In April 2010, Appleby made history with the simultaneous admission of five attorneys to the Cayman Islands Bar,
the most of its kind at any one time. This admission follows from another in March 2010, in which Appleby welcomed two new Caymanian lawyers, Pamella Mendez and Samuel Banks, to the firm. The five newly admitted attorneys, Rory Todd, Alison Cole, Joanne Collett, Nicholas Davies and Bonnie Douglas, have joined Appleby this year and represent a cross-section of the firm’s practice and specialist areas.
Rory Todd transfers from Appleby’s London office as Senior Counsel in the Funds and Investment Services team of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group. Rory, a graduate of Cambridge University, was admitted in 1984 as a Solicitor in England and Wales (now non-practising) and practised with Richards Butler (now Reed Smith) for ten years in London and Tokyo. Rory previously practised as an attorney-at-law in the Cayman Islands and was originally admitted to the Grand Court in 1994 when he joined Appleby (then Hunter & Hunter). He opened the London office of Hunter & Hunter in 2001 and worked there with Appleby (following the merger of Appleby and Hunter & Hunter) until his recent return to Cayman. His practice focuses on investment funds, corporate finance, project and other types of international finance and joint ventures.
Alison Cole joins the Banking and Asset Finance team of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group. She is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (now non-practising) having been admitted to practice in 2006. Prior to joining Appleby, Alison was an Associate in the Energy, Structured Trade and Commodities team of Norton Rose LLP in Paris. Before joining Norton Rose, Alison trained and practised as an Associate with Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP in London and New York. Prior to law school, Alison was an Account Executive at Buchanan Communications, a leading financial and corporate communications consultancy in London and the market leader in IPO handlings. Alison obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from The American University, in Washington DC. She obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the College of Law of England and Wales and undertook the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School.
Joanne Collett joins the Litigation and Insolvency Practice Group representing clients in contentious and non-contentious matters including commercial disputes. Joanne has focused on insolvency and other commercial matters throughout her career, including advising on all aspects of insolvency law. Joanne has primarily represented insolvency practitioners, banks and other secured creditors, as well as other commercial clients. She is a Barrister and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia having been admitted to practice in 2002, and has also been admitted to the High Court and Federal Courts of Australia, and as an Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law in New York, First Department, and the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining Appleby, Joanne was an attorney in the Financial Restructuring Group of New York law firm, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP where she gained experience in various bankruptcy related matters, including the historic Lehman Brothers Chapter 11 cases. Before practising in New York, Joanne practised initially with Finlaysons, a top-tier firm in Adelaide in the Banking Services Department, and then at Blake Dawson, a top-tier firm in Sydney in the Reconstruction and Insolvency Department. Joanne graduated with a Bachelor of Laws Legal Practice (Honours) from Flinders University in South Australia and also has a Bachelor of Management (Marketing) from the University of South Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Military Law (Merit) from the Australian National University.
Nicholas Davies also joins the Banking and Asset Finance team and the Insurance team of the Corporate and Commercial Practice Group, specialising in corporate finance, private equity, capital markets and banking transactions. Nicholas trained with the leading English magic-circle firm Linklaters LLP in London, Amsterdam and Moscow, and qualified into the Equity and Debt Capital Markets department as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (now non-practising) in 2006. Nicholas practised in Linklaters' London and Moscow offices, principally advising international investment banks on debt capital markets transactions, with a focus on Russia and the CIS region. Nicholas also advised on equity capital markets and other corporate finance work.
Bonnie Douglas joins Appleby's growing Immigration and Employment Services team. Prior to coming to the Cayman Islands, Bonnie gained valuable experience with firms and organisations in New Zealand and the United States. In particular, Bonnie has extensive interest and experience in the field of human rights having spent significant time working with the Maori in New Zealand as part of her practice with the leading Wellington firm of Kensington Swan. Bonnie was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 2002, and has already been using her experience to excellent effect in Cayman in relation to various Immigration appeals. Nicolas Joseph, Local Team Leader of the Immigration and Employment team stated that “Bonnie’s previous experience compliments our practice well. Two young Caymanian lawyers, Pamella Mendez and Nathania Pearson have both joined the team in the last six months and due to the strong demand from clients, we plan to expand the practice with more recruits in the pipeline. Appleby has strong Caymanian roots and we intend to emphasise and grow our ability to provide effective support for local businesspersons and companies and, along with our Property Practice Group, serve the Cayman Islands community. With our growth, and that of our Property Practice which recently welcomed former Walkers partner, Sonia Starvis, we have substantial experience in serving our local community. We are uniquely placed to do so with the support of our multi-jurisdictional office network which forms the world's largest offshore law firm.”
Huw Moses OBE, Managing Partner of the Appleby Cayman Office, spoke of the admissions saying, “We are delighted that high quality lawyers, such as our recent admissions, are seeking to come to practise with us in the Cayman Islands. Appleby strives to provide exceptional service and having outstanding professionals on our team makes attaining this goal very easy.” He continued, “Further, we are particularly pleased by the recent growth in our Corporate and Commercial and Litigation and Insolvency Practice Groups. Over the last 12 months, we have continued to recruit and grow, whilst many of our competitors have reduced in size. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed two new Partners from Walkers to our Corporate and Commerical Practice in the Cayman office; Richard Addlestone and Julian Black. The timing of Rory’s return to the Funds and Investments Services Team in Cayman is well-suited as the work in this area continues to grow and we continue to meet the needs of our clients. Similarly, the Banking and Asset Finance team is pleased to welcome Alison and Nicholas to this ever-busy team which Caymanian lawyer, Samuel Banks, joined in March.”