Keystone Law has continued its strong recruitment drive with the announcement of six new partners and three consultant solicitors to the firm. This follows the recent appointment of 16 senior lawyers.

Stephen Browning, Marie van der Zyl OBE, Anna Fouracre, Katy Edwards, Jason Roston, Zena Bolwig, Sarah Taylor, Tim Addinell and Sarah Steed will bolster and enhance the firm’s expertise across its corporate, employment, commercial, planning and environment, licensing and gambling, residential property, private client and construction practices.

James Knight, Founder and CEO of Keystone Law, said:

“Whilst lawyer demand within the legal profession has somewhat cooled recently, our desire to recruit partners of the very highest calibre burns as strongly as ever; and our ability to do so is helped enormously by the ever-growing number of lawyers who wish to benefit from all that Keystone offers.

“I am delighted to welcome this latest cohort of 9 truly excellent lawyers. Their experience and expertise will strengthen their respective departments and further enhance our full-service offering.”

The new appointments are:

Stephen Browning – Corporate

Stephen has more than 35 years’ experience of corporate, finance and regulatory work in the Lloyd’s, London and international insurance markets.

He advises on various start-ups, reorganisations, acquisitions and disposals in the insurance sector and regularly advises Lloyd’s underwriting businesses on transactions with commercial banks and reinsurers for the provision of funds at Lloyd’s, consortium underwriting arrangements, ‘turnkey’ syndicate management arrangements and third-party RITC transactions.

Before joining Keystone, Stephen was a partner at Clyde & Co for 12 years.

Marie van der Zyl OBE – Employment

Marie has over 30 years’ experience advising on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, principally working with employers, senior executives, charities, LLPs, partnerships, and a chamber of commerce. Marie deals with senior exits, terminations and restructuring across several sectors including legal, retail, advertising, financial, education, construction, religious institutions and charities, and leisure.

She is experienced in complex discrimination claims involving race, sex, disability and religion, and in relation to diversity issues in the workplace. In addition, Marie is a leading adviser when it comes to gig economy and IR35, having been involved in several leading cases.

Marie was previously a partner at firms including Ince, Gordon Dadds and Davenport Lyons.

Anna Fouracre – Planning & Environment

Anna advises on a broad range of planning matters, including residential development, strategic land, build to rent, energy and infrastructure. She regularly negotiates complex planning and infrastructure agreements and has a wealth of experience in planning inquiries and judicial review proceedings.

Heavily involved in sustainability, Anna advises on matters relating to planning reform and the journey to net zero and how this impacts upon all stakeholders in the development process.

Anna was previously an Associate Director at Osborne Clarke before joining the firm.

Katy Edwards – Employment

Katy is an employment lawyer who advises organisations and individuals on contentious, non-contentious and advisory employment matters across a range of sectors. She is an expert in complex and sensitive investigations, senior management terms and exits, the employment aspects of private mergers and acquisitions, and redundancy.

Before joining Keystone, Katy worked at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher for 12 years.

Jason Roston – Residential Property

Jason is a property lawyer with a focus on residential real estate. He advises a broad range of domestic and international individuals and family offices together with developers and private banks on all aspects of buying, managing, financing and selling residential property.

Jason frequently works alongside leading agents, brokers and surveyors in high-value and often complex, discreet and time-sensitive transactions.

Before joining Keystone, Jason worked at Fladgate and SA Law.

Zena Bolwig – Probate & Estate Planning

A specialist in health and welfare mental capacity and best interests law, Zena frequently advises on cases in the Court of Protection, and in broader community care law.

Zena’s cases often involve cross-border disputes, serious medical treatment, complex deprivation of liberty disputes, and capacity to consent to sexual relations, to marry and to have contact. She also acts in contentious property and affairs cases including disputes involving lasting powers of attorney and the appointment of deputies.

Before joining Keystone, Zena was previously a director at the specialist law firm Mackintosh Law.

Sarah Taylor – Licensing & Gambling

Sarah has over 13 years’ experience advising businesses and individuals on all aspects of licensing law, licensing strategy and the impact of insolvency upon licensed premises.

She has particular expertise in contentious licensing applications and has repeatedly obtained new premises licences and extended hours within challenging Cumulative Impact Zones across the UK, including premises licences for large-scale developments within central London.

Sarah joins the firm from the licensing law firm Poppleston Allen where she was a partner.

Tim Addinell – Private Client

A highly experienced solicitor, Tim’s expertise includes advising business owners and wealthy individuals on a wide range of Private Client matters.

He regularly advises on inheritance tax planning more generally, the creation, administration and cessation of trusts, and the establishment and administration of powers of attorney.

Tim was previously a partner at firms including Woodfines, Greenwoods and Howes Percival.

Sarah Steed – Construction

Sarah specialises in commercial and procurement law, both within the construction sector and in other industries. She has worked within central government and in private practice and in both contentious and non-contentious areas of practice.

She frequently assists on complex contract incorporation and interpretation issues, on final and interim account disputes, and on issues relating to delay and disruption, loss, and expense, particularly within the construction and engineering sector.

Before joining Keystone, Sarah was a commercial solicitor at the Ministry of Defence and prior to that worked at Osborne Clarke.

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