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Tag: private-wealth

Harbottle & Lewis promotes Harry Bresslaw, Ed Lane and Alasdair Wilson to the partnership

Posted on by Alex Molyneux

Harbottle & Lewis has announced three partner promotions today in line with its commitment to continued growth in the media and creative industries and private wealth sector, and to the expansion of its corporate practice. Harry Bresslaw, Ed Lane and Alasdair Wilson will each join the partnership with effect from 1 April 2025.

Harry is an entertainment lawyer with a focus on the theatre, film and TV industries. He advises producers, creatives, investors and venues across the theatre industry on matters including commissioning, development, production, financing, national and international transfers, licensing, digital captures and other associated sector arrangements. He works with clients both in the UK and beyond, ranging from established West End and Broadway producers to new and emerging producers, on all aspects relating to the creation and exploitation of plays, musicals and other live stage projects. He also provides legal and strategic advice to major film and TV production companies and SVOD platforms, and acts for a number of high-profile individual rights-holders on the protection and exploitation of their IP rights and assets.

Ed advises founders, businesses and investors on a broad range of corporate, corporate finance and commercial matters. He has a particular expertise in the creative industries, including film and TV, video games and music, and in the broader media, entertainment and technology sectors. His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, fundraises from pre-seed to series A and beyond, startups, growth equity investments, music catalogue sales, public takeovers, joint ventures, management incentive arrangements, including EMI options, and SEIS/EIS investments. He is actively involved as a speaker and mentor for a number of different industry accelerators and trade bodies, including IndieLab, BAFTA and UKIE.

Alasdair advises individuals, families and fiduciaries based in the UK and overseas in relation to all matters of international taxation, wealth structuring, global compliance and cross-border estate planning. This includes tax and legal advice to wealth generators or custodians who are moving between countries, seeking to maintain tax efficiency across multiple jurisdictions or passing ownership or control to the next generation. Alasdair has significant experience in advising US-UK clients, individual entrepreneurs and family businesses. He also has a particular interest in clients connected to civil law jurisdictions, in particular France, Belgium and Switzerland, as well as to Latin America and the Middle East.

Senior partner Catherine Bedford commented:

“We are thrilled to be welcoming three outstanding lawyers to the partnership. Harry, Ed and Alasdair have continually demonstrated exceptional legal skills, dedication to client care and a drive to bring success to our business. Their promotions will strengthen our offering to individuals, families and companies and will enhance our expertise in key areas including the entertainment and media and private wealth sectors. We look forward to seeing them build on their accomplishments and continue their development as partners.”

For more information, please contact Alex Molyneux, Communications & Marketing Manager: ([email protected])

Caroline Roberjot and Melanie Benson recommended by Spear’s

Posted on by Julia Krol

Caroline Roberjot and Melanie Benson have both been recommended by Spear’s as leading property lawyers for high net worth individuals in the 2025 Spear’s property index released today.

Caroline has been listed as Top Recommended and has been commended as a “seasoned adviser to UHNWs”. Melanie has been given a Recommended ranking and recognised as a specialist in landlord and tenant issues.

The index ranks property lawyers that work with individuals and businesses across the UK, the Middle East and other key international markets who demonstrate “not only an extraordinary depth of knowledge but also an ability to navigate the evolving landscape of property law with skill and precision”. The rankings are based on data gathered from extensive market research involving the assessment of submission forms and nominations, peer reviews, data from third-party sources, references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.

You can find Caroline’s profile here and Melanie’s profile here.

Harbottle & Lewis strengthens client offering with new partner hires

Posted on by Alex Molyneux

Harbottle & Lewis today announced two lateral partner hires to strengthen its client offering. Private client disputes partner Charles Lloyd and reputation management partner Michael Yates will both join the firm in April 2025.

Charles Lloyd arrives at Harbottle & Lewis from Macfarlanes where he has held a leading position within his field for over 30 years, specialising in private client disputes, particularly international trusts and estates litigation. Charles’s client base includes high net worth individuals engaged in complex family and succession-related disputes, often involving multi-jurisdictional offshore trust and corporate structures. Charles’s eminent reputation and extensive experience will enable the firm to build on its leading private client practice with a specific focus on enhancing the contentious work that it does in this space.

Charles commented:

”I am really looking forward to joining Harbottle & Lewis and what is already a strong and highly reputed private client practice. This move provides a great opportunity for me to help build on the firm’s existing expertise and will enable me to contribute towards creating a leading private client disputes practice.”

Michael Yates joins Harbottle & Lewis from international law firm Taylor Wessing. As an information litigator, Michael advises high net worth and high-profile individuals and companies on reputation management, privacy protection, confidentiality, cyber response and media and information law disputes. His expertise aligns perfectly with Harbottle & Lewis’s renowned proficiency in the media, entertainment, technology and private wealth sectors. Michael’s significant focus on cyber response dovetails with the firm’s strategic emphasis on technology, and he will work alongside the firm’s technology and data lawyers to further develop its services in this area.

Michael said:

“I’m delighted to be joining the firm’s market leading media and information group and am very excited to soon be working alongside the firm’s fantastic media, tech, data and cyber experts. I look forward to working with clients to help them navigate what is an ever more hostile and complex media and information landscape, protecting them from threats to their reputation, privacy and information and mitigating the increasing risk of cyber attacks. There is no better place to do this work.”

This strategic expansion underscores Harbottle & Lewis’s commitment to bolstering its highly-regarded private client practice and enhancing its offering to high net worth and often high-profile individuals, as well as expanding and deepening its offering to companies. The addition of Charles and Michael to the partnership demonstrates the firm’s ambition to grow and to provide clients with unparalleled expertise across a spectrum of legal services.

Tony Littner, co-managing partner at Harbottle & Lewis, commented:

“The addition of two such high quality lawyers to our partnership supports the strategic growth of our firm. Focusing deliberately on extending our offering to both our private client and corporate client base, Charles and Michael are perfectly placed to complement our existing practice groups and contribute significantly to our continued growth and success.”

For further information, please contact:

Alex Molyneux, Communications & Marketing Manager ([email protected])