Lewis Silkin announces partner promotions for 2023
03 April 2023
Four promoted from across the firm’s specialist practice groups.
Lewis Silkin has today announced the promotion of four of its lawyers to the partnership, representing areas of specialism including Data & Privacy, Immigration, Brands & IP and Media & Entertainment.
The new Partners are:
An information law and media litigation expert, Ali specialises in disputes involving data, IP and reputations and represents both claimants and defendants including household name brands, media personalities and high net worth individuals.
His data privacy and security work includes advising in relation to cyber incident preparedness and response, compliance, and emerging technologies including AI and DLT, as well as the collection, management and use of personal data in marketing.
Ali has brought and defended cases for clients in the High Court and IPEC, and at both a domestic and European level, in addition to managing regulatory complaints and inquiries, including dealing with IPSO, Ofcom and the BBC Trust, as well as the ASA and the ICO.
Immigration lawyer Naomi Hanrahan-Soar joined Lewis Silkin in 2017 as a senior associate.
Supporting corporate clients across all industries, as well as high-net-worth individuals, Naomi advises on the full range of immigration routes to the UK and British citizenship. She has successfully defended many Sponsor Licence suspensions and revocations, and has appealed and had overturned illegal working penalties in various complex circumstances including at the intersection of employment status and immigration law.
Regularly meeting with senior representatives of the Home Office, Naomi has consulted and advised the MAC, Home Office policy officials and Westminster Forums on key UK immigration developments.
A former Vice Chair of techUK’s Skills, Talent and Migration Group, Naomi is a tech industry specialist and consulted on the unique concerns of STEM companies within the requirements and restrictions of immigration law, as well as establishing and running an official partnership with Tech UK for the Global Talent visa.
Oliver joined Lewis Silkin as a trainee in 2012, and has gone on to work with clients across the firm’s Brands & Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution teams.
With a particular focus on fashion, advertising & marketing and media & entertainment, Oliver advises on contentious and non-contentious issues relating primarily to intellectual property, advertising, EU and UK competition law, and reputation management (including defamation and privacy). Oliver has been recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ in IP Stars from Managing IP.
Oliver has assisted clients in a number of the firm’s most high profile cases, including before the High Court, Court of Appeal and EU courts, as well as regulatory investigations and clearance in relation to the CAP and BCAP codes, and before the CMA and SFO.
Nick joined Lewis Silkin as a Legal Director in 2021 and has headed its Interactive Entertainment practice since then. His clients span multinational publishers, indie developers, and service providers to the games industry.
An expert in commercial deals across the games sector, Nick’s practice areas include games publishing contracts, development agreements, outsourcing arrangements and IP licensing deals. In addition, Nick advises video games companies on compliance, legislation, regulations and codes of practice in the sector. He also advises on the intersection between games and intellectual property, such as in relation IP clearance of in-game virtual assets. Nick also has a wider practice in the technology, media and entertainment sectors.
A member of the Video Game Bar Association, Nick has been recognized by the Legal 500 as a “lawyer to watch” in the games sector. He is also a trustee and director of GamesAid, the games industry charity.
Jo Evans, Chair of Lewis Silkin, commented:
“On behalf of everyone at the firm I warmly congratulate Ali, Naomi, Oliver and Nick and am pleased to welcome them to the partnership. They are each already recognised as leaders in their respective fields and have demonstrated exceptional commitment to client service excellence and our culture, even as they continue to play a key role in our growth journey. We’re thrilled to see them take this well-deserved next step forward in their careers at Lewis Silkin.”
The promotions (which take effect as of April 3rd) bring the total number of partners at Lewis Silkin to 77 across its offices in London, Oxford, Cardiff, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, and Hong Kong.