Meet the Research Team – Chambers Global

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]. 

I joined Chambers several years ago, initially working as a Researcher/Writer on the Asia-Pacific team. In 2016 I became a deputy editor on Chambers Global, with responsibility for Chambers’ coverage of the Middle East and Offshore Caribbean. In September 2022 I took on a new role as Head of Research for Africa, Middle East, Caribbean and Offshore (AMECO).  

In this position I retain direct oversight of research for the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as the offshore financial centres of the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. I also work closely with our Research Managers and the EMEA Research Director on matters such as resourcing and our research strategy for AMECO jurisdictions.  

I hold a BA in English & Theatre Studies from the University of Warwick, and an MA in English Literature from the same university. I also hold an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews. 

I am always interested in hearing from lawyers and marketing professionals in the territories under my care. Feel free to contact me about any aspect of our AMECO research at [email protected].

My name is Magdalena Parkitna. I joined Chambers in 2015 as a researcher and had the opportunity to conduct research in Africa, the Middle East and the Carribean jurisdictions. I became a deputy editor on the Europe team in 2018 and most recently, I have become a Research Manger looking after Chamber’s coverage of Anglophone and Lusophone Africa as well as Portugal, Turkey and several SEE jurisdictions. 

As an EMEA Research Manager, I have had the opportunity to work and interact with law firms and business development professionals, discussing trends and development in the various markets that I am responsible for, as well as provide guidance on our research methodology and the research process. 

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 same university. I speak fluent Polish.  

If you have any questions, please do get in touch with me 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] 

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 as well 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].