MJM Limited

Number of partners: 5

Number of lawyers: 9

Number of Paralegals: 4

Languages: English, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Spanish, Urdu, Mandarin

Firm Overview:

MJM is one of Bermuda’s leading full service law firms with a reputation for excellence in our core practice areas including dispute resolution, corporate and finance, trusts and private wealth, property, insolvency and restructuring. MJM is a local firm which regularly works on large scale and prominent international work and is regularly retained by leading international law firms. MJM offers practical, highly responsive, cost effective advice based on in-depth knowledge of the legal, regulatory and commercial environment in Bermuda. We also offer a high degree of Director involvement in the work we do. Each practice area is led by a Director who is recognized as a leading practitioner in Bermuda in their respective field of specialization. Our collaborative approach across practice areas enables us to offer a comprehensive service to both our local and international clients. A complete range of corporate secretarial and administration services is also offered to MJM clients through Quorum Limited.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate & Finance

MJM's experienced and innovative corporate team is positioned as a leading player in Bermuda's international corporate business community. The team has earned a reputation for sound judgment and a practical, commercial approach in the areas of mergers and acquisitions; insurance and reinsurance; banking and asset finance; shipping finance; aviation finance; regulatory and corporate governance; tourism/hospitality and infrastructure projects.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions are at the core of MJM's corporate practice. The firm has extensive experience in advising on mergers and acquisitions of private and publicly traded companies, including takeovers, schemes of arrangement and the purchase and disposal of businesses and assets, as well as advising boards and shareholders in respect thereof.

Shipping Finance

MJM is seen as the pre-eminent shipping finance legal firm in Bermuda, with a particular focus on the Norwegian shipping and offshore drilling sector. The depth of the firm's involvement in this sector is demonstrated by its enviable client list, many of which are Bermuda incorporated, Norwegian origin companies which are listed in Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States or Singapore, or a combination thereof. The firm regularly acts for either such companies as borrowers, or some of the largest global banking and financial institutions, as lenders, in a wide range of ship financing transactions. MJM is highly experienced in transactions involving initial public offerings, debt and equity offerings, acquisitions and sales of vessels and rigs, mortgages, assignments of insurances, deeds of covenants and leasing, often working alongside the world’s most high profile shipping law practices.

Banking & Asset Finance

Banking and secured lending are two of the firm’s specialist areas and for which it is widely recognised, with MJM acting for banks based in Bermuda and some of the largest global banking and financial institutions. MJM regularly provide legal commentary on the law of secured finance in Bermuda. The firm is involved in a wide range of transactions and advisory work for local and international banks including secured lending; acquisition finance; property and development finance; project finance; debt restructuring and workouts; enforcement of security and receivership and restructuring and insolvency. MJM regularly advises banks and other regulated institutions in Bermuda on operational matters, including compliance, AML regulation and discovery orders. In addition, the firm regularly advises on significant projects on island including infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of the Bermuda Airport, and refinancing and renovation of tourist resorts where the firm provides project finance and joint venture structuring advice.

Regulatory and Corporate Governance

MJM advises on all aspects of the governance and administration of companies, including directors’ duties and shareholder rights, minority shareholder protections and company secretarial matters. The firm is also highly recognised for the provision of regulatory advice given to clients of the firm, including, but not limited to, leading financial institutions. It regularly assists with regulatory advice in respect to multiple acquisitions and integrations of regulated entities.

Aviation Finance

The firm advises on a broad range of financing structures, including warehouse financing, asset-backed securities and bankruptcy-remote structures. It also advises on secured financings of Bermuda-registered aircraft, engines and spare parts, as well as registrations of aircraft and mortgages.

Insurance & Reinsurance

MJM's insurance practice provides highly skilled legal assistance to insurers and reinsurers, as well as investors and market intermediaries. The firm adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure it is able to deliver comprehensive and tactical advice to its clients in relation to the establishment and ongoing operations of (re)insurance companies and intermediaries, financing of (re)insurance groups including private and public capital raising; compliance and regulatory governance; domestic and cross-border insurance, reinsurance and captive insurance dispute resolution; contentious and non-contentious insolvency and schemes of arrangement.

Dispute Resolution

MJM provides advice and representation across a broad range of international and Bermuda based disputes in the areas of banking, company/corporate, construction, defamation, general commercial, restructuring and insolvency, personal injury, property and planning, public and constitutional law. The firm is known for its involvement in large scale, high value, complex international commercial, insolvency and trust litigation cases. The firm regularly advises financial institutions, regulatory bodies, the insurance/reinsurance industry, the hospitality sector on contentious and non-contentious matters.

Restructuring & Insolvency

MJM provide advice on all aspects of debt restructuring and insolvency work. The team are regularly instructed by large international firms, office holders (liquidators) and large commercial creditors to address winding up petition applications, creditor substitutions, liquidator changes and other matters. Additionally, MJM advise regarding schemes of arrangement and work with colleagues in the corporate and finance team to assist their clients with corporate refinance work in this area.

Employment & Immigration

Members of the employment, immigration and labour relations team have extensive experience advising on all aspects of complex employment and industrial relation issues. The team offers advice in the immigration field, handling all aspects of work permit applications and employment transfers, Bermuda status, nationality and residency applications, immigration related property ownership issues and appeals to the Government and to the Courts. The team regularly acts for established insurers and reinsurers and C-suite executives with regard to complex employment and immigration matters generally as well as though connected with mergers and acquisitions.

Trusts & Private Client

MJM provides pragmatic and responsive advice and is well qualified to assist clients in achieving efficient long term estate, succession, wealth and tax planning and/or to promote philanthropic objectives. The firm makes use of private wealth-holding and management structures, including private trust companies and Bermuda law trusts (often involving underlying corporate and partnership structures) and routinely advises institutional trustees (domestic and foreign), beneficiaries and trust protectors on matters involving Bermuda law issues and regularly represents these parties in high value and high profile contentious disputes.

Property

MJM’s property team is dedicated to assisting with all residential and commercial property acquisitions and sales (freehold and leasehold), mortgages and property related transactions. Projects and transactions include residential, condominium, resort, industrial, commercial, hotel, office, estate planning structures and retail properties. The team also provides practical and reliable advice on complex property issues relating to estate planning and also draws on the expertise of other MJM lawyers from the dispute resolution and corporate and finance teams. Recent work has included acting and advising on condominium development structures,; representing and advising overseas lenders on hotel resort redevelopment loans; representing and advising on large local Bank lending structures and representing and advising on receivership sales.