Christopher Bates

Clive Wells is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Banking and Finance Law. Clive, who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Clive is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

For more information, please visit www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/nikpay-ali/ .

Claibourne S. Harrison is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Real Estate Law. Claibourne S., who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Claibourne S. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

James Fisher is a partner in the Finance Group in Alston & Bird’s London office, focusing on debt capital markets, structured finance, securitisation, and derivatives transactions, with a particular specialty in advising corporate trust, agency, and issuer clients across a broad spectrum of cross-border and domestic financings.

Simon Cook has experience in a wide variety of banking and finance transactions, including in particular in relation to structured trade finance, trade finance, project finance, invoice discounting facilities and borrowing-base facilities in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the CIS. His work in the structured trade area covers a range of pre-export and prepayment financings acting for both lenders and borrowers notably in oil, telecoms, soft commodities and metals sectors with particular exp...

Cathryn Williams is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insolvency and Restructuring Law. Cathryn, who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Cathryn is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

James Cox is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s Labour and Employment Practice Group. Mr. Cox has extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious labor and employment matters, with an emphasis on cross-border employment issues, collective labor and industrial disputes, redundancies and workforce restructurings, ARD/TUPE, the employment aspects of public and private mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing arrangements, corpor...

Franz Schwarz focuses on complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. He has extensive experience with arbitral practice, procedure and advocacy both in civil and common law systems. Mr. Schwarz has been involved in more than 250 arbitrations as counsel and arbitrator, both ad-hoc and before all major arbitral institutions (including ICC, LCIA, Vienna and Stockholm), at multiple seats and governed by a broad variety of substantive and procedural laws. He has a particular focus on joint venture, M&a...

Paul Lyons is a partner in Goodwin’s Real Estate Industry group and co-chair of the London office. Mr. Lyons focuses primarily on real estate debt finance, where he has significant experience in advising both borrowers and lenders at all levels of the capital stack. He has extensive experience in leveraged finance and his work has included advising banks on debt originations and restructurings as well as real estate and private equity fund clients on both lender and borrower mandates.

Brenda Coleman specialises in all aspects of corporate tax including private equity, fund formation, public and private M&A, restructurings, complex financings and tax disputes. Her experience includes acting for private equity funds, multi-asset managers, LPs, multinational companies, banks, hedge funds, Sovereign wealth funds and various UK Government departments. Brenda is described in Chambers UK 2022 as “extremely capable, very analytical and very thorough.” Clients say &...