News

Matt Green Co-Signs Industry Letter to Support Innovation in Digital Asset Sector

Posted on: April 10th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Director and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Matt Green, recently co-signed a letter to the UK government alongside a coalition of leading UK and global trade bodies in the crypto digital assets sector, on behalf of techUK.

Addressed to Varun Chandra, the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on Business & Investment, the letter cites recent geo-political events as key reasons as to why the UK should continue to advance its digital asset and blockchain policy to ensure that it becomes a premier jurisdiction for crypto investment and innovation.

Matt and his fellow signatories put forward a number of practical recommendations to the government, including the following:

Appointing a ‘blockchain’ special envoy to drive policy alignment and innovation
Developing a Government Action Plan for digital assets and blockchain technology
Recognising the synergy between blockchain, quantum computing, and AI
Establishing a high-level forum for industry-government-regulator engagement

Click here to read their letter in full.

This news was covered by The Times, CoinTelegraph, Binance, Digit News, Finextra, Crypto News, Bloomingbit, Tron Weekly, FX Street, Trading View and Block Weeks.

For more information on our Blockchain and Digital Assets services, click here

Corporate and Commercial Spring Newsletter

Posted on: April 9th, 2025 by Alanah Lenten

Read our Spring Newsletter here

Letter from the Editor Charlotte Hamilton

It has been a busy first quarter of 2025 in the corporate, commercial and employment sectors.

In this edition of our Newsletter, I have summarised the report issued by the Investment Security Unit of the Government (ISU) on the effectiveness of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (Notifiable Acquisition) (Specification of Qualifying Entities) Regulations 2021 (NARs). For businesses in the 17 sectors considered sensitive, the NARs dictate whether a notification must be made to the ISU for any proposed acquisition having considerable impact on the timing of an acquisition.

Becci Collins, Solicitor in our Employment team, has summarised the new right introduced by the Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025 for parents to take neo-natal care leave, to receive statutory neo natal care pay and what steps employers should be taking now.

Ewan Ooi, trainee in our Banking team and Samantha Aldridge, paralegal in our Employment team discuss the importance of careful drafting in legally binding agreements and how it can protect businesses.

They summarise two cases highlighting how enforceability depends on the use of clear and precise wording and why legal advice is needed when drafting the terms of commercial agreements and employment contracts.

Please see the key dates section for upcoming corporate, commercial and employment law updates and as always, please be in touch with any queries.

We will be discontinuing this newsletter after this edition. It will be replaced by our brand new newsletter: ‘The Fineprint’.

The Fineprint

‘The Fineprint’ is designed for founders, entrepreneurs, and owner-managed businesses who are passionate about growing their ventures and staying informed about the latest industry trends and legal updates.

If you’re a business owner, startup founder, or an entrepreneur looking to gain insights, practical advice, and inspiration, this newsletter is for you.

For more information please see here, You can opt out at any time.

Lawrence Stephens appoints Head of Financial Institutions and Head of Real Estate Finance

Posted on: April 4th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Lawrence Stephens is delighted to announce the appointment of Senior Director Greg Palos as Head of the firm’s Financial Institutions sector.

Greg has been at Lawrence Stephens for over 20 years, since merging his own firm in 2004. During this time, he has been responsible for establishing and building the Real Estate Finance and Banking teams at the firm which now includes 12 Directors and 46 professional staff in total.

With this appointment, Greg’s wider role will include ensuring Lawrence Stephens continues to meet the needs of its existing Financial Institution sector clients, build and widen these relationships, and explore new sector opportunities for the firm, both in the UK and internationally.

This important appointment reflects Lawrence Stephens’ twin-engine strategy of focusing on the Financial Institutions and Owner Managed Business sectors which have driven the firm’s strong growth over the last five years.

Lawrence Stephens is also pleased to announce the appointment of Ann Ebberson as Head of the Real Estate Finance department.

Ann is currently a Director in the team, having joined from City firm Rosling King in 2024. She is a well-known industry practitioner, recognised in the legal directories and brings to the role a wealth of sector knowledge and experience.

Acting for a range of banks, lending institutions and fixed charge receivers, her experience spans development finance, property acquisitions and sales, residential landlord and tenant issues, title rectifications and working with litigation colleagues on complex disputes which involve real estate and finance.

Managing Director Steven Bernstein commented: “Greg’s appointment to this wider sector-focused role confirms our commitment to our strategy of sticking to what we are good at and what we are well known for. Greg’s deep knowledge of the sector and the firm’s capabilities presents us with an opportunity to build on already strong foundations and take us to the next level of growth for the firm.”

“I’m delighted that Ann has taken on the role of Head of the Real Estate Finance department. She has already proven to be a strong and capable leader and I look forward to seeing her consolidate our position as a real force in the Real Estate Finance market.”

Lawrence Stephens announces four Director promotions

Posted on: April 1st, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Leading full-service law firm, Lawrence Stephens, is pleased to announce the promotion of Asim Arshad, Anna Christou, Sarah Gallagher and Ausra Triantafyllidou to Director, effective from 1 April 2025.

These promotions follow a year of continuing growth for Lawrence Stephens in response to increasing client demand. Director numbers have increased from 28 to 45 and this 60% increase also includes lateral hires in key areas of growth as well as a team of eight Directors recently recruited from Memery Crystal.

Asim Arshad becomes a Director in the Disputes Resolution team, specialising in commercial litigation. In particular, Asim has extensive experience handling disputes involving crypto assets, including acting for individuals seeking to recover lost or stolen crypto assets. In addition to contentious matters, Asim’s work has included advising on cryptoasset regulation and compliance, token issuance, NFT projects, and acting for one of the industry’s leading mining platforms and token issuing entities
Anna Christou becomes a Director in the Real Estate Finance team. She joined Lawrence Stephens as a trainee solicitor in 2011. She currently acts for leading UK buy-to-let lenders, bridging lenders, challenger banks and building societies, dealing with both regulated and unregulated loans on commercial and residential property portfolios.
Sarah Gallagher becomes a Director in the Residential Real Estate team. She heads up Lawrence Stephens’ team of specialists in the new build sector. Her primary client base is formed of purchasers of both leasehold and freehold new build properties, inside and outside of the Greater London area and developers selling plots at a variety of developments. Whilst Sarah’s specialism is largely new build work, she also acts for those selling and purchasing residential properties of all varieties, including shared ownership, HNW and UHNW.
Ausra Triantafyllidou also becomes a Director in the Real Estate Finance team. She acts for a number of long-standing investors with large commercial, residential and mixed-use portfolios. Her primary focus is on secured lending transactions including investment and development finance matters. She advises clients on landlord and tenant matters including acquisitions, disposals, lettings, transfers of portfolios to corporate structures and finance transactions.

Steven Bernstein, Managing Director at Lawrence Stephens, commented: “With these four Director promotions, we are proud to be recognising growth from within our own people. We continue to demonstrate Lawrence Stephens’ growth in traditional sectors and expansion into emerging ones. Asim, Anna, Sarah and Ausra’s specialist expertise reflect the full-service approach we take at Lawrence Stephens, and how we are able to deliver the best outcomes for our clients.”

Lawrence Stephens Directors named in Spears’ Property Indices 2025

Posted on: March 20th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Whether handling commercial properties, mixed-use developments or the most exclusive super-prime residences, the very best property lawyers are trusted by HNW clients to provide expert guidance throughout the often lengthy, intricate, and high-stakes process of buying, building, and selling real estate.

We are delighted to announce that Stephen Messias, Director in our Commercial Real Estate team, and Goli-Michelle Banan, Head of Residential Real Estate, have been named top property lawyers in Spears’ Property Indices 2025.

“The advisers selected for the Spear’s Property Lawyers Index 2025 demonstrate not only an extraordinary depth of knowledge but also an ability to navigate the evolving landscape of property law with skill and precision.”

To read the full list, click here

Lawrence Stephens launches tax offering with key Director hire

Posted on: March 19th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Lawrence Stephens is delighted to announce the appointment of Director Leigh Sayliss, who will be heading up a brand-new Tax practice for the firm. Leigh joins from Memery Crystal where he was a Partner in their highly-respected Tax department.

Leigh is a Chartered Tax Advisor with particular expertise in property, corporate and employment taxes. He advises on the tax aspects of a wide range of property and corporate transactions, including incentive arrangements for key employees.

At Lawrence Stephens, Leigh will primarily be working alongside the well-established Corporate & Commercial team, as well as other related departments such as Real Estate and Private Wealth to provide integrated Tax advice.

Leigh is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), Chair of the CIOT Property Taxes Committee and a member of HMRC working groups in relation to Stamp Duty Land Tax and construction matters. He is also a Chartered Engineer and uses his previous experience in industry to ensure that his advice is not only technically accurate but also is of practical help to his clients.

Speaking on his appointment, Leigh commented: “It is a pleasure to be joining an excellent and dynamic team at Lawrence Stephens, particularly during such an exciting period of growth for the firm.

“I look forward to working alongside friends old and new, heading up this new practice for the firm to providing cross-departmental expertise to Lawrence Stephens’ valued and loyal clients.”

Managing Partner Steve. Bernstein commented: “Leigh’s experience and expertise perfectly compliment that of our growing team and we are delighted to welcome him to the firm.

“With Leigh’s appointment, we are also excited to launch our brand-new Tax offering which will allow us to provide our clients with truly integrated legal advice, while building upon our existing suite of services.”

Leigh’s appointment follows that of Directors Steve Clinning, John Aynsley, Chris Cagney, Matthew Hind, Nickhil Mandora and Sam Silverman, who all recently joined the firm from Memery Crystal.

Celebrating gender equality on International Women’s Day

Posted on: March 7th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Supporting women in the progression of their careers is important to us at Lawrence Stephens. We are proud to have established a Gender Equality Network (GEN) to drive equality initiatives forward. In its first year, GEN has developed a toolkit of supporting resources, held a panel event to explore allyship, arranged the provision of sanitary protection in the loos in our building and invited speakers to discuss topics from effective communication to hormone health.

With International Women’s Day approaching, we decided to widen the conversation to mark GEN’s first anniversary. Over the last few weeks several members of the GEN committee and the wider firm were interviewed on the topic of equality in the workplace. Many interesting insights were shared, including the things we would say to our younger selves and what we would like to see change in the next decade. We put them together in a short film which was premiered at our International Women’s Day party yesterday. We look forward to sharing a shorter version of this video with you soon. We hope you enjoy watching it and that some of our insights resonate with you.

This International Women’s Day we celebrate our brilliant female colleagues and our wonderful male allies with whom we continue our efforts to move towards greater equality at work and in society.

Who inspires you to use your voice to strive for greater equality?

Will Bowyer and Angelique Richardson named in first cohort of ISC 30 Under Thirty Awards

Posted on: February 28th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Lawrence Stephens is delighted to announced that William Bowyer and Angélique Richardson Richardson from our Sports team have been named in the first cohort of the International Sports Convention‘s 30 Under Thirty Awards. These awards have been created to celebrate young professionals who have demonstrated exceptional talent, innovation, and dedication within the sports, media, and entertainment industries.

Will has been recognised as “one of the go-to advisors in the field of talent representation, sponsorship and image rights” while Angelique is described as “one of the UK’s leading sports lawyers”.

Nigel Fletcher, CEO of the International Sports Convention, highlighted the importance of recognising young talent: “The ISC 30 Under Thirty Awards celebrate the next generation of sports industry leaders. We are committed to supporting career development and acknowledging those making an impact behind the scenes of the sporting world.”

The full announcement can be found here.

For more information on our Sports and Entertainment services, please click here

Supreme Court confirms the scope of Section 423 Insolvency Act 1986

Posted on: February 20th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

On 19 February 2025, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in El-Husseiny and another v Invest Bank PSC which concerned itself with the construction of section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (transactions defrauding creditors) (“Section 423”).

Section 423 is a powerful tool which provides recourse for creditors where a debtor transfers an asset for no consideration or at an undervalue for the purposes of putting the asset beyond the reach of creditors.

The fact that Section 423 is contained in the Insolvency Act 1986 is a red herring as it does not require the debtor to be insolvent or in an insolvency process to apply, and it can be brought by office-holders as well as a ‘victim of the transaction’. Furthermore, unlike other provisions in the Insolvency Act 1986, a transaction under Section 423 does not need to be within a specified period of time before the commencement of insolvency proceedings.

In the case of El-Husseiny the appellant attempted to argue that Section 423 could not apply as the property that was transferred belonged to a corporate vehicle and not himself. The Court disagreed and concluded that Section 423 is sufficiently wide to apply when a debtor causes their company to transfer the company’s assets at an undervalue, thereby resulting in the diminution of the value of the debtor’s shares. If this was not the case, it would prejudice a creditor’s ability to enforce a judgment against a debtor.

This judgment then went further and expanded the definition of ‘transaction, which is also found under sections 238 and 339 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (transactions at an undervalue with respect to administration, liquidation, and bankruptcy), thereby aligning the definition with Section 423. This was reached as it would be “impossible to think of circumstances in which a transaction was held to be within section 423(1) when it would also not appropriately fall within section 238 and 339” [para 64], and there is “no good reason for giving different meanings to transactions at an undervalue in section 238, 339 and 423” [para 72].

This is a welcomed decision for insolvency practitioners as they now appear to have greater scope from which to pursue debtors who may otherwise seek to hide behind corporate structures. It will also allow insolvency practitioners to look to set aside transactions under Sections 238, 339 and 423 even though the asset transferred was not beneficially owned by the debtor. We agree with the Court’s decision as had this decision not been reached, it would have undermined the purpose of Section 423.

The full judgment may be found here: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2023-0080#judgment-details

For further information on our restructuring and insolvency services, please click here

Lawrence Stephens advises Tri Capital on two commercial property sales

Posted on: February 19th, 2025 by Natasha Cox

Lawrence Stephens have recently advised long-standing client Tri Capital Properties in relation to two commercial property sales which have completed within a week of each other.

The first comprised a partially let property in Thornton Heath where contracts were exchanged within ten working days of receipt of agreed terms. The second transaction was a complicated sub-lease of part of premises in West London.

The transactions were led by Commercial Real Estate Director Craig Mullen who commented: “It was a pleasure to assist Tri Capital with these disposals. The team at Tri Capital are always proactive and driven to achieve agreed deadlines. A special mention must also go to the selling agents at Henshall & Partners, Acorn Commercial and Estate Office Property Consultants who were on hand at every step of the way. I look forward to working with them all again very soon.”

For further information on our Commercial Real Estate services, click here

Lawrence Stephens strengthens Banking and Real Estate Finance teams with the appointment of Steve Clinning and team from Memery Crystal

Posted on: February 18th, 2025 by Hugh Dineen-Lees

Lawrence Stephens is delighted to announce the appointment of Steve Clinning as a Director in the Banking department.

Steve joins from Memery Crystal where he was a Partner in the Banking and Real Estate Finance team.

He advises both borrowers and lenders on a range of transactions including general property finance, corporate acquisition work, hotel finance, trading business finance, development finance and asset finance, and has established long-term partnerships with several high-volume lending clients.

Associates Alex Duncliffe-Vines, Asal Saferabadi and Paralegal Montgomery Chapman will join the Real Estate Finance team, and Paralegal Timothy Shannon will join Steve in the Banking team.

Head of Real Estate Finance Greg Palos, commented: “I have known and admired Steve’s work for many years and we are delighted to welcome him and the team to our firm. Their arrival brings the number of Directors in the Banking and Real Estate Finance teams to 11 and a total complement of 42, making it an even more significant player in the Real Estate Finance and Banking ecosystem. Their practice perfectly complements our own and we all look forward to working with them on their arrival.”

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