McCarthy Denning

Chairman: Richard Beresford
CEO: Warren Wooldridge
Number of Partners: 53
Number of other Fee Earners: 26

Firm Overview
We have become the destination firm for discerning clients who demand the highest quality work delivered in a collaborative, agile and transparent way. Our commercial model means that our experienced lawyers are free to focus on what they do best: providing exceptional legal advice, with the support of high-calibre peers. The way we harness talent and technology means clients benefit from vastly reduced overheads and zero hierarchies. Instructing us means that clients deal with experts, always. They pay for insight and influence, supported by a streamlined infrastructure.

Main Areas of Practice

Corporate: As well as our expertise in Equity Capital Markets work, Mergers and Acquisitions and Venture Capital and Private Equity, our corporate lawyers bring their many years of experience to bear in handling a full range of other corporate and commercial matters including joint ventures and shareholder agreements, reorganisations and financial services regulation. The team works with cutting-edge start-up and later-stage technology companies, including those active in e-commerce, internet services, digital media and electronic financial services. The firm has particular experience in pre-IPO fundraisings and in bringing companies to a range of public markets in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere.

Commercial: We advise on a full range of commercial contracts and act for entrepreneurs to multi-nationals, financial service institutions to individuals and charities. We draft complex bespoke contracts as well as advising on the implications of standard documents. Examples of agreements which we draft include standard terms and conditions for the sale and supply of goods and/or services, lease and procurement agreements, joint venture and collaboration agreements, partnership and shareholders’ agreements, website, software and hosting agreements, licensing and outsourcing agreements and agency and distribution agreements as well as bespoke contracts.

Employment: Our employment lawyers have years of experience covering both contentious and non-contentions employment law matters. Areas covered by the team include appointment and dismissal of employees and senior executives, negotiating and drafting appointment letters, service and employment agreements, consultancy agreements, drafting and implementing employment policies and handbooks, settlement agreements, redundancy and termination advice, restrictive covenantsand confidentiality restrictions and employment related input on transactional matters, including changing terms of employment and TUPE advice.

Intellectual Property: Intellectual property has ramifications for clients in virtually every sector. With the growing appreciation of these rights, comes an increased demand for expert advice and assistance, both strategic and day to day.Our intellectual property practice advises on all aspects of IP law including trade marks, patent, copyright and design. We offer strategic advice about the shape of intellectual property portfolios and provide assistance in securing protection for all types of intellectual property rights, to suit the needs of our clients.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution:We represent clients in both the High Court and County Court, but are equally willing to use Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration to achieve the best solution. The litigation and dispute resolution team works closely with our corporate lawyers on commercial matters and this brings an added dimension that from the foundation of the firm has attracted high-profile and complex commercial disputes. We are more than willing to work with third party litigation funders and will also consider damages based agreements and conditional fee arrangements.

Partnership: We have one of the UK’s leading practitioners in contentious and non-contentious partnership law. We act for all types of businesses, national and international, in the professional and financial services sectors. We advise businesses on establishment, structuring, partnership documentation, mergers and other types of combinations and affiliations, professional regulation, partner and team moves and the entire gamut of management issues that professional firms face. We also advise individual partners on issues such as exits and team moves.

Private Equity Real Estate: Our Private Equity Real Estate (PERE) team of experienced lawyers specialise in providing legal solutions for real estate private equity transactions. Our services include real estate joint ventures and co-investments, real estate acquisitions and disposals, structuring of real estate private equity funds, financing and refinancing, asset management and operations, Non-Performing Loan (NPL) portfolios and restructurings and construction and development projects including real estate development finance.

Real Estate: Our experienced commercial real estate team provides in-depth advice and assistance on the whole range of commercial property transactions. We represent individuals and companies with business premises right up to institutional investors with multiple commercial property holdings across all sectors including retail, leisure, industrial, office, agricultural land and developments. Our residential property lawyers advise on all the legal aspects of purchasing residential properties, both freehold and leasehold, re-mortgages and residential landlord & tenant matters including freeholdacquisitions by leaseholders and lease extensions.

Tax: Our tax team advises owner-managed businesses, multinationals, financial institutions and high net worth individuals on the tax aspects of their business and personal matters. Our services include tax disputes and investigations, real estate tax, technology and new media tax as well as tax issues surrounding banking and finance, including UK and cross border debt financing and asset finance.

International Work
Cross-border matters are at the heart of McCarthy Denning’s work. The majority of our lawyers are well-versed in cross-border matters, most of them having worked in major international firms.

Additionally, many of our lawyers are, or have previously been, based overseas and a significant number are qualified in more than one jurisdiction and/or speak more than one language fluently.

Where external advice from local lawyers is needed, we are not tied to using a network of overseas offices with lawyers of variable quality. Instead, we are free to choose the best overseas lawyers suited for each matter.

Clients turn to McCarthy Denning for seamless, high-level advice on cross-border transactional and non-transactional matters unencumbered by complicated processes.

Offices 

London, UK – 70 Mark Lane, London, EC3R 7NQ

Website: www.mccarthydenning.com