Pinsent Masons announces new partner hire to London employment team

Ian has nearly twenty years’ experience of advising public and private companies, from start-ups to global multi-nationals. Following 14 years at Macfarlanes, Ian served as partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Korn Ferry, building and leading the UK incentives technical practice at both firms.

Alongside his expertise in the share scheme aspects of IPOs, private equity-backed investments, venture capital funding rounds and international M&A transactions, Ian also specialises in the tax and trust issues encountered by the trustees and settlors of employee benefit trusts. In addition, he advises senior executives on the impact on their awards when they change employer.

Besides his fee earning work, Ian is currently Deputy Chairperson of the Quoted Companies Alliance’s tax experts group where he leads discussion on current issues and coordinates the group’s responses to government consultations.

Manfred Schmid, Global Head of Employment & Incentives at Pinsent Masons, commented, “Ian has a highly sought-after skillset, and his hire is a real coup for our team. With the UK’s capital markets expected to recover as the year progresses, increased IPOs and secondary listings will likely lead to more share plan implementations. These businesses will require technically rigorous advisors in areas like plan design, prospectus disclosure and regulatory filings. Ian’s expertise will further enhance our ability to meet this client need.”