Meet the Research Team – Chambers Europe

My name is Marlene Hermann and I am the EMEA Research Director. I joined Chambers in 2014 as a Researcher/Writer on the Europe team, utilising my German language skills to primarily research Germany, before becoming Europe Editor in 2015. 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]. 

My name is Magdalena Parkitna and I joined Chambers in 2015 as a researcher, conducting research in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean jurisdictions. I became a deputy editor on the Europe team in 2018, looking after research in numerous European jurisdictions over the last six years. In July 2023, I took on the role of Head of Europe research and I now work closely with the EMEA Director, Research Managers and Principal Research Specialists on resourcing and research strategy. 

Prior to joining Chambers, I was a freelance journalist and I also lived and worked in New York. I graduated in Journalism from the City University London, before studying MA in Investigative Journalism at the same university. I speak fluent Polish. 

I am always happy to discuss the research and ranking process with lawyers and marketing professionals, so please do reach out to me with any questions regarding Europe research at: [email protected]  

My name is Frida Sjostedt and I am one of the longest serving members of the Chambers EMEA team. I started as a research analyst in 2014  and became a research manager in 2016. Since the I oversee all research for the Chambers Europe guide relating to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Liechtenstein and our CEE-wide sections. In addition to the interviews with lawyers and clients conducted by my team, I regularly participate in events and meetings with different firms and I am always happy to get input and feedback from the market relating to our coverage of these jurisdictions.  

I came to England from Sweden in 2005 to study international hospitality management at the University of Brighton, and I had a career in hotel management before I completed the GDL at BPP University in London, that I later converted to an LLB. In my spare time I captain an 11-aside football team in Clapham, and I also organise football training women’s 5-a-side matches at Chambers and Partners. 

You can get in contact with me via email [email protected]

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. 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.

I always enjoy the opportunity to discuss the coverage of these legal markets. I can be contacted at [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 Spain (including Barcelona), Poland and Ukraine as well as Romania, Andorra, Hungary, Bulgaria, Georgia 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.  

Please feel free to drop a message at [email protected].

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 Europe and the Middle East, 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] 

Upon joining Chambers in 2021, Ana worked as a Research Analyst conducting research in European jurisdictions across different practice areas. Ana became a Research Manager in 2023. Prior to joining Chambers and Partners, Ana studied a MA in Human Rights at University College London (UCL).

Ana also holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Campinas, in Brazil, where she engaged in research and voluntary projects. She has previous experience with content writing in the non-profit sector. She is fluent in Portuguese and English, and an intermediate speaker in Spanish.

Ana can be contacted at [email protected].

My name is Charline Thiebault and I am currently a Principal Research Specialist on the EMEA Team, focusing on France and Francophone markets. 

I am from Lyon in France and I moved to London in 2016 to study for my Master’s 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 Principal Research Specialist in the EMEA team.  

Principal Research Specialist is a fairly new position at Chambers and I am hoping to continue to support and develop relationships with law firms in France, Monaco and Francophone jurisdictions in Africa and the Caribbean. 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] 

Michael started working at Chambers and Partners in 2015, alongside completing a PhD in 17^th Century French theatre at Durham University.  This was not a natural grounding for work at Chambers but having studied French and German for his undergraduate degree he began by researching the Swiss market before moving on to the BeNeLux region.  He initially researched UK Competition law and the Belgium Competition sections for two years before overseeing all of the research in the BeNeLux region as a research manager for two years.  He particularly enjoys the variety of topics covered by competition law and is looking forward to producing several short articles for the Chambers website over the coming months. 

If you have any thoughts about competition law, please drop me an email on [email protected].  Thanks! 

Lee is the Principal Research Specialist for Banking & Finance and Capital Markets at Chambers and Partners across jurisdictions (i.e. the UK, EMEA, Asia-Pacific and all other Chambers guides).
They additionally serve as the Chair of the company’s INSPIRE LGBT+ Committee.

They have a BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna and an MSc in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh. With a strong interest in financial markets and political economy, Lee is passionate about qualitative research, critical thinking, postmodern analysis, and a multi-disciplinary approach.

Before joining Chambers, they worked in a quantitative analyst role, as well as in marketing and in database management. Lee is fluent in German and, before becoming a practice area specialist, spent much of their time at Chambers researching German-speaking jurisdictions. They also speak conversational French and Mandarin. 

Feel free to get in touch at [email protected].