Simcocks

Chief Executive Officer: Phil Games

Number of Directors: 3

Number of Other Fee Earners: 19

Office: Douglas, Isle of Man

KEY CONTACTS

Corporate & Commercial; Irini Newby

Banking & Finance: Alex Spencer

Litigation & Dispute Resolution: Chris Brooks

Private Client: Phil Games

Simcocks is a leading Isle of Man law firm established in 1949, but with a history that can be traced back to the 19^th century. Whether dealing with a multi-national corporation or a private client, they adopt a commercially realistic approach to bring each case to an efficient and practical conclusion. Simcocks provides an extensive range of legal services broadly grouped into the areas of commercial, dispute resolution and private client.

Main Areas of Practice

Offering excellent technical advice to help clients achieve their goals, Simcocks prides itself on enabling matters to be conducted swiftly and effectively.

CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL: Simcocks’ excellent Corporate and Commercial team prides itself on its extensive expertise and its ability to provide comprehensive advice within very tight timeframes. The team is headed by Irini Newby, who is also an expert in Commercial Property and Employment law. She leads a highly experienced and dedicated team of lawyers that continue to attract quality, high end matters. The department deals with all aspects of corporate and commercial activity serving public and private companies, financial institutions, public sector bodies, partnerships and individuals. With the strength and depth of experience, they regularly work on high-value, complex transactions with cross-border dimensions.The team has the expertise to advise on a variety of matters including collective investment schemes and mutual fund, all aspects of Isle of Man corporate law, insurance, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, listing work, pensions, regulatory, restructuring and insolvency, shipping and trusts.

BANKING & FINANCE: Simcocks is well-known in the local market and further afield, for its ability to provide timely and cost-effective advice to both lenders and borrowers.Led by Alex Spencer, the team has strong and long-standing relationships with many English and Irish law firms with whom they work regularly in banking and finance matters with a cross-border element.The team is regularly instructed on behalf of banks and other institutions on the lender-side of transactions.Borrower-side clients include multi-national property companies and smaller domestic-focussed entities.Simcocks is appointed to the panels of Royal Bank of Scotland International and Santander International and is also appointed to the tail panel of Barclays Bank.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY: Simcocks has an experienced Commercial Property team lead by Irini Newby who continues year after year to be involved in many of the major commercial property transactions in the Isle of Man. Irini is well supported by Janice Turnbull, a Manx advocate of over 20 years, and Taryn Pyle, who heads up our residential property team. Irini, as well as being an experienced Manx advocate (having been admitted to the Manx Bar in 2003) is also a qualified English solicitor with a wealth of experience in advising on English property law, which is of significant value when advising clients who have a mixed portfolio of properties in both jurisdictions of England and the Isle of Man. Its local and international client base includes landlords, tenants, developers and companies with a wide portfolio of retail and office properties and we advise on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious property matters including acquisitions, financing, sales, development agreements, management and leasing. They also advise on residential property matters and on agricultural holdings. The team prides itself on adopting a proactive approach to matters and negotiations to ensure that clients are able to conclude deals quickly whilst being protected by appropriate legal documentation. When necessary, they also work in conjunction with our litigation department to enforce securities, principally in cases involving business organisations.

LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION: The team, headed by Chris Brooks, has a broad wealth of experience and expertise on local and international civil and commercial litigation matters and regularly deals with complex matters. These include shareholder and trustee disputes, financial services, compliance and regulatory matters, emergency injunctions and judicial review applications, individual and corporate solvency, family, and clinical negligence claims, licensing, planning and disputes relating to property. They have a diverse offering and are able to react dynamically to clients’ needs. The family law practice, which fits within the Dispute Resolution team, is headed by Caroline Jennings. She is supported by the highly experience Louise Byrne. The family law team continues to attract numerous clients. The team has extensive experience in this field advising on issues surrounding divorce, claims for financial provision on divorce involving high net worth individuals, child maintenance, child abduction, residence/contact disputes concerning children, sometimes involving jurisdictions beyond the Isle of Man or the UK, public law care proceedings, adoption, and claims for financial provision where a client had not been provided for under a Will.

EMPLOYMENT: Simcocks offers a comprehensive employment law service providing high quality advice both to employers and employees but primarily focusing on the former. Key Partner and Head of Department Irini Newby, offers a comprehensive service in employment law. She regularly advises on complex, strategic, reputational, high value employment litigation, as well as discrimination claims, business protection, executive severance packages, restructuring, redundancies and outsourcing, cross-border issues and pension schemes and disputes. Irini is also a member of the Corporate and Commercial team and can therefore offer consistency to her clients in commercial matters which have employment issues arising e.g. the sale of a business or a restructure which leads to staff being made redundant or redeployed. Irini’s clients range from multi-nationals to small companies, financial institutions and private individuals and is experienced in acting for most industry sectors including financial services, insurance, pensions, e-Gaming, aviation, maritime, property, construction, health care, communication and technology. Chris Brooks, Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution, brings a wealth of experience in employment law and his predominantly contentious experience compliments Irini's predominantly non contentious expertise.

PRIVATE CLIENT: The technical skills, experience, commercial awareness and approachability of Simcocks’ private client team means they are recognised as key players in this field. The department is ranked in Band 1 (HNW Guide) and is headed by Simcocks’ Chief Executive Phil Games, one of the principal private client lawyers on the Isle of Man. His strong track record continues to attract international, high-net worth individuals because of his ability to focus on the client’s long term goals and strategic aims as well as keeping on top of the day-to-day details. He seeks to offer pragmatic solutions to complex challenges, guiding clients using sound and practical advice. For decades, Simcocks has cultivated lasting relationships and we work with offshore trustees, accountants, bankers, land agents, UK solicitors, investment managers, family offices and tax planners to provide clients with bespoke wealth management, wealth preservation or philanthropic solutions. The department acts for private individuals, families, estates, trusts and family businesses. Clients also include trust companies, financial institutions, wealth managers, family offices, high net worth individuals and their advisers. The lawyers have a proven track record in working effectively with clients who need to implement estate planning and have considerable experience with the administration of international estates that hold multi-jurisdictional assets.