Profile: Slaughter and May

Slaughter and May - Who's Who Legal '30'

What is the Who's Who Legal '30'?

RESPECTED CORPORATE PRACTICE

The firm stands out for its "immensely impressive" corporate practice. Its M&A group is the strongest in London, in terms of nominations. In recent years the firm has represented Prudential on the proposed sale of its internet banking subsidiary, Egg; Abbey National on the sale of its UK and offshore life assurance businesses; and Schweppes on the sale of its European beverages business. Nigel Boardman, described as "the éminence grise of M&A", is the UK's most highly nominated practitioner in this chapter. He leads a contingent of four partners from the firm. William Underhill is "at the top of the tree" for his work on behalf of technology companies. He joins the head of the firm's practice, Stephen Cooke, among the highest-ranked in the chapter. Cooke is "one of the great M&A lawyers" and has advised PSA on its offer for P&O as well as acting for companies such as Diageo and British Airways in recent years. These three partners also appear in the corporate governance chapter. Boardman and Cook pull off the rare feat of being among the most highly regarded lawyers worldwide in two separate areas of law. Respondents were effusive in their praise, describing Boardman as "the kind of lawyer we all aspire to be", and deeming Cooke a "major figure in the London market". Underhill again performed well, as did Tim Clark and Simon Robinson. Jonathan Rushworth is the sixth inclusion and was described as "the fount of all knowledge" - his expertise also extends to banking matters as well as insolvency and restructuring law. He is head of the corporate recovery and insolvency practice and appears in all three corresponding chapters.

TAX

Slaughter and May also excels in the area of corporate tax, where it counts GE, Goldman Sachs and Shell among its clients. Steve Edge is the only British-based lawyer to make it onto the list of the most highly regarded individuals, and was described as a "true star". The rest of this "sterling team" is made up of the "expert" Tony Beare, head of the tax practice, Sara Luder and the "very talented" Graham Airs.

BANKING, PROJECT FINANCE AND CAPITAL MARKETS

St John Flaherty in the Hong Kong office represents the firm's sole representative outside Europe. Described as a "great legal mind", Flaherty was commended for his corporate and financial acumen. He appears in the M&A chapter as well as in the Banking and Project Finance sections. Slaughter and May is home to the three most highly nominated lawyers in London. Andrew Balfour is head of the financial practice and "outstanding, in every way", according to our sources. He is also among the most highly nominated individuals worldwide. Ruth Fox is "one of the best in the City", known for her regulatory and transactional work", renaissance man Jonathan Rushworth was also highly commended in this area. Christopher Saunders appears in the Banking chapter, and alongside Flaherty in Project Finance. The team has recently worked for Arsenal Football Club on issues relating to the Emirates Stadium, and for the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission in connection with its investment in an independent power project. Slaughter and May is also in the top tier for Capital Markets. David Frank was praised for his debt-related work, while Sanjev Warna-kulasuriya's "exceptional quality" was also made clear to us.

COMPETITION

In addition, the firm is well respected in Competition - six Slaughter and May partners appear in that chapter. In the past year the group has handled high-profile mergers such as Linde/BOC, Thermo Electron/Fisher Scientific and Sony/BMG. In addition to its partners in Brussels - the "unsurpassable" John Boyce and Michael Rowe - the firm also possesses the most nominated competition lawyer in England: the "peerless" Malcolm Nicholson. Philippe Chappatte is a "very sharp operator". William Sibree and Bertrand Louveaux take the firm's tally in this section to six. This depth of expertise is reflected in six other chapters. Nick Archer is "first class both domestically and internationally" in the commercial litigation chapter, where he is joined by Nick Gray. Slaughter and May also has multiple representatives in the Real Estate, Aviation, Private Funds, and Oil and Gas chapters.