44


law and the legal 500


Boyes Turner: ‘Strong across the board’


Of the Reading-based firms, Boyes Turner ranks strongly across the board. It is in the top tier for commercial litigation, employment, clinical negligence, personal injury, commercial property, IT and telecoms, intellectual property, and media and entertainment.


Corporate and commercial Mark Blunden


Boyes Turner’s Mark Blunden heads the commercial and technology group, which includes Bill Gornall-King, and the corporate group is led by Robert Rice, who advises on M&A transactions, shareholder arrangements and corporate governance issues. Transactional lawyer Rachel Fitzpatrick has particular experience in business angel and venture capital work, and contentious corporate matters. Notable clients include Guardian Media Group, Creston and Specle.


Commercial litigation Robert Rice


Headed by Mike Robinson, Boyes Turner’s group is ‘pragmatic and robust, with strong commercial management’. Sarah Hadland handles IP-related disputes, and Gary Parkinson heads the real estate litigation team. Other key figures include senior associate and ‘voracious researcher’ Stephen Baker, who ‘has the rare ability to master every detail’, and Ally Tow, who specialises in contractual disputes.


Debt recovery


Clients have ‘total faith in the knowledge’ of the lawyers at Boyes Turner. Ally Tow gives ‘excellent advice’.


Banking and finance Barry Stanton


Robert Rice leads a team that counts Santander and Bank of Ireland among its clients, and has well-regarded property finance capabilities.


Insolvency and corporate recovery


Boyes Turner counts Grant www.businessmag.co.uk


Thornton and PwC as clients. It houses ‘excellent insolvency lawyers with great industry knowledge’, such as Phil Smith (‘clever and determined’) and Chris Branson (‘the go-to man for personal insolvency’).


Employment


Boyes Turner’s highlights include obtaining a £1 million settlement for an individual affected by Crohn’s Disease, and key clients include Reading Borough Council, Hanson and Quinn Insurance. Practice head Barry Stanton is noted for his cross-border expertise, and handled international transfers under TUPE, collective redundancies and restrictive covenant issues. Michael Farrier is ‘very good at client relations’, and ‘rising star’ Darren Smith is ‘commercial, practical and easy to deal with’.


Clinical negligence: claimant


Key contacts at the ‘excellent’ Boyes Turner include Susan Brown and Adrian Desmond. Clients would use the firm again ‘without hesitation’ and for some, ‘there is no comparison’.


Personal injury: claimant


‘The best firm in the Thames Valley area’, Boyes Turner houses separate teams for personal injury and industrial disease. The former is led by Kim Smerdon (‘very knowledgeable and strong on high-value claims’) and the latter by Nick Story.


Personal tax, trusts and probate


Caroline Wallis advises high-net-worth individuals on matters including inheritance tax planning, wills and trusts. The group also has strong Court of Protection experience.


Commercial property


William Nassau-Lake has particular experience in


insolvency matters, and advises a number of high- net-worth individuals on residential conveyancing. Other key figures include the ‘supportive’ Mark Appleton, and Derek Ching, who specialises in planning, infrastructure agreements and environmental issues relating to commercial land transactions. Practice head Nick Carter manages portfolios for large corporate clients, and is particularly active in the technology sector.


IT and telecoms


Mark Blunden advises on content, data publishing and commercialisation, and acted for ePossibilities and Moreover Technologies on various commercial matters. Bill Gornall- King’s expertise includes e-commerce and risk and project management, and associate Sarah Williamson is the other key contact.


Intellectual property


Sarah Hadland handled a wide range of trademark- related work; highlights include enforcing trademark infringements on behalf of Auto Trader; acting for Ashgrove Homes in opposition proceedings; and defending Uniquemix against infringement claims brought by Guccio Gucci. Bill Gornall-King handles non-contentious IP matters, and Mark Blunden advises on brand development and protection.


Media and entertainment


Mark Blunden heads the group at Boyes Turner, which includes Bill Gornall- King, Sarah Hadland and digital expert Sarah Williamson. The team advised Guardian News and Media on an agreement related to its online bookshop.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2015


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64