Pinsent Masons bolsters restructuring practice in anticipation of further consolidation and increased regulatory focus in the legal sector

The practice, which has acted on all of the UK's largest law firm restructurings, including KWM, Parabis, Cobbetts, Manches, Davenport Lyons and Jeffrey Green Russell anticipates further consolidation in the legal sector and increased regulatory focus as the legal sector continues to experience unprecedented change.

Samantha joins from Ashfords where she was a member of the board and Head of Professional and Financial Risks.  Prior to joining Ashfords, Samantha was at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, where she headed up the Regulatory Management team and the SRA’s financial stability programme.

Samantha is a highly experienced specialist with an extensive track record in advising law firms and other professional services firms which find themselves in regulatory or financial difficulty. Samantha has a breadth of experience including providing regulatory guidance and support for professional services firms, including financial assurance, regulatory investigations and business structure planning.  Her impressive career has seen her advise on a number of high profile law firm administrations; Samantha was appointed as Solicitor Manager on KWM, Linder Myers and Jeffrey Green Russell.

Steven Cottee a partner in the Pinsent Masons restructuring team said:

“The legal profession is currently going through a period of unprecedented change due to market consolidation, the impact of technology, competition from accountancy firms and also increased regulation particularly in regard to cybercrime and AML. We anticipate a further significant uptick in this area and Samantha’s arrival enhances our ability to provide a market-leading offering in terms of the restructuring of professional practices, advising lenders to professional practices, business structure work for investors into the legal sector and pure regulatory advice for law firms themselves.  We have worked closely with Samantha over a number of years including her time at the SRA and are delighted to welcome her at this important time.”

Alexis Roberts, Head of Financial Services at Pinsent Masons added:

“Samantha’s wide-ranging experience will be a tremendous asset for the Banking and Restructuring practice and is complementary to our existing sector expertise. She joins a specialised team that has been involved in all of the UK's largest law firm restructurings, and acted on the M&A of several other professional practices."

The appointment follows a busy period for the firm's Restructuring practice. Recent significant mandates include advising Barclays Bank and the administrators on the KWM insolvency, advising KPMG on the pre-pack sale of Ed's Easy Diner to Giraffe, advising Santander and RBS in relation to the CVA of the Byron group,  advising RCapital on its acquisition of Cluttons Plc and advising KPMG on the administration of Jones the Bootmaker.