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William Bowyer

Posted on: August 1st, 2023 by Natasha Cox

As one of the founding members of Lawrence Stephens’ Sports, Media and Entertainment team, I am an experienced solicitor specialising in a mixture of non-contentious and contentious matters in sport. I deliver commercial and pragmatic advice for my clients and pay significant attention to the wider sporting context in which my clients sit.

I represent elite footballers, talent management and commercial agencies, drivers, golfers, sports brands, tech brands and various other stakeholders in sport and entertainment. I pride myself on truly understanding my clients and their brand (personal or commercial) in order to give accurate and pragmatic advice. I work hard to deliver positive outcomes for my clients on complex and unique legal matters and relish working with the best athletes, entertainers and brands.

I have an extensive network of professional and ancillary contacts in sport and ensure that all my clients benefit from those within my network as part of their wider advisory team.

I have also been appointed to  the Sport Resolutions Pro Bono service. A legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the service provides pro bono legal advice and assistance to athletes and individuals of limited financial means.

I am from the North West of England and now live in West London. A passionate football player, tennis player and golfer, I love playing and watching sport.

Experience highlights 

  • Advising on various Premier League and EFL transfers and contract negotiations
  • Acting for a leading Premier League player on a high-profile new boot deal and dispute with former brand
  • Advising a leading commercial agency on its representation agreement with one of the world’s most expensive football players
  • Advising on numerous global trademark portfolios and registering UK trademarks for brands and rightsholders
  • Successfully defending a former premier league defender at The FA Contractual Dispute Tribunal against his club
  • Advising on various boot deals and high value sponsorship deals across football, golf, boxing and motorsport
  • Advising a golfer management agency on their player’s agreement with LIV Golf
  • Advising various academy players on new representation agreements, scholarship deals and first pro contracts
  • Preparing sponsorship, contractor, venue and other ancillary agreement for a PGAET Challenge Tour Tournament
  • Successfully bringing Rule K Arbitration action on behalf of a leading football agency against a former client for non-payment of agency fees
  • Advising various high-profile comedians and influencers on their brand deals, endorsements and representation agreements

Ashley Wright

Posted on: February 28th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

I am an experienced finance lawyer, responsible for executing transactions on behalf of banks, alternative lenders, sponsors and borrowers. During my career I have acted for numerous leading underwriters and top-tier and mid-market sponsors in the European market and have spent time on secondment (in the loan finance and structured finance legal teams) at an international investment bank.

My practice encompasses all forms of lending. This ranges from leveraged finance transactions (acquisition financing, unitranche and PIK loans), real estate finance (investment, development and bridge lending), general corporate lending (RCFs and term loans) and more bespoke funding structures (margin lending, factoring, loan-on-loan and participation agreements).

To date, I have advised on hundreds of deals from term sheet stage, through document negotiation, to signing and completion and managing any post-close matters. I mix sensible legal advice on key risk points with an eye on the commercial imperatives and flow of a transaction.

Away from work, I enjoy all forms of sport (especially rugby and running) and spending time with family and friends.

Experience highlights 

  • Acting for a sponsor on a €100million term loan with a European credit fund
  • Acting for a sponsor on a unitranche and acquisition finance facility with private debt fund Eurazeo
  • Acting for a sponsor on £52million acquisition facility and RCF with the private debt fund arm of an international bank
  • Acting for a borrower in respect of a £25million loan-on-loan RCF with the fintech bank OakNorth
  • Acting for a London based developer on a bespoke £12million financing package (including with a crowd funding platform and a sales guarantee)
  • Acting for approximately 15 UK based lenders on real estate finance and general corporate lending matters

Priya Patel

Posted on: February 15th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

I an Associate in our Dispute Resolution team.

My experience covers a broad range of civil and commercial disputes for individuals and businesses (including high-net-worth individuals). I have acted on matters relating to shareholder and partnership disputes, complex disputes relating to share and purchase acquisitions, breach of contract disputes and high value debt recovery matters (involving emergency relief e.g. injunctive proceedings), individual and corporate insolvency, intellectual property disputes and professional negligence.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, travelling to new places as much as I can, strength-training at the gym and playing the piano.

Hafsa Umarji

Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

I advise on all aspects of residential property transactions, from acting for freehold and leaseholders to first time purchasers and high value land estates.  I also work with investment companies to increase their portfolio of properties.

My clients include individuals, HNWs, trustees and overseas clientele.  I am focused on ensuring that my clients receive a service tailored to their needs so that they achieve their desired result.

The service that I provide is personal and flexible to ensure that my clients are confident that their sale and/or purchase is carried out thoroughly and efficiently.  As well as drafting, reviewing and negotiating all the necessary documentation, I will conduct the relevant in-depth searches on my client’s behalf to minimise any risks during their transactions.

I enjoy travelling and experiencing different cultures and cuisines.  There are still several countries that I wish to explore on my bucket list!  I am also a keen writer and hope one day to be able to write a novel… I will finish your purchase first though!

Experience highlights 

  • Completing on a unique and stylish riverside property situated in an enviable location on the River Thames which has appeared in many publications and noted as the ‘boldest smaller county house in recent years’
  • Assisting the corporate team in the acquisition of a £7m property in Kensington
  • Acting for HNW individuals in buying and selling properties in prime London locations as well acting for investment companies in increasing their portfolio

Laura Gill

Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

With over 15 years’ experience and exposure to a broad range of residential property matters, I joined Lawrence Stephens in November 2022 as an Associate in the Real Estate Team. I am now a Senior Associate.

My client base is varied – I support first-time buyers, investors (UK and overseas) and high-net-worth individuals. I undertake all residential property matters largely in central London and, in recent years, have thoroughly enjoyed acting for overseas investors on prestigious London new build developments. I am focused on providing a structured but personable service for my clients.

Away from the office, I am a keen foodie – passionate about all things related to food from fine dining and champagne brunches to street food and experimenting with new recipes.  I also enjoy hosting dinners, reading and running when time permits and am at my happiest when spending quality time with family and friends.

Experience highlights

  • Acting on a Nomination of Contract for an overseas investor to purchase a £2.2m apartment at the new Prince of Wales Drive development in Battersea Park
  • Acting for an overseas company in the sale of a £1.7m house in Harrow

Milana Katz

Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

I am a banking and finance senior associate specialising in real estate finance and corporate lending. My client portfolio comprises of major UK banks, alternative lenders, funds and borrowers.  

Since qualifying into the Banking team at Lawrence Stephens in November 2019, I have developed my real estate finance banking practice by acting for clients on term and bridging facilities on both a regulated and unregulated basis to enable the completion of purchases, refinances and developments across a variety of real estate asset classes including residential properties, hotels, student accommodations, nurseries and care homes. 

I have extensive experience in advising on bilateral and syndicated loans as well as funding lines and loan-on-loan facilities. I regularly complete deals with cross border elements where I instruct lawyers in jurisdictions such as the BVI, Jersey, Guernsey, Scotland and RAK ICC to provide capacity and authority legal opinions.

On the corporate lending side, I continue to assist lenders and borrowers alike on revolving credit facilities and other financial arrangements to help meet the businesses’ expansion plans and working capital requirements.

I have also undertaken a client secondment to OakNorth Bank Plc where I advised on a broad range of finance deals spanning both the UK and the US.

Lastly, I pride myself on being responsive, commercial, reliable and taking a solutions focused approach to my transactions.

When I am not getting deals over the line, I enjoy spending time with my two children, Leo and Goldie, as well as my husband (in that order).

Experience highlights 

  • Completed a £40million investment loan facility for a UK challenger bank to assist their borrower in the acquisition of several residential properties with a pre-let in place to registered care providers and to also fund minor refurb capex for properties as required
  • Acted on behalf of a bank to provide loan facilities in the aggregate amount of £7million to a residential and nursing home for older people provider to enable them to acquire a number of care homes in the counties adjoining Staffordshire and other key locations across the Midlands and South Wales, which was a deal that necessitated a collaborative approach from our corporate, banking and real estate finance teams
  • Advised a Danish limited partnership in relation to a £2.9million refinance secured against a purpose-built detached health and fitness centre currently operated by Nuffield Health
  • Advised a UK bank on a £7million trading business loan facility secured against a prominent hotel in Nottingham operating under a franchise agreement to a Guernsey registered borrower with a number of international shareholders to refinance its existing debt and provide equity cash-out to the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO)
  • Acted on a circa £2.5million loan-on-loan facility where I advised both the bank that was providing back-to-back financing and the lender that made the loan available to the ultimate borrower
  • Negotiated a £10million uncommitted revolving funding line facility on behalf of an established bridging lender
  • Advised a bridging lender on a circa £12million bridge loan to be used to purchase freehold land with vacant possession and finance development costs associated with the change of use from office to residential under permitted development rights with planning to provide 163 flats

Rosalin Gautam

Posted on: February 10th, 2023 by Natasha Cox

I joined Lawrence Stephens as a Dispute Resolution solicitor in September 2021 and am now a Senior Associate in the team.

I have diverse experience within civil and commercial litigation and act on matters relating to breach of contract, partnership and joint venture disputes, shareholders disputes, professional negligence and individual and corporate insolvency.  

My practice also extends to matters of regulatory law, criminal investigations (including a Crown Court trial) and civil fraud, including a focus in the blockchain technology and digital asset sector where I assist my clients with cryptoasset recovery following a hack, scam or misappropriation of their crypto assets.  

I am a native Swede and am fluent in Swedish.  As a Swede, I am very interested in ice hockey, a sport which I have both played and watched for many years.