Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that Simeon Gilchrist has appeared on the newly published Pro Bono Recognition List of England & Wales. The annually published list recognises the work of lawyers who have given 25 or more hours pro bono legal assistance in the previous calendar year.

Simeon led the successful Edwin Coe team in Manolete v White [2024] EWCA Civ 1418, in which the court made a costs order of £85k against Manolete in the charity’s favour. You can read more about the judgment on our website here.

The Pro Bono Recognition List was set up under the aegis of the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee, with support from the Access to Justice Foundation, Advocate, Advocates for International Development, International Lawyers Project, the Law Officers, the Bar Council, CILEX, the Clinical Legal Education Organisation, the In-House Pro Bono Group, the Law Society, LawWorks, the National Pro Bono Centre and TrustLaw.

The Recognition List for 2025 is here.

Promotions from Senior Associate to Legal Director:

• Kate Dwyer, Insurance Litigation
• Marina Russell, Private Client
• Selina Clifford, Intellectual Property

Promotions from Associate to Senior Associate:

• Elliot Francis, Employment
• George Orman, Employment
• Toni Recchia, Private Client

Promotions from Solicitor to Associate:

• Alex Morris, Restructuring & Insolvency
• Carlos Sharrock, Property
• Charlotte Gittins, Employment
• Daniel Samole, Property
• Ninad Bhagwat, Private Client

We are also pleased to announce that Robert Evans, previously a Paralegal, qualified as a Solicitor in Private Client on 1 February 2025.

Alison Broadberry, Managing Partner at Edwin Coe, commented: “We are incredibly proud to celebrate the success of our colleagues. These promotions justifiably recognise their hard work and achievements. Edwin Coe remains committed to investing in the development of our people and delivering the best outcomes for our clients. We look forward to seeing all our people continue to thrive, contributing to the firm’s ongoing success.”

Congratulations to Simeon Gilchrist who won the Insolvency Lawyer of the Year award at the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) Awards 2024 last night.

On receiving the award Simeon said: “This is an incredible honour from the IPA, and I would like to take a moment to congratulate all of the nominees and to thank the judges and the IPA for this amazing recognition.

I would like to thank my wife and daughter for putting up with this weird obsession that I have with the 86 Act, my partners at Edwin Coe for their wonderful support during what was a difficult personal year, my Restructuring & Insolvency team of outstanding lawyers, and our clients, who produce such wonderful work , and who are a joy to advise.”

The IPA is an organisation for those in insolvency practice or involved in insolvency-related work. It licenses and regulates Insolvency Practitioners under insolvency and Anti-Money Laundering regulations, and works to raise professional standards through professional training, benchmarking, networking, best practice sharing and other engagement opportunities.

For more information on the IPA and its awards, please see here.

A panel of judges selects the nominees for the IPA awards.

Simeon has expertise in contentious and transactional insolvency and advises insolvency practitioners, banks, distressed companies, and individuals on a wide range of corporate and personal insolvency matters. His corporate transactional work has an administration bias, with preparing business sales as a particular specialism. In personal insolvency matters, Simeon has a specialist European Regulation practice, advising individuals, practitioners and creditors.

For the list of the nominations for the IPA Awards, please see here.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that 14 lawyers including 2 Band 1 ranked individuals, and 6 practice areas have been recommended in the 2025 edition of Chambers UK: A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession. As reported in the guide, clients say: “Edwin Coe’s expertise is long-standing and deeply rooted within the team. They take a client-first approach...”

The firm has been recommended in 6 practice areas for the first time, with the new addition of Property Litigation in band 5 – “very strong individuals at all levels” mentioned a referee. Restructuring & Insolvency: Personal Insolvency “a reputation centred on quality”, Employment: Senior Executive – “undeniably high level of service and responsiveness,” and Insurance: Mainly Policyholders – “incredibly competent and caring,” are all ranked in band 2. Professional Negligence – “Edwin Coe’s expertise is long-standing and deeply rooted within the team,” remains in band 4 and “very serious players in the market,” Group Litigation: Claimant is in band 3.

The firm was awarded 14 individual rankings this year, including Band 1 recognition for Simeon Gilchrist in Personal Insolvency – “Simeon is highly responsive and technically excellent. He’s a sophisticated thinker who always brings something to complex situations,” and Roger Franklin for Professional Negligence: Mainly Claimant – “He is someone who clients really trust and he really knows what he’s doing.” David Greene – “one of the leaders in this sector” retained his status as a Senior Statesperson for Group Litigation: Claimant and Zahira Hussain was recommended as an ‘Up and Coming’ Partner in the same category for the first time. Linky Trott – “smart, hard-working and dedicated”, was promoted to Band 2 for Employment: Senior Executive. Shams Rahman – “a robust, calm, assured and persuasive property litigator,” joins the Property Litigation rankings for the first time, alongside Joanna Osborne – “a strong lawyer with a considerable breadth of knowledge.”

Also recommended were Ali Zaidi (Personal Insolvency) – “provided a fantastic result”, Sundeep Rathod (Immigration: Business) – “an excellent, well-rounded service”, Russel Shear (M&A) – “extremely competent and a pleasure to work with”, Simon Miles (Intellectual Property) – “a very knowledgeable and approachable specialist” and, Nicola Maher – “she’s really excellent – she knows it all backwards” and Roger Franklin (both for Insurance: Mainly Policyholders).

Thank you to all our clients and contacts who took their time to recommend us and congratulations to all involved!

Edwin Coe is recommended in the UK, High Net Worth and Global directories. Chambers’ independent research collects information about organisations, individuals and the marketplace, conducting thousands of interviews a year with in-house counsel and third-party experts, such as barristers and accountants, to deliver detailed insight into providers of legal services.

You can view our results on Chambers’ website.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that six of our solicitors are included in the thirteenth edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom, which has just been released. The 2025 UK edition recognizes the professional excellence of 6,458 lawyers in 85 practice areas, and in particular, recommends the following solicitors at Edwin Coe:

• David Greene (Competition Law and Litigation)
• Linky Trott (Employment Law)
• Rachel Harrap (Employment Law)
• Simon Miles (Intellectual Property Law)
• Christopher Berry (Insolvency & Restructuring Law and Litigation)
• David Goepel (Charities Law)

Congratulations to all!

The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom 2025 Guide
For over 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous peer-review survey. Their process is designed to capture the opinion of leading lawyers regarding the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers asks voters the question: “If you were unable to take a case yourself, how likely would you be to refer it to this nominee?”

Litigator Barry McGouran (Restructuring & Insolvency) has been promoted to Senior Associate.

Former Edwin Coe trainees Nicole Davis (Restructuring & Insolvency) and Lara Persell (Private Client) have been promoted from Solicitor to Associate.

Finally in our Tax team, Bradley Gabriel has been promoted to Tax Manager along with Henry Hinton who becomes a Tax Executive.

Edwin Coe’s Managing Partner Alison Broadberry commented, “Sincere congratulations to all on their well-deserved promotions. We wish them every further success as they continue their career journey which we will fully support them on.”

Edwin Coe once again appears in The Times Best Law Firms Guide – The Times’ annual list of the top 250 legal practices in England and Wales. The newspaper highlights our expertise in litigation – on this occasion we were commended for both commercial dispute resolution and insolvency & restructuring.

Edwin Coe is renowned for its contentious practice, often for large groups of claimants in insurance, competition and complex financial disputes as well as property litigation, contentious trusts and insolvency. It has practitioners covering international and domestic litigation, mediation and arbitration. Our lawyers also take a full part in the profession, including leadership in INSOL Europe, R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals and The Collective Redress Lawyers Association (CORLA).

Our top-ranked restructuring and insolvency team advises individuals facing personal insolvency, companies requiring advice on corporate restructuring, and Insolvency Practitioners acting as an office holder, on all aspects of insolvency, bankruptcy and liquidation.

The Times engaged international market research firm Statista, to ask solicitors and barristers across England, Wales and Scotland to recommend the best law firms covering business, public and private-client fields. Lawyers could not vote for themselves and could only vote once in the survey, to create a ‘definitive’ list of the most respected lawyers and firms in the industry. Only 250 of the approximately 9,425 firms in England and Wales made the list.

This success follows Edwin Coe’s recent rankings in the newly published Chambers UK 2024 and The Legal 500 UK 2024 directories.

Congratulations to all involved!

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that 13 lawyers including 2 Senior Statespeople, and 5 practice areas have been recommended in the 2024 edition of Chambers UK: A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession. As reported in the guide, clients say: Edwin Coe “punches above its weight in a range of different areas.”

Restructuring & Insolvency retain their band 1 ranking for Personal Insolvency, whilst Simeon Gilchrist has retained his top individual ranking – “He is great, he’s very straightforward and he’s a good technical lawyer,” whilst Ali Zaidi has also retained his band 2 “He has very good technical awareness and the ability to identify issues.”

Senior Partner David Greene is newly appointed as a Senior Statesperson in the UK-wide Group Litigation: Claimant category, “David Greene is a very safe pair of hands. He knows this field and what he’s doing,” and our “knowledgeable and experienced” Class Action Team makes its first appearance in the same category.

Our Employment: Senior Executive team, “Every person within the legal team at Edwin Coe is a trustworthy, capable and strong lawyer,” retain their band 2 ranking, along with recommendations for Head of Department, Linky Trott who “has a wealth of experience to draw on. She builds great rapport and delivers a great service,” Rachel Harrap “She is very results-oriented, savvy and pragmatic,”.

In addition our Insurance team is again ranked twice – for Insurance Litigation: Mainly Policyholders and also for Professional Negligence. Clients comment that the team is “fantastic from start to finish.” Roger Franklin “just brilliant”, and is ranked in both categories. Nicola Maher is again ranked for Insurance Litigation and is described as “very astute and consistently at the top of her game.”

Russel Shear, our Head of Corporate retains his ranking for Mid-Market M&A “Russel understands our business and objectives”, Sundeep Rathod is newly recommended for Immigration: Business “Sundeep is a dynamic and phenomenal individual with great drive and passion,” Head of Intellectual Property Simon Miles is ranked again, one client said “Simon is fantastic – a commercially astute IP lawyer who consistently delivers results with pragmatic and clear advice,” and finally, Joanna Osborne is recognised for Property Litigation, and is described as “astute, tenacious, personable and an excellent lawyer.”

Congratulations to all involved!

Edwin Coe is recommended in the UK, High Net Worth and Global directories. Chambers’ independent research collects information about organisations, individuals and the marketplace, conducting thousands of interviews a year with in-house counsel and third-party experts, such as barristers and accountants, to deliver detailed insight into providers of legal services. You can view our results on Chambers’ website.

With a professional background in cross-border advisory work for both office-holders and insolvent entities, Simeon is looking forward to supporting INSOL Europe in its role as the profession’s meeting place, representative body and ideas forum.

Edwin Coe is particularly proud to deepen the firm’s relationship with INSOL Europe, having for several years sponsored the Academic Forum.

Simeon said about his election to office: “It is hugely exciting that UK members of INSOL Europe have placed their confidence in me to represent their interests at Council moving forward. Thank you to all of the membership for engaging with the election process, and I look forward to seeing you all at Amsterdam 2023 in October”.

The firm and Simeon look forward to working with the council of INSOL Europe in furthering its mission as a membership led organisation.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that seven of our solicitors are included in the twelfth edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom, which has just been released. The 2024 UK edition recognizes the professional excellence of 6,344 lawyers in 137 practice areas, and in particular, recommends the following solicitors at Edwin Coe:

• David Greene (Competition Law and Litigation)
• Linky Trott (Employment Law)
• Rachel Harrap (Employment Law)
• Simon Miles (Intellectual Property Law)
• Christopher Berry (Insolvency & Restructuring Law and Litigation)
• David Goepel (Charities Law)

Congratulations to all!

The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom 2024 Guide
For over 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous peer-review survey. Their process is designed to capture the opinion of leading lawyers regarding the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers asks voters the question: “If you were unable to take a case yourself, how likely would you be to refer it to this nominee?”

Laura McGuire of City AM interviewed our Head of Class Action and Finance Litigation, David Greene this week about the troubled cinema chain Cineworld, which dropped plans to sell its businesses in the US, the UK, and Ireland after failing to find a buyer, and has filed a reorganisation plan in a Texas bankruptcy court that will effectively wipe out existing shareholdings, sending its stock to an all-time low.

Shares in Cineworld tanked over 30 per cent this morning after the embattled cinema chain revealed that it would be forced to wipe out shareholders as part of its plan to exit bankruptcy.

The London-listed firm, which filed for bankruptcy in the US last autumn, said today that it has filed a “plan of reorganisation” with the US Bankruptcy Court in Texas.

The plan aims to help the beleaguered company reduce its $4.53bn (£3.68bn) debt pile in order to exit Chapter 11 insolvency during the first half of this year.

“In light of the level of existing debt that is proposed to be released under the plan, the proposed restructuring does not provide for any recovery for holders of Cineworld’s existing equity interests,” Cineworld said in a stock market announcement this morning…

…David Greene, committee member of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, added: “Cineworld Group PLC shareholders will be smarting at the news that the value of their shares has been wiped out under plans presented to a Texas court to restructure debts and capital in a plan of reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US Code.”

The full article is available on the City AM website.

Based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Dormeo UK is the British wholesaler and retailer of the Dormeo® bedding and sleeping solutions brand, which offers top quality Italian-designed, European-made memory foam mattresses direct to domestic customers in 40 countries worldwide.

Adam Harris and Mark Siddall of Mazars said: “We are delighted to have been able to complete the sale of Dormeo as quickly as possible with the assistance of the Edwin Coe team. The sale of Dormeo protects hundreds of jobs, ensures that customers don’t lose out and preserves the brand that Dormeo has built up over the last 20 years.”

“A quick sale has meant that customers, suppliers and staff have not had to go through a period of protracted uncertainty, something that we are always keen to avoid in administrations.”

Edwin Coe’s multi-disciplinary team was led by Corporate Partner Jamal Saleh, with assistance from Elliot Francis (Associate) on the employment side, and Neil Flynn (Senior Associate) on property matters.

Jamal commented “It was a pleasure to successfully complete this transaction alongside the team at Mazars in just 4 days. It’s the latest in a series of business and asset sales on a pre-pack basis or otherwise out of administration which Edwin Coe has worked on across a range of business sectors, acting for not only administrators but also buyers.”

Based in London, with a key research centre in Lisbon, Truphone has a long list of international subsidiaries with coverage in over 200 countries and with over 400 direct network agreements.  The business offers communication services to over 2,000 multinational enterprise customers notably offering compliance solutions for recording phone and text messages for major global investment banks as well providing eSIM technology to major customers including Apple.

The transaction, which required both the approval of the Department of Business Enterprise and Industrial Strategy and of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, was undertaken following an M&A sale process undertaken by FRP’s corporate finance team, led by Matthew Flower.

The transaction called on the services of a large Edwin Coe team across the breadth of the firm’s wide expertise. Daniel Bellau (Corporate Partner) led on the corporate side together with Jamal Saleh (Corporate Partner), Michelle Ansah (Corporate Associate). Working alongside were Linky Trott (Head of Employment), Nick Phillips (IP Partner) and Joanne McIvor (Property Partner).  Nelson Mullins advised on US law aspects.

The Buyer, TP Global was advised by law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Walker Morris LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and by investment bank Robey Warshaw LLP.

“We were delighted to be able to advise the FRP Team on this exciting and ground breaking transaction and in being able to unlock the significant potential of the Truphone business.  I’d like to thank the whole team for their hard work on completing this highly challenging and complex transaction,” commented Daniel.

Joint Administrator and CEO of FRP Geoff Rowley stated “This has been a complex transaction which has seen multiple challenges to address which has been greatly assisted by the multi-disciplinary team fielded by Edwin Coe working together with all the professional advisors.”

Further information on the transaction can be found on the Truphone website.

Edwin Coe has once again been included in The Times Best Law Firms Guide – The Times’ annual list of the top 250 legal practices in England and Wales. The newspaper highlights our expertise in commercial dispute resolution.

The votes on this occasion highlighted Edwin Coe’s outstanding claimant dispute resolution team. Edwin Coe is renowned for its contentious practice often for large groups of claimants in insurance, competition and complex financial disputes as well as property litigation and insolvency. It has practitioners covering international and domestic litigation, mediation and arbitration. It also takes a full part in the profession, boasting the current Presidents of R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals and The Collective Redress Lawyers Association (CORLA).

“I’m delighted that The Times has recognised the hard work and expertise of Edwin Coe’s outstanding litigation team,” said David Greene, Edwin Coe’s Senior Partner, “our litigators, throughout the firm, work tirelessly to achieve commercial and often innovative solutions for our clients, and it is particularly gratifying to receive recognition from the solicitors and barristers who we work with every day.”

Ali Zaidi, Edwin Coe’s Head of Litigation and Insolvency added, “Congratulations to our talented lawyers. This listing is a great reflection of the expertise and quality of work being produced across the firm for our clients.”

The Times and Statista, an international market research firm, asked solicitors and barristers across England, Wales and Scotland to recommend the best law firms in any of 28 categories covering business, public and private-client fields. Lawyers could not vote for themselves and could only vote once in the survey, to create a ‘definitive’ list of the most respected lawyers and firms in the industry. Only 250 of the approximately 9,700 firms in England and Wales made the list.

This success follows Edwin Coe’s recent recognition in the newly published Chambers UK 2023 and Legal 500 UK 2023 directories.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that 14 lawyers and 4 practice areas have been recommended in the 2023 edition of Chambers UK: A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession. As reported in the guide, clients say: “Edwin Coe provides advice which is consistently strong and technical in nature.”

Restructuring & Insolvency retain their band 1 ranking for Personal Insolvency, whilst Simeon Gilchrist has retained his top individual ranking – “Simeon Gilchrist’s depth of knowledge is second to none”, whilst Ali Zaidi has also retained his band 2 “Ali Zaidi has good commercial awareness of the issues faced by a trustee.”

Our Employment: Senior Executive team, “They are my go-to team of advisers” retain their band 2 ranking, along with recommendations for Linky Trott “She has a vast knowledge of employment law, is highly intelligent and I have never found her flummoxed by anything”, Rachel Harrap “brilliant at determining the desired outcome and then works to deliver that”.

In addition our Insurance team is again ranked twice – for Insurance Litigation: Mainly Policyholders and also for Professional Negligence. Clients recognise their “good-quality work.” Roger Franklin “our go-to person with any insurance dispute or technical query – his level of service is exceptional” is ranked in both categories. Nicola Maher is again ranked for Insurance Litigation and is described as “client-friendly, pragmatic and helpful.” Finally, Oliver Pannell has been recognised as an Up & Coming Partner “very hard-working and always well prepared.”

Head of Intellectual Property Simon Miles is ranked for Intellectual Property, one client said “Simon Miles is knowledgeable, sharp and strategically minded”, whilst Joanna Osborne recognised for Property Litigation “Joanna is so experienced and takes everything in her stride. She is very decisive and able to cut through matters.” Finally Russel Shear retains his ranking for Mid-Market M&A “Russel Shear is very responsive and supportive, knowledgeable in our sector, and gives excellent advice.”

Congratulations to all involved!

Edwin Coe is recommended in the UK, High Net Worth and Global directories. Chambers’ independent research collects information about organisations, individuals and the marketplace, conducting thousands of interviews a year with in-house counsel and third-party experts, such as barristers and accountants, to deliver detailed insight into providers of legal services. You can view our results on Chambers’ website.

Sophia is an insolvency and restructuring specialist within Edwin Coe’s Tier 1 Chambers UK-ranked insolvency team. She has extensive experience advising on contentious and non-contentious corporate and personal insolvencies. Her broad insolvency practice sees her acting for clients across a range of industries and sectors, including insolvency practitioners, creditors, debtors, banks, directors of financially distressed companies, as well as individuals in financial difficulty.

As a Chambers and Legal 500 recommended insurance claims specialist, Oliver is experienced in acting for policyholders in claims against insurers, as well as in claims for professional negligence against insurance brokers and other professionals. He regularly acts in claims involving breach of contract, allegations of negligence, breach of warranty, breach of condition precedent, misrepresentation, material non-disclosure and fraud.

David Kinch, Edwin Coe’s Managing Partner commented “I’m delighted to welcome experienced litigators Sophia and Oliver into the partnership at Edwin Coe. It is particularly pleasing that they are ‘home grown’ talents, both having joined us as trainees.”

Ali Zaidi, Head of Litigation added, “Congratulations to Sophia and Oliver. They are both talented, tenacious litigators and a great asset to our clients and the firm.”

In the past 6 months Edwin Coe has also added three new lateral hires to the Partnership in Clare Gilroy-Scott in the Employment team and William Edwards within the Private Client practice.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that 14 lawyers and 4 practice areas have been recommended in the 2022 edition of Chambers UK: A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession.  As reported in the guide, clients say: “Edwin Coe is a very good firm to work with. They have partners and experts to cover all major legal areas.”

Our Restructuring & Insolvency team retained their band 1 ranking for Personal Insolvency where they are praised for their “very professional” approach.  Simeon Gilchrist has retained his top individual ranking and is seen as “a standout in the personal insolvency space”, whilst Ali Zaidi has also retained his band 2 “Ali Zaidi is very pragmatic with sensible and down-to-earth approaches to problems.”

In addition our Insurance team is again ranked twice – for Insurance Litigation: Mainly Policyholders and also for Professional Negligence. Clients recognise their: “expertise in insurance litigation and depth of knowledge.” Roger Franklin “a brilliant negotiator with a razor-sharp mind” is ranked in both categories. Nicola Maher is again ranked for Insurance Litigation and is described as “a brilliant solicitor and a superb communicator – she is invested in her clients, down to earth and super smart.” Finally, Oliver Pannell has again been recognised as an Associate to Watch.

Our Employment team have also retained band 2 for their Senior Executive work. Commentators note that the team can “handle very challenging and complex work and they are very speedy and efficient.”  Three lawyers are ranked from the team – Linky Trott “makes me feel like I am her most important client, even though she has others, and she has a prevailing understanding of market trends”, and Rachel Harrap “is excellent at identifying key issues and responding appropriately. She is always ahead of the game, anticipating the actions available to the other side and nullifying their possible choices.”

Head of Intellectual Property Simon Miles is ranked for IP, of his work, one client said “Simon’s strategy was expert and he is resilient.” whilst Joanna Osborne recognised for Property Litigation “Joanna is absolutely committed to her clients and works phenomenally hard, leaving no stone unturned.” Finally Russel Shear retains his ranking for Mid-Market M&A.

Congratulations to all involved!

Edwin Coe is recommended in the UK, High Net Worth and Global directories. Chambers’ independent research collects information about organisations, individuals and the marketplace, conducting thousands of interviews a year with in-house counsel and third-party experts, such as barristers and accountants, to deliver detailed insight into providers of legal services. You can view our results on Chambers’ website.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that six of our solicitors were included in the tenth edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom which has just been released. The 2022 UK edition recognizes the professional excellence of 5,436 lawyers in 83 practice areas, and in particular, recommends the following solicitors at Edwin Coe:

• David Greene (Competition Law and Litigation)
• Linky Trott (Employment Law)
• Rachel Harrap (Employment Law)
• Simon Miles (Intellectual Property Law)
• Christopher Berry (Litigation)

The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom 2022 Guide
For 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized Best Lawyers working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback received from these top lawyers. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then can these top lawyers be recognized by Best Lawyers.

There have been an array of uses for the loan and Ali Zaidi said: “I was told the director used £25,000… to pay off his drug dealer and put the remaining £25,000 on an account for future drug suppliers.”

Read the full article in The Times here (subscription may be required).

A recording of the Edwin Coe webinar discussing “Beware the use and abuse of Furlough and Bounce Back Loans” is available here.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that 15 lawyers and 4 practice areas have been recommended in the 2021 edition of Chambers UK: A Client’s Guide to the UK Legal Profession.

Our Restructuring & Insolvency team retained their band 1 ranking for Personal Insolvency where they are praised for the lawyer’s “depth of insolvency expertise.” In addition, Simeon Gilchrist has retained his top individual ranking and is seen as “a highly regarded expert in the industry“, whilst Ali Zaidi has moved up to band 2 “He is very effective and pragmatic.”

Our Employment team have been promoted to band 2 for their Senior Executive work. Commentators note the team’s “high-quality lawyers who are thorough and knowledgeable.” Three lawyers are ranked from the team – Linky Trott “She’s a delight to work with – commercially focused, solutions-orientated and extremely knowledgeable”, and Rachel Harrap “She is an outstanding lawyer; she’s very approachable and has colossal experience and knowledge of employment law.”

In addition our Insurance team is ranked twice – for Insurance Litigation: Mainly Policyholders and also for Professional Negligence. Clients say: “They punch above their weight and achieve remarkable results.” This year, Nicola Maher has been promoted to band 2 for Insurance Litigation “She is really forensic with the detail and is also fantastic with her turnaround times “, whilst Roger Franklin “very decisive and in control of the whole process” is ranked in both categories. Finally, Oliver Pannell recognised as an Associate to Watch “He is a very capable lawyer who is very thorough and very clear.”

David Goepel is recommended for his Charity work and Russel Shear retains his ranking for Mid-Market M&A. Clients say that “He offers great legal and commercial input, and provides a seamless process and timely responses.” Simon Miles who clients say is “Really clever, very responsive and very quick at picking things up and turning them around” is ranked for Intellectual Property Law whilst Joanna Osborne has moved up a band for Property Litigation “She is tactically unbeatable.”

Congratulations to all involved!

Chambers’ independent research collects information about organisations, individuals and the marketplace, conducting thousands of interviews a year with in-house counsel and third-party experts, such as barristers and accountants, to deliver detailed insight into providers of legal services. You can also view our results on Chambers’ website.

The government has provided support in a number of ways to keep businesses going. These include:

• deferral of VAT
• deferral of income tax payments
• government backed and guaranteed loans (CBILS)
• rate relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure industry
• cash grants for small businesses
• the Coronavirus Retention Scheme – furlough leave for employees.

These measures are no doubt a great help to struggling businesses but they may not be sufficient to stave off insolvency, and a requirement to call in an administrator or liquidator. However, it is thought that further measures are about to be introduced by the government which will temporarily relax some of the more draconian regulatory provisions as they apply to businesses in a position where they are unable to continue trading. These include:

• a review of the rules of wrongful trading (under which directors can incur a personal liability) to allow directors to continue with business as usual to the extent possible
• a moratorium for companies giving them breathing space from creditors enforcing their debts for a period of time whilst they seek a rescue or restructure
• a new restructuring plan binding creditors to that plan
• a protocol for administrators to allow for a “debtor in possession” trading administration; and
• further rules around when and how a winding up petition might be presented.

Whilst we are waiting for the detailed legislation to be introduced in order to implement these measures, they will nonetheless be a welcome relief for businesses facing unparalleled difficulty.

Edwin Coe has put together a multi-specialist task force to provide advice to businesses in this situation and for taking advantage of these new insolvency relief measures.

This will include:

• tailored advice based on the new legislation when it is published
• work around plans including debt/equity swaps, restructurings, asset realisations, financing and other fund raising opportunities (including potential introductions to institutions seeking investment opportunities)
• access to our panel of Insolvency Practitioners
• employment advice in relation to the work force
• utilisation of procedures to keep businesses afloat including arrangements with creditors.

For an initial consultation without charge please contact any of the following:

Ali Zaidi, Head of Litigation & Insolvency; Simeon Gilchrist, Partner – Restructuring & Insolvency; Russel Shear, Head of Corporate & Commercial or Linky Trott, Head of Employment.

Edwin Coe is pleased to announce that once again David Greene, our Senior Partner, alongside Head of Intellectual Property, Simon Miles; Head of Employment, Linky Trott and Restructuring & Insolvency Consultant, Christopher Berry, have all been recommended in the new UK edition of Best Lawyers:

• Christopher Berry – Litigation
• David Greene – Litigation and also Competition
• Linky Trott – Employment
• Simon Miles – Intellectual Property

The Best Lawyers UK 2019 Guide
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. For more than 30 years, their methodology has been designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their private practice colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.

We are delighted to announce that Simeon Gilchrist, Restructuring & Insolvency Partner has been re-elected to the R3 Council, retaining a National place for the second three year term following the recent R3 elections.

As a member of R3, Simeon has been an advocate for the Smaller Practices Group (SPG) community for the last three years as chair of the SPG committee which has been a challenging but rewarding experience.

Simeon comments: “It is a privilege to be able to serve the R3 community, and I am delighted to be re-elected to Council. Serving as SPG chair is enormously rewarding and so to be able to continue for a second term is tremendous. These are challenging times both for the profession and R3. There is a lot of work ahead and being part of that process is a tremendous responsibility. I hope to make a difference!”

About R3 (The Association of Business Recovery Professionals)

R3 is the trade association for the UK’s insolvency, restructuring, advisory, and turnaround professionals. We represent insolvency practitioners, lawyers, turnaround and restructuring experts, students, and others in the profession. R3 is there to provide technical and training support for the profession, networking opportunities for members, and to give members the opportunity to influence the legislation, regulation, and guidance which governs our work.

Edwin Coe is delighted to announce that Simeon Gilchrist has been ranked in Band 1 in Restructuring/Insolvency: Personal Insolvency for the first time, in the latest Chambers UK Guide. Our personal insolvency department is also ranked by Chambers as a Band 1 practice.

Simeon is a dedicated personal insolvency specialist, with additional expertise on pensions-related issues. He regularly represents insolvency practitioners and individuals on a range of issues related to bankruptcy.

In the Guide, a client commented on Simeon: “If I have an insolvency-based issue I can’t get my head around, he is the closest I have to a go-to guy for getting me out of the woods.“

The ramifications of Brexit touch on multiple issues affecting the UK economy and business, although it is difficult to predict precisely how. Yet it is fair to say that insolvency and restructuring is one area of law and practice that stands to be significantly affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union.

Restructuring and Insolvency partner Simeon Gilchrist discusses the issues in a Law Society Gazette interview. To read the article, please click here.

In the article Simeon reflects on the continual developments in the profession and how the modern practitioner adapts to them.

To view this article please click here.

Ali Zaidi, Head of Restructuring & Insolvency at Edwin Coe, spoke today at the Enterprise Challenge 2016 Regional Finals held by Mosaic.

The Mosaic Enterprise Challenge is an annual national competition for secondary school students across the UK, designed to develop and encourage their entrepreneurial skills.

Teams of students work with a mentor from the business community to learn about becoming future business leaders, play a simulation game, and come up with fantastic business ideas.

The London Regional Final was won by Eden Girls’ School, Waltham Forest who go through to the grand final in May.

Edwin Coe partner Ali Zaidi, who is Vice Chairman of the London Executive Committee of Mosaic, commented:

“I am extremely proud of my association with Mosaic and I wholeheartedly support this event. Mosaic plays an important part in guiding and teaching young people in today’s society.”

With the help of volunteer mentors acting as role models, they aim to bridge the aspirations-attainment gap. By linking young people with inspirational role models in this way, Mosaic boost their confidence, self-efficacy and long-term employability.

Ofsted has recognised Mosaic in the recently published Department of Education’s statutory guidance on careers advice.

In the history of the competition, winning teams have enjoyed private trips on the London Eye, tea with the Prime Minister’s wife at 10 Downing Street, a trip to ITV News to meet a famous newsreader and the winners of Enterprise Challenge 2012/2013 were treated to a unique tour of Clarence House and a tour of HM Treasury.

For further information, please contact:

Edwin Coe LLP is pleased to announce that Senior Partner, David Greene, Head of Intellectual Property Simon Miles and Consultant, Christopher Berry, have been named in the following categories within the 2017 Edition of Best Lawyers:

• David Greene – Competition Law and also Litigation
• Simon Miles – Intellectual Property Law
• Christopher Berry – Litigation

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation.

“Best Lawyers is the most effective tool in identifying critical legal expertise,” said Best Lawyer CEO Steven Naifeh. “Inclusion on this list shows that a lawyer is respected by their peers for professional success.”

Lawyers on the Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise, and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

To view the other awards the firm has received please visit our credentials page here.