Blackwood & Slaughter
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Established 1999 · London

When the outcome is not negotiable.

Blackwood & Slaughter is retained when the matter is existential: bet-the-company litigation, government scrutiny, and the disputes that decide what a business becomes. We do not manage risk. We end it.

Request a Consultation Our Practice
Commercial Litigation White Collar Defence Corporate Counsel Employment & Labour Appellate Advocacy
11
Practice Groups
24/7
Enquiries Monitored
One*
Business-Day Response
100%
Privileged & Confidential

01  /  The Firm

A house built
for hard matters.

Our Standard Our Counsel

Companies do not come to us early. They come to us when the ordinary approach has already failed, when the regulator has already written, when the other side has already filed. That is the work we were built for, and we take it on with the seriousness it deserves.

The firm is deliberately small at the top and deep in the file. Every matter is led by a partner who stays on it to judgment. There is no handing the brief down the corridor, no committee between you and the person arguing your case, and no surprises about who is doing the work.

I

Partner-led, end to end

The partner who takes your call is the partner who takes the podium. Leverage is used to prepare a case, never to staff around a client.

II

Built to try, not to settle

Every matter is prepared as though it will be tried. Settlements that favour our clients are a consequence of that preparation, not a substitute for it.

III

Absolute discretion

Sensitive matters stay sensitive. Our engagements, our clients and our files are treated as privileged from the first conversation onward.

02  /  Practice

Eleven groups.
One standard.

We practise narrowly and go deep. Each group is led by counsel who has spent a career in that arena, not a season.

01

Complex Commercial Litigation

Bet-the-company disputes, shareholder and partnership warfare, contract and fraud claims tried to judgment in the Commercial Court and the High Court.

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02

White Collar & Investigations

SFO and FCA investigations, internal investigations, interviews under caution, and the quiet resolutions that never reach a court list.

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03

Corporate & Transactions

Acquisitions, control transactions, governance and board counsel, drafted by lawyers who know how the document reads in a courtroom.

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04

Employment & Labour

Executive disputes, restrictive covenants, discrimination and harassment defence, and workforce matters with reputational exposure.

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05

Appellate Advocacy

Appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and strike-out and summary judgment applications, including matters we did not run below.

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06

Regulatory & Administrative

Agency proceedings, licensing, rulemaking challenges and administrative appeals across regulated industries.

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07

Insurance & Risk

Coverage disputes, subrogated recoveries, and defence of catastrophic exposure claims for insurers and insureds.

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08

Real Estate & Construction

Development disputes, title and planning litigation, adjudication and contractor claims, and disputes that stop a project or start one.

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09

Intellectual Property Disputes

Trade secret theft, patent and trademark litigation, and the emergency injunctive relief that decides these cases in the first fortnight.

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10

Private Client & Estates

Fiduciary litigation, contested estates and trusts, and succession planning for families whose affairs will be contested.

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11

Crisis & Reputation

Coordinated legal, regulatory and communications response when a matter has become public, or is about to.

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Not listed here?

Serious matters rarely arrive with a label already on them. Describe the situation and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right firm.

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03  /  The Standard

“A client should never be the second-best prepared party in the room. Everything this firm does proceeds from that one sentence.”

The founding principle

Preparation

We out-work the file.

The record is read to the last page, by the partner, before a position is taken. Most cases are won in the material nobody else finished.

Candour

We tell you the truth early.

If your position is weak you will hear it from us first, in writing, while there is still time to do something about it.

Resolve

We do not blink.

Opponents learn quickly that pressure tactics are wasted here. That reputation is itself worth something to our clients.

04  /  Counsel

The people who
will do the work.

Partner-led means what it says. These are the lawyers who will read your file and argue your case.

01 James Slaughter Senior Partner · Head of Litigation Senior
02 Alaric R. Blackwood Founding Partner · Complex Commercial Litigation Trial
03 Vivian M. Carlisle Founding Partner · White Collar & Investigations Defence
04 Julian E. Ashcombe Partner · Appellate Advocacy Appeals
05 Imogen H. Vance Partner · Corporate & Transactions Corporate
06 Nathaniel A. Crowe Partner · Regulatory & Administrative Regulatory
07 Cordelia F. Rooke Partner · Employment & Labour Employment
08 Rupert A. Fenwick Partner · Crisis & Reputation Crisis
09 Dominic R. Thorne Partner · Insurance & Risk Insurance
10 Sebastian J. Marchmont Partner · Real Estate & Construction Property
11 Oliver P. Rackham Partner · Intellectual Property Disputes Disputes
12 Hugo N. Calloway Partner · Private Client & Estates Private Client
13 Edward St J. Wexford Counsel · Complex Commercial Litigation Trial
14 Marcus D. Ellingham Counsel · White Collar & Investigations Defence
15 Toby R. Winslow Senior Associate · Appellate Advocacy Appeals
16 Charles E. Hartnell Senior Associate · Corporate & Transactions Corporate
17 Benedict A. Coyle Senior Associate · Regulatory & Administrative Regulatory
18 Gregory M. Ashbourne Senior Associate · Employment & Labour Employment
19 Laurence K. Pemberton Senior Associate · Insurance & Risk Insurance
20 Nicholas D. Grieve Associate · Complex Commercial Litigation Litigation
21 Adrian F. Loxley Associate · Real Estate & Construction Property
22 Rufus C. Danvers Associate · Intellectual Property Disputes Disputes
23 Miles H. Trevelyan Associate · Crisis & Reputation Crisis
24 Eleanor J. Whitcombe Associate · Private Client & Estates Private Client

Where we appear

Mayfair
Principal Office
Rolls Building
Commercial Court
Royal Courts
King’s Bench & Chancery
Court of Appeal
Civil Division
Supreme Court
United Kingdom
Central Criminal Court
Old Bailey
Employment Tribunal
London Central
Upper Tribunal
Tax & Chancery

If it matters this much,
bring it to us first.

An initial conversation with a partner is confidential and carries no obligation. Tell us what has happened and we will tell you, plainly, what we would do about it.

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05  /  Contact

Speak to
a partner.

The firm takes enquiries in writing. Every one is read by a partner, not a queue, and urgent matters are triaged the same day.

Email
counsel@blackwoodandslaughter.com
Principal Office
1 Mayfair Place, Mayfair
London W1J 8AJ, United Kingdom
Hours
Monday – Friday, 08:00 – 19:00 London time
Urgent matters are monitored outside these hours

Before you write: sending this form does not create a solicitor and client relationship and nothing you send is treated as privileged until we have run a conflicts check and confirmed an engagement in writing. Please keep this first message general.