, Mark Fellows, to continue providing excellent service to existing clients as well as growing and developing our London offering.

Jonathan Silverman joins us as a Consultant in the Corporate and Commercial department. Jonathan is an experienced commercial lawyer with some 35 years’ experience in the City. He thrives on solving problems for clients and providing practical solutions in a timely manner. He joins our London office working alongside Jean-Paul da Costa.

We welcome Shane Knight, Senior Associate in our Commercial property department. Shane will provide welcome support to the busy team, working across both our London and St Albans offices. Shane has a broad skillset and is able to work across a range of different sectors and types of work.

Charles Burrell, Senior Associate, joins our Private Client team providing contentious and non-contentious support. Charles specialises in contentious trust work and will be an asset to the team, helping to grow our PC offering from our London office.

Sherrards looks forward to welcoming a number of other lawyers and support staff who are due to join over the next few weeks and months. We are also currently recruiting for several roles across both our offices, you can see the roles by clicking here.

Our dispute resolution team remain tier 1 with Paul Marmor noted as a “Leading Individual” . The team are recognised for their considerable expertise in the banking, recruitment and franchising sectors, providing “City skills and know-how” across a broad range of complex disputes. The client feedback also highlights their Russian, Ukrainian and CIS-related work, as well as other cross-border matters, particularly in relation to China, the US and French-speaking countries. Partner Karen Dobson is recognised for her insolvency and banking and finance-related litigation work “outstanding insolvency litigator who always delivers an excellent service” and Gregory Pooler for professional negligence claims “proactive, knowledgeable, willing and able to go the extra mile”. 

The corporate and commercial team also retain their tier 1 ranking. They are noted for their wide range of clients including local, national and international clients, particularly owner managed businesses, on mergers, acquisitions and disposals, private equity transactions. The practice is recognised for its strong focus in the franchising and recruitment sectors. Lead by Partner Leigh Head clients say “he has the ability to break down legal language into simple terms. He is always very patient, calm when the pressure is on and gets us across the line every time”. 

Our tier 1 ranked employment team have received glowing commentary with Partner and Head Mark Fellows notes as a “Leading Individual” The research highlights the teams notable expertise in the recruitment sector, also advising a range of clients in retail, hospitality and leisure and the wide variety of employment work they cover.  Mark Fellows “epitomises professionalism. He always suggests sensible, pragmatic and realistic courses of action, managing client expectation superbly throughout. Both knowledgeable and commercially sensitive, he communicates extremely effectively on all levels. He is exceptionally approachable and good humoured”. 

The private client team are noted for their internationally focused private client work including will preparation, tax planning and complex probate work and estate planning issues and remain tier 1. The team are recognised for their international client base across North America, Europe and Asia. Senior solicitor Donna Payne is listed as a “rising star”. The team received some excellent feedback clients say “The individuals we work with are friendly and easily accessible, which added to their breadth of knowledge and experience. Gives confidence that they are providing the quality service you need”. “Nicole Marmor explains all so we are not confused by legal documentation. We trust in her completely”. 

The commercial property teams in St Albans and London were also ranked highly. The research highlights their experience in the retail and hospitality, franchising, leisure and healthcare sectors, advising clients on all commercial property matters. Partner Terry Fendt and Stephanie Kierans are noted for their extensive expertise in the retail sector and excellent client service “They keep you informed the whole way, always happy to pick up the phone and discuss matters. Provide excellent client service”. 

ReviewSolicitors is a legal review website that is dedicated to providing transparency in the legal industry. Law firms using the platform proactively invite each client to leave feedback on the level of service they received in the form of a review. This gives power to clients to lay bare and voice their opinion on the level of service and legal advice they received. In turn this helps other customers make an informed decision when it comes to choosing a transparent and reputable law firm to instruct. Alasdair McMillin, Managing Partner explains the firm’s decision to begin its review collection journey with ReviewSolicitors: “Retaining a personal approach to the service we provide our clients is so important to us at Sherrards. Receiving this feedback on ReviewSolicitors is greatly appreciated. We are enjoying the process of learning more about our clients and seeing what we do very well as well as where there may be opportunities to adapt our approach. It’s no surprise to us that more and more prospective clients do their research online and we are happy to facilitate this. The feedback we receive via ReviewSolicitors will help us to deliver an exceptional service to our clients”.  Michael Hanney, founder of ReviewSolicitors, said: “For firms that are genuinely client-centric such as Sherrards Solicitors, a platform such as ReviewSolicitors’ gives such valuable insight from their clients. We’re delighted to welcome Sherrards Solicitors on board and assist them with their customer feedback journey”.  “We also note that the firm is already engaging with their reviews – which is great to see – this level of engagement will help the firm build trust with others who are actively looking for legal services.”  A few recent reviews:  “Just completed on the sale of my mother’s house. Whole process with the team was smooth and painless, from client acceptance (particularly as I am acting under Power of Attorney) through searches, exchange, and completion. Would wholeheartedly recommend for conveyancing.” “Thank you so much for all your help and going the extra mile.” “I am very happy with your professional service, I will no doubt recommend your company to other professionals and companies!” “Thank you for inspiring your team to such a successful outcome, and congratulations on your achievements.”

In light of #SustFest, we are running a photo competition to take place on 12 April – 28 May 2021. We encourage you to take a photo of what World Environment Day means to you for a chance to win a Lussmanns voucher! Lussmanns, are a local sustainable restaurant who are also founding members of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, winners of the Food Made Good Awards 2018 ‘Source Fish Responsibly’ and now the only restaurant group currently in the UK to be completely MSC-friendly. As well as being in with a chance to win a Lussmanns voucher, your photo may also be exhibited in the St Albans museum at the town hall. For information on how to enter please see our competition T&C’s at the bottom of this page. A little bit more about Sustainable Sherrards: Our Sustainable Sherrards group meet every other month to discuss and review our green initiatives. This is an internal group made up of solicitors and nonlegal professionals across both our offices. Here are a few steps that we are taking to become sustainable:

• We have removed all plastic cups in our office
• Our coffee supplier is Nespresso, known as being a sustainable company, and we recycle our coffee pods through its recycling program
• We solely use recyclable toner cartridges from Planet Green
• We have installed hand driers in our office bathrooms & removed paper
• Our confidential paper waste is recycled and they plant trees in place of the recycling
• We have introduced recycling bins throughout the offices

Future steps:

• We are becoming more paper-light:
  • By introducing our new client onboarding software, Legl and using DocuSign to reduce paper usage
  • By continuing to save electronic files on iManage and sharing documents online through iManage Share
  • Our printer defaults are set to print black and white and double-sided
  • We have a digest of printing usage for each staff member and are anticipating to hold competitions for who has printed the least each month
• We donated our old IT equipment to the Computer Recycling Centre in Hertfordshire last year in December
• We have only fairtrade teas, coffees, sugar
• We have eco-friendly lighting throughout our offices and meeting rooms

Please note our competition has now closed.

Moulder J. presided over a virtual court which saw witnesses and experts provide testimony from locations across Russia, Ukraine, the UK, France and the States.  Much of the evidence was given in Russian with a leading team of interpreters, located in London at the new International Arbitration Centre, providing a simultaneous Russian and English translation. This was a logistical feat, navigating through a major trial at the height of a pandemic, with each of the different jurisdictions facing different levels of lockdown.  Paul Marmor, the Head of Litigation, at Sherrards operating from London comments: “We embraced cutting-edge technology and new trial techniques on a scale which had never been attempted before, added to which we had one of our teams operating in Paris during one of France’s most severe lockdown, working with our counterparts in Ukraine.  There was nothing remotely routine about this highly complex, multi-party and multi-jurisdictional case.” The case itself concerned a claim by Tatneft, one of Russia’s largest oil companies, alleging that that the defendants have siphoned proceeds in excess of $300m from the sale of oil away from one of Ukraine’s leading oil refineries located in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. The proceedings were conducted entirely under Russian Law pursuant to Article 1064 of the Russian Civil Code, and the Judgment provides significant guidance as to the application of the limitation period for tortious claims provided by Article 200(1) of the Russian Civil Code and, in particular, as to the meaning of “harm” in Article 1064 RTC, the General Provisions on Tort. Moulder J. concluded that the claim was time-barred in an extensive Judgment running to more than 150 pages, in which found that “All four witnesses called for Tatneft on limitation [were found to be] evasive, unreliable and in some instances likely to be not telling the truth”.  The Judge also had concerns over Tatneft’s failure to adduce evidence from a number of individuals and to preserve relevant electronic documents.  Mr Ovcharenko has been awarded his legal costs to be paid by Tatneft on an indemnity basis which is the highest scale possible in his favour.   In other aspects of the case at an interlocutory hearing which took place in the run up to the trial in PJSC Tatneft -v- Bogolyubov and Others [2020] EWHC 2437 (COMM), Moulder J, held the legal privilege extends to communications with foreign lawyers, whether or not they are “in-house”, provided they are acting in the capacity or function of a lawyer.  There is no additional requirement that foreign lawyers should be “appropriately qualified” or recognised or regulated as “professional lawyers”. Marcus Staff of Counsel of 24 Old Buildings, instructed by Sherrards, states: “Engaging in cross-examination of numerous witnesses in a fraud trial and doing so remotely in a virtual set-up was a first and, indeed, unique experience and this was a ground-breaking trial in so many respects.” Marta Grieve, Head of Sherrards’ Russia and CIS Desk, comments: “The Russian legal issues were paramount and there is no doubt that being based in Paris during the heart of the French lockdown, working in Russian, Ukrainian, English and French, did have its challenges on occasion but I was pleased to be able to deploy all my Russian and Ukrainian legal experience to good effect.” Paul Marmor adds: “This was a truly multi-jurisdictional, multi-party and multi- layered case, quite unlike anything else I have ever been involved in working under Russian Law.  Witnesses giving evidence in real time in locations such as Moscow, Kazan, Kyiv, Paris, London and Washington DC, and to do so while we were in lockdown, meant everyone had to be at the top of their game.  We are delighted with the result for our client.” Sherrards’ team comprised Paul Marmor, Marta Grieve and Maximillian Marmor alongside Marcus Staff of 24 Old Buildings. Click here to read the full Judgment. 

Given my role at Sherrards as a Head of HR, I am interested (naturally) in diversity, equality & inclusion. I am proud to be have helped support Sherrards over my time here to embrace diversity, equality and fairness in all that we do. We provide many benefits to staff, including access to mentoring, apprenticeships, a mental health first aider, flexible working opportunities and even yoga at lunchtimes! This certainly wasn’t usual when I first started my career over 20 years ago, and it is fantastic to see the increased focus on staff well-being and work/life blend. We work hard to create an inclusive workforce. When asked to describe the firm, our staff chose the word ‘Supportive’ as the one that was most reflective of our culture. The word cloud below shows some of the other frequently occurring words. Building on this feedback, we articulated the firm’s five values – which we believe truly showcase and reflect who we are as a firm, as our staff and clients know us. These values are that:

1. We are proud
2. We work together
3. We get it done and we do it well
4. We are flexible and we care
5. We are human.

We fully support the #choosetochallenge campaign because we know that we get the best out of our staff if we have a variety of different people working together, bringing their unique experience and skill-sets together to challenge the status quo. In addition, we are making sure our junior lawyers learn to have a voice of their own by creating their own group. the ‘Junior Lawyer Group’. This team of 10+ junior lawyers, trainees and professionals from within Sherrards meet once every two months to drive change at the firm and within their circles. We also co-run young professional groups in St Albans via the City of Expertise and in London with Alliott Accountants to help make sure local professionals at the beginning of their careers are able to build up networks and voices of their own. We understand the importance of International Womens Day and are proud to be part of a culture that celebrates the achievements of all its staff. As part of our successful growth strategy, we are currently recruiting for numerous roles. If you would like to join our supportive team, click here to find out more.

This year has been hard on all of us, especially so for smaller, local businesses. That is why, this year we have worked hard to ‘shop local’ and make sure that gifts for our staff, clients & friends of the firm are supplied by local, smaller businesses.

Buying local means that any money spent goes straight back into our local economy, helping local jobs and helping to save our struggling high street. Are there any ways your business could shop local? With huge thanks to Dylans, Bishops Cave, Simmons, Baked by Nicky, The White Lotus Cake Company, Gingers Bread House & more for helping us make Christmas extra special this year.

Not only have we been shopping local, we’ve also been supporting local charities too. We’ve set up a ‘reverse advent calendar’ and asked staff and friends of the firm to donate food for the St Albans District Foodbank – a collection point has been set up in our reception area, and we plan to drop off the donation before Christmas. If you’re in the area, feel free to pop in and donate! It is set up to be non-contact and Covid-safe.

Also, we have once again supported the St Albans knitted postbox trail (our postbox is on Stanhope Road) to help raise funds & visibility for the St Albans District foodbank. Click to find out more about this campaign and ‘The Yarnbombers’ of St Albans!

As part of our Sustainable Sherrards group, we have asked staff to donate their old technology for the Computer Recycling Centre in Hertfordshire, who will wipe & sell on old technology, with any profits made going to charity. I found several old Nokias when clearing out my house during lockdown – sadly not many of Team Sherrards recognise them as mobile phones!

And finally, myself and Lawrence Levy of Levy Associates, both of us VPs of Rennie Grove Hospice Care, held an informal Zoom chat to launch the Rennie Grove Christmas Campaign. This year, a whopping £30,000 has already been raised. This will fund 1 month of nurse care, providing support and reassurance, so that patients can remain at home together with their loved ones this Christmas.  If you would like to find out more, please click here. Further afield, our international alliance, Alliott Global, have had a very smart rebrand. Alliott Global is a leading alliance of independent accountants, law & specialist firms, which we are proud to be part of. This means we have contacts and good friends, around the globe, to help you and your business anywhere in the world. These professionals are local to their area and truly know their jurisdictions like the back of their hand. If you would like an introduction, do get in touch, or click here to find out more. Finally, I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year and thank you for your huge support this past year.

Our litigation team remain ranked with fantastic write-ups for the team as a whole. One client describes the team as containing “skilled and highly competent litigators who are particularly effective” in addition to the fact that “they take a pragmatic approach to litigation and are highly cognisant of, and focused on, their clients’ aims”. They received brilliant individual write-ups too: Karen Dobson is active on contracts disputes and real estate litigation, with further experience in insolvency and banking related litigation. One client explains how “she always takes a pragmatic and commercial approach to cases, and she is very good at thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions”. Paul Marmor, Partner and head of the dispute resolution department, and who has a focus on cross-border fraud, banking litigation and experience advising on contract disputes and insolvency, is described as “very bright, tenacious and highly effective”. The corporate team “maintain a healthy reputation acting for clients in the media and entertainment sector” as well as acting on behalf of clients from the charity, manufacturing and technology industries. One source notes “they are great professionals and they are efficient”. “It is a great firm and they are very responsive”. Clients also highlighted Leigh Head as a notable practitioner who has a “broad corporate M&A practice, with additional expertise in restructuring and banking matters. “He is a tremendously cool and organised individual and in amidst the greatest of stressful situations, he will always come through for you. He’s a great asset to have on your side; “he is fantastic; he gets things done, is strong technically and also practical and commercial.” Property also received great commentary with impressed clients remarking how “they act quickly and decisively”. Others reported how “they are very proactive and very pragmatic”. Notable practitioner Terry Fendt has “considerable experience advising on a broad range of commercial property matters, including acquisitions and leases.” “He has particular focus on client from the retail sector”.  Terry is described as being “very personable and reliable”. In the high-net worth guide, Nicole Marmor, Head of the Private client team was ranked highly, and brilliant commentary was also received; a source says that the firm is “first rate- reliable and professional”, “I will use them again without hesitation when a need for legal support arises”. Also ranked in the high-net worth guide is Asha Ngai, Partner in our Residential property team in London. Asha has considerable experience handling the sale and purchase of high-value residential property as well as secured lending matters. An impressed client comments: “She was very professional, knowledgeable and informative regarding the laws around conveyancing. She explained everything in detail and answered all of our questions.” We have also been ranked in the extremely prestigious Chambers & Partners Global Guide for Expertise Based Abroad in France.