Contributors
WBD has appointed Nicola Giddens as a partner in the firm's London office, joining WBD's national real estate team.
Nicola joins from DWF and has over 16 years' experience advising on real estate matters. In particular, she has a strong track record advising the UK financial services institutions sector on a broad range of real estate and finance transactions including financing a number of sizeable UK commercial, residential and mixed-use properties both on an investment and development basis. Nicola’s extensive experience covers various specialised sectors including retail, student accommodation, hospitality, housebuilding, institutional funds and healthcare.
Jonathan Blair, WBD's UK Managing Partner and London Office Head commented:
"We're delighted to welcome Nicola to the firm and to our fast-growing London practice. Nicola's impressive track record of advising some of the UK's biggest banks, many of which are our clients, and her first rate expertise will enhance our real estate offering and provide added value to our clients."
Nicola added:
"WBD has an impressive client portfolio across a number of key sectors which brings opportunities to work on genuinely exciting projects. I look forward to working with the team here in the UK, the US and beyond."
Nicola's appointment follows a wider recruitment drive particularly in WBD's London office which has seen eight new partners join in the past five months. The lateral hires have joined the insurance (Tim Barr, Simon Beckwith and Mark Ratcliff), white collar crime (Audrey Koh), immigration (Andrew Tingley), banking (Matthew Williams), finance (Jonny Williams), data protection (Mark Gleeson) teams. The firm also strengthened its tax and private wealth practice in London with Bob Savic joining as a senior consultant.
Ranking in the UK's top 20 law firms, WBD provides legal expertise in eleven key sectors from across eight offices in the UK, including London, and 19 offices in the US. The firm's key sectors include Financial Institutions; Real Estate; Insurance; Energy & Natural Resources; Healthcare; Manufacturing; Retail & Consumer; Transport, Logistics & Infrastructure; Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences; Technology and Private Wealth.
