Meet the EMEA Research Team

The Chambers EMEA team bring a wealth of skills and experience from a wide range of backgrounds to assist in the research and coverage of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Meet each team member below and discover their experiences and the jurisdictions they oversee.

My name is Marlene Hermann and I am the EMEA Research Director. I joined Chambers in 2015 as a Researcher/Writer on the Europe team, utilising my German language skills to primarily research Germany, before becoming Europe Editor in 2016. As of October 2021, I am EMEA Research Director, overseeing research on Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.

Originally from Germany, I moved to Toronto as a small child and have lived abroad ever since, living in Shanghai and Prague before moving to the UK in 2008 for university. I hold an undergraduate degree in English and History, and a postgraduate degree in Politics and Contemporary History from the University of Nottingham. In 2013 I moved to London and have lived in Wandsworth ever since.

In my role as EMEA Research Director, I oversee the 40+ research team and ensure that our coverage is as accurate and expansive as it can be. I regularly engage with leading lawyers and BD practitioners from firms around the world to discuss key market developments and how these can be reflected in our guides.

Should you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at [email protected].

I originally joined Chambers and Partners as a researcher on the Asia-Pacific Guide, before becoming research manager for the MENA region in 2016. Prior to Chambers I studied English Literature at the University of Warwick and Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews. I now live in North London.

I oversee Chambers research for Morocco and North Africa, in addition to Turkey, the Levant and the Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As part of this job, I meet regularly with managing partners, lawyers and business development professionals from across the region in order to keep abreast of changes within these fast-developing markets. I am also interested in hearing feedback be that on ways we can streamline the research process from a law firm perspective, or how we might adapt our coverage to better serve our audience of in-house counsel and financial decision makers.

If you want advice on how to make better submissions, or if I can assist in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me on [email protected].

My name is Jurgita and I am one of the Research Managers at the Europe team. Over a number of years at Chambers, I have covered many European jurisdictions. Currently, I am looking after Russia, Poland and Ukraine as well as my native Lithuania and other Baltics, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova and North Macedonia. I started as a researcher and then became a Research Manager in Europe. I like Chambers for its cooperative and easy-going atmosphere as well as the people of very many backgrounds (nationality, professional, linguistic) I was lucky to meet and work with. I am still to test out my Spanish with Chambers native speakers but I enjoy regularly chatting in Russian and even Lithuanian with my colleagues.

I came to the UK in 2006 to study Development management at the University of Westminster. I moved to London after years of working as a journalist, most recently for Verslo žinios, a Lithuanian business daily. I also lived in Denmark (Aarhus) and the Netherlands (Utrecht) as part of a European journalism course. My BA is in Journalism.

I hope that many marketing professionals recognise my name even if they are not able to spell it off the top of their heads. I am ready to help with submissions and any other issues related to the research. I am always available to discuss how we cover my jurisdictions and share ideas on any new sections that could be introduced to enhance our coverage. I regularly engage with managing partners of law firms in my jurisdictions and also represented Chambers in external events. I am in regular contact with many marketing contacts in my jurisdictions. Please feel free to drop me a LinkedIn invite for a more direct contact. As a journalist by background, I can always ask and answer a question.

In my spare time, I dance salsa and read. I also love walking in London, I am on my way to completing the London Loop! I live with my family in Greenwich. Please feel free to drop a message at [email protected]

My name is Charline Thiebault, I am French originally from Lyon and I came to London 5 years ago now to study for my Masters in International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). After completing my degree, I started at Chambers & Partners in the Summer of 2017 as a research analyst in the Europe team. I became a senior researcher a year later, then an Assistant Editor and I am now a Research Manager in the team since August 2021. When I am not keeping up to date with the latest French Corporate/M&A market trends you will find me attempting to try every single London restaurants or practicing my shooting skills on the basketball court.

I am new to the Research Manager role and I am hoping to continue to develop the relationships that my predecessor had established with law firms in France, Switzerland, Turkey, and other South Eastern European countries. I will look to further improve our coverage of the legal market in these jurisdictions, and I am happy to assist with any research and ranking queries.

Feel free to get in touch at [email protected]

I have been a member of the Europe team at Chambers and Partner since 2014 after completing the GDL at BPP law school, which I converted into an LLB in 2020. I started as a researcher covering Germany, and I am since several years the Research Manager overseeing all research in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Liechtenstein as well as the Chambers CEE-wide sections. I am always happy to answer any queries regarding Chambers coverage of these jurisdictions and any questions you may have about our rankings, awards or the submission process and I am very interested in market updates and trends in this region.

I am originally from Sweden but I moved to England in 2005 to study hospitality management and German at the University of Brighton. I have experience from hotel and events management from Stockholm, Brighton and Park Lane in London.

I am an avid football fan, following the Premier League, Women's Super League and international football. I also run the Chambers and Partners women's football team, who are available for 5-a-side friendlies. As a Scandinavian I am of course also passionate about winter sports and enjoy skiing in the Swedish Åre region or the French alps. If you wish to contact me please do so via [email protected]

I joined Chambers and Partners in August 2015 while completing my PhD in 17th Century French Theatre (which seemed a logical progression). My undergraduate degree was in French and German and so when I started at Chambers and Partners I was mainly researching Switzerland and Belgium, plus a few sections in Germany. After about four years as a research analysts and then assistant editor, I was promoted to one of the Europe Guide Research Managers in May 2019.

I now oversee our research in Andorra, Armenia, Belgium, Gibraltar, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands and Romania. This entails discussing the proposed rankings with the researchers, editing their reviews of the ranked firms and lawyers, and discussing with lawyers and marketing teams ways to make sure that our coverage of those jurisdictions reflects the current market as accurately as possible. The largest section I currently oversee is Belgium Competition, which involves reading almost 90 submissions and editing over 12,000 words.

I currently live in Cambridge and have been enjoying the fact that working from home has spared me having to commute into London every day. Aside from avoiding the chaos of crowded trains, the time saved in not having to commute this summer meant I was able to join a mid-week cricket team in Cambridge.

If you have any questions about the Chambers research process, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at michael.foulkes@chambers.

I joined Chambers and Partners and the Europe team in 2014, starting as a Research Analyst and working my way up to Research Manager in 2018. I hold a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Leeds, where I also gained a master's degree in Romantic Literature and Culture.

As Research Manager, I oversee the research for Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, as well as Baltic-wide. I am the key contact for these jurisdictions and will happily answer any research or ranking queries regarding these markets. I frequently liaise with law firms and BD professionals regarding the research processes and methodologies, and always enjoy the opportunity to discuss the coverage of these legal markets. I can be contacted at [email protected].

Joining Chambers & Partners in 2018, I worked within the Canada-focused part of the Global research team for 3 years, reviewing areas ranging from life sciences and intellectual property to competition, international trade and commercial disputes. Furthermore, I was heavily involved in the review and development of practice areas in several African jurisdictions.

Within the new EMEA research group, I lead the team focusing on Africa and in particular some of the major emerging markets in English-speaking Africa including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, as well as the Africa-wide portions of our coverage. I also lead the research throughout much of the Caribbean.

We at Chambers recognize the immense potential Africa has, with its young population and burgeoning industries ranging from natural resources and renewable energy to new technologies and FinTech. The legal sector continues to mature rapidly, and we look forward to studying and monitoring this development with our cutting-edge methods and talented research team.

With that in mind, please reach out to me at [email protected] for any research or ranking queries you may have.

My name is Laurence and I am currently a Research Manager on the EMEA team. I graduated from the University of Warwick in 2016 with a BA in History, followed by an MA in Modern History in 2017. I then joined Chambers in January 2018 as part of the Client team before moving to the Global team as a senior researcher. Since then, I have acted as Assistant Editor on the Rest of World Team from April 2020. I have been in my current role of Research Manager since September 2021.

As a Research Manager, I am responsible for overseeing all research across a number of key jurisdictions in the Mediterranean and South-Eastern Europe, including Italy, Israel and Greece. This includes supporting law firms from these jurisdictions with their submissions and answering any queries they may have. I also manage a research team who conduct in-depth calls with these markets to build a thorough and accurate picture with our ranking tables. Specifically, I oversee all related ranking decisions and the editorial written about the firms we include. I can be contacted at [email protected]

I am Eleftheria and I am one of the Research Managers of the EMEA team. Before I joined Chambers I lived and worked in Greece in customer service roles, having additionally worked as a teacher of Ancient Greek, Latin and History and as a freelance artist. I worked as a Senior Research Analyst and a Research Associate before being promoted to Research Manager. I oversee research into a  number of practice areas in Spain, Portugal and Lusophone Africa.

My role involves managing a team of expert research analysts who conduct interviews with lawyers and other market sources, as well as working with the team to ensure that our annual rankings and editorial meets the highest standards. My role also involves liaising with law firms and marketing contacts, making sure they know how our processes work and that their engagement with us is as efficient and pleasant as possible.

I am passionate about diversity and inclusion and I am delighted to be involved in our company's D&I initiatives as Chair of the LGBT strand of our Committee. In my role as a Research Manager I am also committed to making sure that our research and its results is inclusive and objective.

I am the first point of contact for any research or ranking queries you may have that relate to Spain, Portugal or Lusophone Africa. If you have any questions or suggestions you can reach me at [email protected].