International

Overview

The International team is headed up by Ian Machray, who has considerable experience in cross-border matters.

Ian is supported from within the UK by a team of lawyers; each with their own particular specialism; all of whom excel within their relevant fields and have substantial multi-jurisdiction experience. Our international work portfolio spans both commercial/corporate matters and private client work.

Much of what we do involves US and EU based clients; although we are increasingly dealing with work from Australia and the UAE.

In addition, we are part of a larger global network of lawyers; all possessing the same ethos and approach to client care. The Globaladvocaten network was awarded top ranking as the Leading Law Firm Network by Chambers and Partners in 2018. We are an active part of this group of over 800 lawyers worldwide, spread across 20 countries.

Featured experience

Our international expertise far outstrips the level of expertise normally expected within a regional firm. This is due to the firm being located in an area of the UK that has the highest concentration of foreign owned companies in the UK (outside of London). Central Berkshire is only 40 minutes away from Heathrow Airport, which is one of the world’s busiest airports; with flights to 194 international destinations (including 23 US cities).

A quarter of the private sector workforce within the Thames Valley work for foreign owned firms, and a large number of multi-national companies have their headquarters here. For example: Huawei; Pegasystems and Kyocera. It is within this international business environment, that we have developed our international skill set.

We have worked tirelessly to shrink the gap between our firm’s base and those of our overseas clients. We employ a flexible approach to ensure that time constraints can be met and to enable us to work collaboratively and effectively with others to provide a genuinely multi-jurisdictional legal service.

We are pleased to be able to count US based, international businesses such as VMware Inc, LKQ, Qwasi Inc and Stampede Global LLC amongst our established client portfolio:

“…the team from Field Seymour Parkes, works the way a fast growing business needs them to work. They’re thorough in their due diligence, insightful on their analysis of the issues their due diligence raises, detailed in their approach to the work that needs to be done and practical in the ultimate counsel they provide to their clients. They’re clearly committed to the faithful representation of their clients’ interests.”  – Kevin Kelly, President and Chief Operating Officer, Stampede Global LLC

The types of work that the international team have been involved with recently include advising a US client on the acquisition of a UK business, and assisting them with ongoing corporate compliance and employment matters. We have advised on the strategic reorganisation of a client’s European business, in circumstances where multiple redundancies were involved, and regularly advise clients on UK seconded employee matters and related UK taxation issues (including tax residence).

We recently advised a substantial US LLC on an inward investment project into the UK, covering a broad spectrum of areas including UK direct tax issues, VAT, structuring and legal form of UK presence, employee relations, incentivisation and stock importation. Underpinning this advisory work, we also provided registered office address and company secretarial services to the new UK entity; and we leveraged our own contacts network to assist the client in establishing their UK presence.

The international work we do is not limited to the corporate, commercial and employment sectors. For example we have recently assisted with an international arbitration under LMAA rules on a dispute over international supply contracts; and we have advised the board of a Liechtenstein Foundation in relation to claims raised by a beneficiary of an English will trust.

Brexit: Spotlight

The UK has left the European Union. We provide details on key issues that will affect businesses in the UK over the coming months and into the future. Visit our Brexit: Spotlight page for more information.