Member Profiles

John Kaddu is an equity Partner at M/s Kaddu & Partners Advocates, a fast growing Commercial Law Firm which was founded in 2009. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and all Courts of Judicature in the year 2000 and has been in active private practice for over fifteen years. John is one of the leading Intellectual Property Law attorneys and Consultants in Uganda having specialised in handling Trademarks, Patents and Copyrights matters for clients within Uganda and abroad for over twelve years.

Jonathan is a partner and Head of our Derivatives & Structured Products Group. He is also a member of the firm's ESG and Impact Group. Specialising in derivatives and structured products from both a transactional and advisory standpoint, he is widely regarded by peers and clients as one of the leading specialists in his field, and as a champion of 'buy-side' interests in the UK derivatives market. He counts among his clients some of the UK's largest and most sophisticated financial institutions, investment managers, alternative asset managers, challenger banks, fintechs and occupational pension schemes. Jonathan is rated as a 'Leading Individual' by both Chambers and Legal 500, and is 'Highly Regarded' by the IFLR. Jonathan regularly negotiates and advises on ISDA, GMRA and GMSLA documentation as well as the impact of related regulation including EMIR and SFTR.  He also advises on the structure and documentation of bespoke transactions, including in the form of sustainability-linked derivatives, to hedge exposure to key market risks, including interest rate, inflation, FX, carbon exposures and longevity; and advises on investment management, custody, clearing and collateral management arrangements, as well as pension scheme funding and risk transfer arrangements. Jonathan has recently been appointed to the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance), a carefully vetted international group of over 200 legal and financial experts.  He is a member of International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), International Securities Lending Association (ISLA), and Futures Industry Association (FIA) Working Groups and sits on the Financial Markets Law Committee's (FMLC) Infrastructure, Fintech, Asset Management, and Insurance & Pensions Scoping Forums. Jonathan is a regular and sought-after speaker on derivatives and is the Contributing Editor of the International Comparative Legal Guides (ICLG) to ESG and to Derivatives Laws and Regulations. He is a member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Invest Europe Derivatives Working Groups and of the Association of Pension Lawyers’ Investment and DC Sub-Committee, the Society of Pension Professionals' Investment Committee, and serves as Treasurer of the Pensions Management Institute's London Group. He is also a member of the Governance Committee of the UK Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) Forum, The UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association's Green Taxonomy Advisory Working Group and the UK Board of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers.  He counts amongst his pro bono clients the Impact Investing Institute, Green Finance Institute and UN-PRI. Jonathan sits on the firm's Diversity & Inclusion Board, acts as Chair of our Faith Resources Group and plays a crucial role in creating a fully inclusive workplace where people can be themselves and where everyone can achieve their potential as well as encouraging internal discussion on inclusion, diversity and collaboration.

Helen is a partner in the Manchester office and heads up the SHE regulatory team nationally for BLM and is also head of the NW region and the firm’s . Helen is also Head of the Manchester Office. She specialises in defending companies and individuals involved in HSE/CPS/EHO investigations and prosecutions. She advises both individuals and companies in manslaughter and complex HSE cases.

Kerry advises on the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters as well as business immigration. Kerry is a partner and head of the employment, immigration and pensions practice. Prior to joining Stevens & Bolton in 2006, she qualified and worked at a top international law firm. Kerry advises on strategic HR issues and contentious and non-contentious employment matters. Her experience includes drafting contracts and staff handbooks, advising on dismissals and termination packages, collective redundancies and reorganisations, discrimination, family friendly rights and advising in relation to and preparing for Employment Tribunal claims. She also has particular expertise in advising on TUPE and business transfers, both in the context of outsourcing and business acquisitions. In addition, Kerry is experienced in all aspects of business immigration law and right to work issues. She regularly advises employers in relation to Skilled Worker and Intra Company Transfer applications (previously Tier 2 applications), including assisting employers with the sponsorship registration process, assigning certificates of sponsorship and entry clearance and extension applications. She also advises on sponsor compliance issues, as well as right to work checks. Additionally, she advises in relation to indefinite leave to remain and naturalisation applications, and is currently advising clients on the impact of the end of the Brexit transition period on their ability to employ European nationals and on the recent changes to the sponsorship regime. Recent highlights include: Advising a number of clients on restructuring and collective redundancies, including a publishing company and a well-known luxury hotel group Advising clients, including a publishing company and a coffee and drink machine supplier, on projects such as reductions to pay and reducing working hours Advising a large multinational manufacturing company on outsourcing services to a company in eastern Europe, including drafting and negotiating complex TUPE provisions and managing a project to ensure that the many transferring employees sign up to a settlement agreement prior to each of the phased transfer dates Advising a well-known technology company in relation to the employment and HR issues arising from restructuring the group after an acquisition, including advising on the impact of TUPE and the information and consultation process Advising a FTSE 100 business in relation to the TUPE provisions in a contract with a supermarket, including negotiating the TUPE clauses and obtaining cover for redundancy costs following the transfer Advising a special gases provider in connection with holiday pay calculations factoring in various overtime arrangements and allowances, including in relation to union negotiations and drafting the collective agreement to reflect the agreed terms Advising a luxury retailer in relation to a complex discrimination and whistleblowing claim, which ultimately settled before the hearing Advising clients, including a pharmaceutical company and food and beverage brand, on all of their UK business immigration matters, including advising on sponsor compliance, issuing Certificates of Sponsorship and assisting with Skilled Worker (previously Tier 2) immigration applications Kerry regularly has articles published in the HR press and provides comments to the media on employment and immigration matters. She also provides tailored training to clients and runs webinars.

XABIER heads up the firm’s corporate-commercial and sports law departments at our North Row, Mayfair office. Xabier has built up an international practice representing a wide range of clients including  individuals such as a former G20 Head of State, Nelson Mandela’s authorised biographer, a best-selling author with over 170 million books sold, World Cup winning footballers, rugby players, World Champion boxers and a Bake-off Professionals winner to corporates varying from successful insurance or health drink start-ups in the UK to medical insurance companies and auto-industry corporates in France and quoted steel manufacturers and energy sector corporates in Spain.  Xabier adopts a pragmatic and commercial approach to all legal matters and focusses on advising on multi-million Seed, Angel and Series A fund raises, all shareholder and board matters and numerous complex company sales of over $50 million dollars or secondary and tertiary listings.  As part of Xabier’s advice to UK and international corporates, Xabier also advises on IP disputes, numerous High Court claims and mediations and Finance documentation including the issue of Bonds, Notes and other debt and equity instruments.  Xabier speaks and works in French, Spanish and German having previously worked in banking at Dresdner-Kleinwort Benson (later Wasserstein & Commerzbank) in London and Hamburg as well as Daimler Chrysler Aerospace in Munich and law firms Clifford Chance LLP and Allen & Overy LLP in their London, Madrid and Paris offices.  Xabier’s passion for sport also led him to found Division X Sports., a Sports Agency focussing on representation and negotiation of footballer’s contracts from the Premier League, English Football L https:// eagues and La Liga to France, Argentina, Cyprus, Poland as well as advising in Premiership Rugby and World Title boxing contests.