Solicitor for Family Law in London

Career

Richard joined Birketts in 2004. He is a Partner and Head of our Property Litigation Team.

Richard has a broad range of experience in property, planning and public law. A litigation specialist, he has extensive advocacy experience having gained his rights of audience for all higher courts. He regularly acts as advocate in property and contentious planning matters in the County Court, First Tier Tribunal and High Court. He also has experience as a junior in the appellate courts. Most recently he was junior to Richard Wald KC. for the successful registration applicant in the leading town and village green case TW Logistics v Essex and Ian Tucker [2021] UKSC 4.

His property background covers all aspects of real property and landlord and tenant work. Richard has also developed his environmental practice in the area of noise protection for music industry clients. He acted successfully in protecting the renowned Air Studios from potentially disruptive basement development and is currently instructed on a case involving a grant of a noise easement to a music studio client.

Practice Areas

Paul is a partner in the Employment Team.

He is an experienced employment lawyer who deals with all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment issues, focusing on pragmatic and commercial solutions wherever possible. Paul has a great deal of experience of conducting cases before Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Central Arbitration Committee.

Paul regularly advises clients on managing trade union issues (including union recognition, collective agreements and strikes) and collective consultation obligations (including substantial restructuring exercises, outsourcing, site closures, TUPE transfers and collective redundancies).

Practice Areas

Ewan Tant is a Partner specialising in asbestos-related claims.

Ewan works on a large caseload and regularly deals with cross-jurisdictional cases, including in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Spain.

Ewan has had many successes in claims involving tricky and novel points of law, including a recent success in settling a case involving secondary exposure from the Claimant’s mother’s overalls, which had previously been turned down by two leading firms. He has had success in silicosis cases, including recently representing a man who worked as a sandblaster for many years, including on blockbuster film sets, who later developed a rare form of silicosis.

Ewan’s strengths lie in his dedication to client care, his technical knowledge, his drafting skills and his tenacity in dealing with Defendants, particularly in settlement negotiations. Ewan conducts his own advocacy in hearings and applications. Ewan regularly instructs leading counsel in complex cases and has lectured at medical and legal seminars. He has provided training to medical professionals, including giving talks at the Royal Brompton Hospital and at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Ewan has strong links to asbestos support groups and regularly attends support group meetings.

Practice Areas

Duncan Speller is a partner in Willkie's Litigation Department, and Co-Chair of Willkie’s Arbitration Practice Group. Duncan is based in the London office, where he practices International Arbitration and English High Court Litigation.

Duncan is an English barrister. He has significant experience in international arbitration and has successfully represented clients as an advocate on some of the most challenging, high-value and complex cases over the past decade. Duncan has represented clients in over one hundred and fifty institutional and ad hoc arbitrations, sited in both common and civil law jurisdictions, including England, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Germany.

Duncan also has substantial experience of international commercial litigation in both the English Court of Appeal and in the Commercial and Chancery Divisions of the High Court. He has particular experience of arbitration and litigation concerning aviation, oil and gas, insurance and reinsurance, private equity, telecommunications, banking and competition law issues.

Duncan sits as an arbitrator and has been appointed as arbitrator or emergency arbitrator by multiple arbitral institutions.

Practice Areas

Benoit Lavigne focuses his practice in advising private credit providers and other underwriters as well as borrowers, and has extensive experience in numerous complex finance matters. His finance work includes acquisition finance, general corporate lending, asset-based lending, restructuring, and workouts.

Mr. Lavigne has additional vast experience in advising clients on complex, cross-border finance matters. His advising on unique and innovative financings have included the first European super senior facility coupled with a US term loan B, Europe’s first margin loan to IPO financing, and Europe’s first quadruple Luxco acquisition financing structure.

Career

Emilie’s commitment to securing justice for victims of harrassment and discrimination in the workplace has earned her a formidable reputation and inclusion in The Lawyer’s Hot 100, a list of the UK’s “most daring, innovative and creative lawyers.”

She’s known for taking high profile and often controversial cases, particularly involving the protection of equal rights. Emilie’s been recognised as Times Lawyer of the Week and Lawyer in the News in the Law Society Gazette. She was a finalist for ‘Legal Personality of the Year’ in the Lexis Nexis Awards 2020, ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in the Legal Business Awards 2020, and private practice solicitor of the year in the Law Society Excellence Awards 2020.

Emilie’s landmark Supreme Court case, Gilham v Ministry of Justice [2017] EWCA Civ 2220 (21 December 2017), recognising whistleblowing as a fundamental human right marks her out as a fearless champion of doing what’s right, not what’s easy.

Her high-profile legal battles have led to numerous precedent-setting judgements and millions of pounds in pay-outs for her clients.

Emilie has a reputation for tireless negotiation and mediation. She’s regularly instructed by senior level executives to negotiate large severance packages and advises businesses on fairly applying grievance, disciplinary and redundancy procedures.

Her experience in professional discipline makes her sought-after by regulated professionals who need guidance throughout disciplinary and regulatory proceedings.

Practice Areas

Rory specialises in planning matters in both the public and private sector with an impressive track record in housing and regeneration projects, including negotiating planning agreements, compulsory purchase advice, planning appeals, and listed building consent advice. Rory also advises local authorities on a range of matters including governance, code of conduct and complex monitoring officer investigations.

Rory leads our Local Government team and is Client Relationship Partner for a number of Councils, including, the City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council, Aberdeen City Council, Stirling Council, West Lothian Council, East Lothian Council, Highland Council, and Western Isles Council.

Rory provides our clients with both strategic and legal advice across a variety of areas (including both political sensitivities and policy ramifications), with an in-depth understanding of both the challenges and opportunities facing the public sector at this time.

Practice Areas

She is an expert in all areas of white-collar crime including high profile fraud, money laundering and corruption. She specialises in representing individuals in complex and serious fraud proceedings, health and safety and corporate manslaughter cases and has handled a number of Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigations. These include Operation Holbein, Langbar, Mabey and Johnson, the Beijing Olympics ticket fraud, Kaupthing, Swift, FOREX and Euribor. She also has experience representing clients in all areas of criminal law including serious crime and she regularly represents clients at police station interviews. Shula has had numerous articles published in The Lawyer, Legal Week, In-House Lawyer and Telegraph Online and has lectured on corporate manslaughter legislation. She is a consultant editor for Lloyds Law Reports: Financial Crime.

Practice Areas

Francesco Lione, a partner in the London office of Latham & Watkins, represents clients in acquisition financings, high yield offerings, hybrid capital raisings, liability management, and restructuring matters under both US law and English law.

He has advised entrepreneurs, sponsors, and companies on transformative, strategic financings, such as the largest sterling corporate bond sale on record, the third largest LBO financing in the UK, the largest private debt financing of an Italian LBO, debut capital markets transactions, and inaugural green bond issuances. He has also counselled investment banks on complex, groundbreaking deals, such as the first European LBO financing featuring pari passu bonds and loans, the first instance of a European business funding its supply chain finance program through the high yield bond market, the second largest offshore bond offering by a Japanese issuer, and the second largest LBO financing in the UK. Francesco has assisted direct lenders and investment firms with a wide array of bespoke capital raisings, spanning Holdo PIK issuances, convertible debt placements, and pre-IPO financings. Lastly, he has represented creditors and borrowers in several balance sheet restructurings of cross-border businesses.

Working closely with issuers and borrowers through the ups and downs of business cycles, Francesco has extended his practice to cover a broader range of transactional finance assignments — advising companies on preferred equity issuances, working capital facilities, securitization structures, club loan deals, and, more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency injections of capital and negotiated amendments of financing terms. He also regularly counsels founders, boards of directors, and senior management teams on reporting and disclosure matters, access to capital markets, financing risk management, and corporate governance.

He is a frequent speaker on trends and developments in leveraged finance and has published various articles on innovative transaction templates in private equity finance.