Keystone Law adds 12 new partners to its senior lawyer ranks

Keystone Law has today announced the arrival of 12 new partners to the firm across multiple practice areas, further strengthening its full-service offering.

James Knight, CEO and Founder of Keystone Law, said:

“Keystone Law continues to attract a variety of experienced lawyers from some of the UK’s top law firms who want to break free from the constraints of the traditional model. The flexible and collaborative nature of the firm enables our lawyers to focus on their clients’ needs and provide the best service by having access to over 400 colleagues of the same high calibre. The distinct specialisms of our newest recruits will strengthen and complement this unique offering and I look forward to seeing their practices thrive at the firm.”

The new appointments are:

Greg Kahn — Banking & Finance

Joining from Dentons

Greg is an asset finance specialist covering the whole spectrum of aviation, shipping and asset finance deals and financings for oil, gas, water and electricity assets. He also advises on receivables finance and bilateral and syndicated debt finance.

Greg’s clients include financial institutions, investors, lessors, shipping and energy companies, airlines and cruise operators, as well as high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

Before joining Keystone Law, Greg was a partner in Dentons’ asset finance group, working in both the London and Paris offices.

Audrey Williams — Employment

Joining from Simmons & Simmons

Audrey advises on sensitive HR and recruitment issues, senior executive appointments and exits, restructuring and redundancies. She advises many large organisations and household names, varying from global corporates and PLCs to charities and chartered entities on the full hiring process, from onboarding to exits. Audrey’s practice operates within multiple industries including media, retail and life sciences.

Audrey is also very experienced in appearing at Employment Tribunals working alongside expert bodies such as ACAS, CBI and CityHR on diversity and inclusion, gender and ethnicity issues to defend many cases relating to pay discrimination.

Claudia Otto — Construction & Projects

Joining from Armstrong Teasdale

Claudia advises on construction and property development projects, particularly in the student accommodation and hotel sectors. She advises clients in all areas of commercial property and construction law, beginning with the acquisition of development sites and site assembly, through to the planning process and the drafting and negotiation of various construction and engineering contracts and professional appointments.

Claudia works with a range of businesses, landowners, property investors and property developers.

Cory Bebb – Restructuring & Insolvency

Joining from JMW Solicitors

Cory is a leading insolvency lawyer and one of around 100 dual-qualified Solicitor Licensed Insolvency Practitioners in England & Wales, with over 20 years’ experience. He advises any party affected by insolvency, with a particular emphasis on advising and defending company directors facing claims by office-holders, HMRC, creditors and the Insolvency Service.

Dealing with both contentious and non-contentious matters, Cory has been involved in cases involving anything from £50,000 to over £25M and has a particular interest in litigation funding.

Dhruti Thakrar — Immigration

Joining from Edwin Coe

Dhruti has over 28 years of experience as an Immigration solicitor and is a highly regarded expert in both corporate and business immigration as well as in assisting individuals in enabling them to make the UK a long-term home.

Her corporate immigration practice covers advising and successfully assisting many different types of companies including multinational and blue-chip companies as well as startups in applying for Sponsor Licences. She also advises sponsors to ensure they are compliant with their obligations as Sponsor Licence holders.

Dhruti regularly assists HNWIs, entrepreneurs as well as individuals from all walks of life with business visas such as Tier 1 Investor, Innovator, Start Up visas, Sole Representative visas and Youth mobility visas.

Before joining Keystone, Dhruti was the head of Immigration at Edwin Coe.

Dagmara Selwyn-Kuczera — Commercial Property

Joining from Goodman Derrick

Dagmara specialises in both commercial and residential property law and is highly experienced in investment transactions and landlord and tenant issues.

She advises property companies and trustees of pension schemes on portfolio acquisition, disposal and management. She also acts for occupiers across a variety of sectors and regularly assists them with the acquisition, renewal and regearing of leases and general management.

On the residential side, in addition to advising on conveyancing transactions such as property sales, purchases and mortgages, Dagmara assists with the transactional aspects of enfranchisement and lease extension claims.

Paul McCourt — Tax

Joining from BDO

Paul is a solicitor and Chartered Tax Adviser specialising in corporate transactions, property transactions and share schemes. He advises on a wide range of projects, from tax-efficient structures, mergers and acquisitions, and tax covenants through to suitable vehicles for property investments and developments using UK and international structures.

Paul has extensive experience of the tax issues involved in the interaction between companies and their shareholders, including advising on restructuring, demergers, shareholder exits and the introduction of new shareholders (including use of share schemes and EIS/SEIS).

Guy Hitchin — Commercial Property

Joining from Marriott Harrison

Guy acts for and is a trusted commercial property law adviser to national and international property businesses with a client base that includes property investment companies, banks and corporate occupiers, predominantly in the office, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.

Clients with commercial property portfolios benefit from Guy’s extensive experience in advising on landlord and tenant law and his balanced, commercial approach to negotiations. He also often advises on complex agreements for lease conditional on development works and planning consents.

Ilona Avramenko — Aviation and Superyachts

Joining from Bargate Murray

Ilona is an aviation and superyacht law expert, with more than 15 years’ experience working within the maritime sector. Her practice involves advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, companies, and banks on a range of yachting and aviation matters. This includes all manner of transactional and advisory work including sale and purchase, construction/refit, leasing and asset financing. Ilona also advises on ownership structures, registration, and VAT/importation of yachts and aircrafts.

Toby Ward — Commercial

Joining from Alden Legal

Toby is a commercial lawyer with considerable experience in both private practice and in-house environments. Assisting the Satellite, Space and Communications Team, his primary areas of specialism are the negotiation and drafting of commercial, IT and outsourcing contracts.

Toby also has expertise in the financial services sector, having spent a number of years working in-house at a leading global financial services and bank holding company. He has worked across a number of jurisdictions and laws, including England and the Netherlands.

Before joining Keystone Law and Alden Legal, Toby previously worked at CMS.

Rachel Amos — Regulatory

Joining from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Rachel is a regulatory and compliance law specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. She is an experienced adviser to financial services companies, having held a number of in-house roles, but also often advises businesses in the asset management and insurance sectors.

Rachel’s expertise includes regulatory horizon scanning, corporate governance, asset management, insurance and sovereign wealth funds.

Alison Jones — Aviation

Joining from Asia Air Group

Alison is an aviation solicitor with both private practice and in-house experience, having worked at three major airlines in the Middle East and Asia. Her main area of expertise involves advising airlines on all aspects of their aviation business including purchase, banking and asset finance matters, such as the purchase, financing and leasing of aircraft/engines and all related onboard equipment.

Alison also advises on a range of aviation contracts, including procurement-related contracts, ground handling, catering, jet fuel supply and security agreements, as well as advising on passenger regulatory matters and customer relations matters.

Before joining Keystone Law and Asia Air, Alison previously worked at Oman Air and Gulf Air as General Counsel.