LAWYER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Lynn Knight Shoosmiths
An individual rarely dominates or determines a successful deal. After all, the nature of a completed deal is that it is mutually acceptable to all concerned. But, the quality and thoroughness of the professional work undertaken to create a deal can be influential to that acceptable end result.
This was the first award of the evening to highlight impressive professional performance by an individual in their specialist field.
Four talented individuals from the Solent legal community were shortlisted for this title:
• Roger Bailey of Moore Blatch • Amanda Brockwell of Coffin Mew • Sean Kelly of Pitmans • Lynn Knight of Shoosmiths
Kelly was actually the reigning Solent ‘Lawyer of the Year‘ titleholder having gained the award last year. Could he make it a winning double and retain his title?
Bailey, head of corporate at Moore Blatch, led numerous deals in 2014 including the Armfield, Wunelli and Langham Lifts sales, and a batch of confidential M&A fundraising and bank debt deals. The Armfield and Wunelli sales were especially complex with Bailey leading a seven-strong legal team to successful completions.
As head of corporate at Coffin Mew, Brockwell specialises in M&A and funding work, both UK and cross-border deals. Her standout deal in 2014 was the significant fundraise at Bargate Homes, working with Gerard Price and the management team to get the deal across the line.
In a deals-packed and varied year Kelly‘s highlights included the BIMBO of John Charcol and Towergate Financial, the merger of Quantell and Snell, acquisitions for Premier Marinas, Specialist Tours and The Appointment Group, the sales of Hampshire‘s Lambert Brothers, The Impact Group, and Premium Crops and Solent-based Meercat Workboats and the MBOs of HCF Financial Services and Datwyler.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – JULY/AUGUST 2015
Shoosmiths corporate partner Knight (pictured centre) acted on the HIG Capital/Kondor deal; J&Bs sale to John Nicholls; the MBO of Creative Care; the sale of a majority stake in Clearwater Group; and the sale of Harding Brothers group – all evidence of her experience of working on a wide range of corporate finance deals and her reputation with key clients.
This category was sponsored by Meridian Corporate Finance, the independent corporate finance boutique, and the firm‘s partner Darren Thompson (right) announced Lynn Knight as the winner.
Speaking to the audience from the stage Knight said: “I am delighted with this award, but, as you all know, the deals we are celebrating tonight are all about teamwork and our respective firms have to work well with each other and fundamentally with our clients to deliver deals.
“Back at ‘the shop‘, I would just like to say ‘Thank you‘ to the Shoosmiths‘ guys. They are a brilliant, hard-working, talented and above all fun team. People like me couldn‘t win awards like these without people like them.“
Later, Knight was justifiably proud of becoming Solent ‘Lawyer of the Year‘ for her first time, matching other recent Shoosmiths‘ title-winners in the Thames Valley. “It‘s been lovely to see Emma Gibson and Rebecca Mauleverer win their awards, but we are a national firm, so this is vindication of the fact that we have strength in depth across all our different offices.“
She added: “It‘s always good to be recognised in the market in which you operate, and, with an award decided upon by my peers, I suppose I have got to have been doing something right.“
David Murray, publisher of The Business Magazine, said: “Lynn has an outstanding reputation within the Solent business community for her client-focused legal expertise. Her success in advising on corporate finance deals reflects her passion for supporting business growth in the region. We would like to congratulate her on winning this well-deserved title.“
www.businessmag.co.uk
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