Shoosmiths’ specialist team of litigation, international arbitration and dispute resolution lawyers, based in 13 locations across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, helps clients redress the balance – maximising value, minimising risk and enhancing reputations.
Through our unique advisory services solutions and award-winning litigation services offer, we provide early practical and pragmatic advice to minimise risk and avoid disputes arising.
We work with our clients providing strategic and specialist guidance to resolve issues swiftly on favourable commercial terms or put clients in the best possible position to win if contested.
Client focus and commerciality are at the heart of our service promise and our lawyers and front line staff are genuinely encouraged to make a difference in a way that is relevant to each individual client – whether that is ways of working, pricing structures or innovative ideas that make a real commercial difference.
We are also a firm with our feet firmly on the ground, with a clear understanding of our position in our communities, an energy and commitment to engage with these communities at all levels and a desire to help whenever we can. Social mobility, corporate responsibility, agile working and our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce reflecting the communities in which we operate, attracts lawyers who demand this alongside a fulfilling career in law.
As a result, although any dispute or crisis is unwelcome, clients enjoy working with our team – serious lawyers but with personality.
Our experts
ALEX BISHOP
National head of litigation services and partner, Birmingham office
Tel: +44 370 086 4188
E: alex.bishop@shoosmiths.co.uk
Alex Bishop is national head of the litigation services team at Shoosmiths. An experienced commercial litigation and international arbitration lawyer and an accredited corporate governance practitioner, she is also an expert in dealing with crisis management, IT disputes, commercial fraud, contractual claims, misrepresentation and corporate disputes. She is well versed in various forms of alternative dispute resolution and her experience and commercial and pragmatic approach has earnt her a place in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame. Despite her nickname in legal circles being ‘the Smiling Assassin’, she has a serious phobia of fish.
MATTHEW HOWARTH
Partner, Leeds office
Tel: +44 370 086 7356
E: matthew.howarth@shoosmiths.co.uk
Matthew Howarth is a commercial litigator who specialises in pensions disputes and professional negligence, but also advises UK corporates on shareholder and warranty claims, contractual disputes and defamation. He is described in The Legal 500 as ‘very sharp’ and ‘disarmingly good’. His claim to fame is that he was once stuck in a lift in the Royal Courts of Justice with former Beatle George Harrison.
SUSIE WAKEFIELD
Partner, London office
Tel: +44 207 205 7012
E: susie.wakefield@shoosmiths.co.uk
Susie Wakefield specialises in insurance and reinsurance litigation. She also advises clients in the energy and commodities sectors. Having practised in New York and Bermuda, as well as London, she has represented clients in complex, multimillion-dollar disputes with multijurisdictional aspects. Growing up between two brothers and being uber competitive has also made her weirdly good at snooker and darts.
PHILIP TANSLEY
Partner, London office
Tel: +44 207 282 4083
E: philip.tansley@shoosmiths.co.uk
Philip Tansley is an expert in cyber-incident response with extensive experience of investigations, advising on regulatory issues arising from cyber incidents and representing clients in follow-on litigation and regulatory investigations. He is also an experienced technology litigator, representing clients in court proceedings and arbitrations involving issues such as project delays, termination and software licensing. In his spare time he is a keen fencer, even partaking in national competitions.
KATH LIVINGSTON
Partner, Manchester office
Tel: +44 370 086 5756
E: kath.livingston@shoosmiths.co.uk
Kath Livingston is an experienced defamation and reputation management lawyer, advising clients faced with issues that might attract negative publicity or cause damage to reputation including campaign activity, internal crisis and investigative journalism. She assists with internal investigations, internal and external communications, press responses etc, often acting in conjunction with PR agencies. Kath is a demon at remembering song lyrics and has her very own wolf, aka German Shepherd dog, Aldo.
MEL CHELL
Partner, Northampton office
Tel: +44 370 086 3606
E: mel.chell@shoosmiths.co.uk
Mel Chell specialises in financial services litigation, providing advice in relation to recovery of assets and monies. She has more than 19 years’ experience in the finance industry and was ranked in the Motor Finance – Power 50 for three years. She is known for being robust and commercial while maintaining an efficient and ‘easy to deal with’ manner. In her spare time she is a mermaid. She enjoys open water swimming in lakes and rivers, all year round, and even swam the length of Windermere (11 miles) for fun!
JONATHAN SMART
Partner, Solent office
Tel: +44 370 086 6708
E: jonathan.smart@shoosmiths.co.uk
Jonathan Smart regularly advises on complex, high-value commercial disputes, specialising in IT and outsourcing disputes. He also has extensive experience in contract and supply chain litigation and corporate and shareholder disputes. He has been described in The Legal 500 as ‘very knowledgeable, efficient and a joy to work with’. In a previous life he was a competitive (or perhaps more precisely poorly-competitive) judo fighter.
FLEUR TURRINGTON
Partner, Thames Valley office
Tel: +44 370 086 8976
Email: fleur.turrington@shoosmiths.co.uk
Fleur Turrington leads the firm’s public procurement contentious practice. She also acts for national and international businesses on a broad range of litigation issues, including contractual and commercial disputes, corporate warranty disputes, professional negligence and product liability claims across a number of sectors. Outside of the office, she has young twins to keep her busy!
STUART CLUBB
Partner, Edinburgh office
Tel: +44 370 086 8126
E: stuart.clubb@shoosmiths.co.uk
Stuart Clubb jointly leads the dispute resolution team in Scotland. He specialises in the resolution of commercial disputes, with significant expertise in corporate, contractual, insolvency and property-related disputes. He is also a solicitor advocate with rights of audience in the Court of Session and the Supreme Court. Stuart has a love of electronic music and is a regular attendee at Sonar festival in Barcelona.
GILLIAN CROTTY
Partner, Belfast office
Tel: +44 370 086 1512
E: gillian.crotty@shoosmiths.co.uk
Gillian Crotty is a Northern Irish litigation specialist. She advises on all aspects of recoveries work, including mortgage litigation and rehabilitation services, unsecured recoveries, professional negligence, contract disputes and title deed recovery/rectification of title. In her spare time, she is a pub landlady.
