WHAT WE DO
From our offices in central London we serve clients around the world drawing on our expertise in the practice areas listed below to meet the specific needs of each client.
Strategy and tactical advice
Creating and executing legal strategies that lead to positive change, whether in a contentious or non contentious situation, relies on three main steps: idea creation, planning and development, and execution.
Our skills and abilities are often put to work for clients at the front end of the creative process, rather than simply in the execution phase. Our clients value our strategic and tactical abilities, and our problem solving skills, brainstorming with us around existing or potential problems to address or head off issues and to forge a clear path through effective legal risk and change management.
Personal and family wealth
We help our clients to address the challenges specific to them and their lives presented by wealth, whether large or small, simple or complex:
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domestic and multi-jurisdictional expertise
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domicile, residence, UK and international tax management
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estate and succession planning
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lifetime wealth transfer strategies
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tax efficient investment strategies
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planning for school fees and provision for children generally
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ownership strategies for real estate
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ownership strategies for art and antiques
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ownership strategies for car collections
Commercial and contractual arrangements
We advise in relation to a diverse range of commercial and contractual arrangements and transactions for clients, whether acquisitions, investments, disposals or to provide advice on the structuring of high value activities, and in each case to negotiate and prepare the required documentation. In this we work both domestically and internationally, supporting our clients wherever they may be active:
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business, shareholding and asset acquisitions and disposals
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joint ventures, shareholder and partnership agreements
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advising on and setting up companies, partnerships and co-investment arrangements
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choosing the most appropriate vehicle and jurisdiction for your business
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structuring relationships between investors and the business
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advising on how to protect intellectual property in your ideas and business
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determining where value should rest, before it is realised
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advising on control mechanisms for your business
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agency, distribution, licensing and marketing agreements
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contractual advice, negotiation and drafting
Art and collections
We advise galleries and dealers, as well as collectors and their estates, in relation to fine art and collectible assets such as vintage cars and watches, having acted in relation to some of the world’s most prominent transactions. Our work includes:
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domestic and cross border transactions
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determining the legal owner with title to sell
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preparing and negotiating consignment agreements and sale contracts
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dealing with issues such as VAT, provenance, insurance, secured lending and registration
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managing the execution of transactions, ensuring that title passes
Direct investments
We provide a mix of advice in relation to the structuring and creation of international investment vehicles, whether single purpose vehicles or investment funds and whether organised in the relevant jurisdiction as unit trusts, limited partnerships, companies or contractual joint ventures.
These vehicles are legitimate vehicles organised for sound commercial reasons within the law and fully tax compliant.
Such vehicles are typically required to bring together a small number of investors to invest in high value private equity, real
estate or single asset class investments.
Tax
We advise on tax management and compliance for private individuals in relation to their personal affairs and for trusts and other structures in relation to their activities and the interests of beneficiaries.
We help clients answer to requests for information from HMRC, as well as to represent clients in the face of tax enquiries and investigations from HMRC.
We handle tax treaty and ongoing regulatory and compliance initiatives affecting our clients and their activities domestically and internationally. We are experienced in advising on how to cope with the burden of regulatory compliance, including the wave of disclosure requirements of recent times.