International Private Wealth group celebrates reputation management talent

Two Taylor Wessing lawyers have been listed in the annual Spear’s 500 Reputation Management index for 2021.

Partner Niri Shan who has been named as a top ten reputation management lawyer and senior associate Michael Yates, who has been named as a recommended reputation management lawyer. 

The Spear’s rankings are drawn up on the basis of peer nominations, telephone and face-to-face interviews, data supplied by law firms, as well as information gathered by the Spear’s editorial and research teams.

Niri has a unique position in the reputation management space, assisting claimant individuals and companies, as well as defendants in the UK and overseas clients. He is especially noted for his depth of connection with the media and their lawyers, with whom he engages in a collaborative, nuanced and non-aggressive way to arrive at quiet conclusions to challenging matters that preserve clients' relationships with the media. He regularly advises on defamation, privacy and breach of confidence issues relating to high-profile, newsworthy issues as well as clients involved in complex commercial or personal disputes with a reputation angle requiring strategic thinking and expertise. 

Peers have described Niri as a ‘polished operator’ and his and Michael's highlights include working to obtain an injunction against an anonymous blackmailer, to stop the release of false criminal allegations to the media and advising clients on protecting privacy during divorce.

Michael is an information litigator and reputation management specialist, advising high net worth and high-profile individuals on asserting their reputation and data privacy rights. Michael is skilled at obtaining injunctive relief, stopping stories and removing content through tact rather than aggression, and has obtained many apologies, damages, takedowns and corrections for high-profile HNWs.

Ronald Graham, partner and Head of the Private Wealth sector group in the UK added: "Our reputation for advice in the private wealth sector is long-established and this extends to the reputation management services we offer our UHNW clients. The team routinely deal with cross border matters and are adept at looking at the big picture. We have an outstanding track record and work quickly and effectively with clients to prevent or control damage. This excellence is underlined by both Niri and Michael making the Spear's list."

Reacting to the news, Niri Shan said: "Being named in the Spear's Reputation Management Index is strong market recognition and a testament to our advice to clients faced with all types of threats across all aspects of reputation management. This accolade would not have been be possible without the amazing team that I work with and the fantastic platform that Taylor Wessing provides."

Michael Yates added: "I am honoured by this recognition, which I see as a testament to the challenging, yet successful, work that we do in protecting the reputation, privacy and data of high net worth individuals on the ever expanding information battlefield."

Our International Private Wealth team offers a holistic suite of legal services that cover the personal and corporate needs of the global UHNW community across the entire spectrum of their wealth from growth stage through to transition to the next generation. Visit our private wealth section for more information.

Our award-winning Reputation Management & Privacy Protection team has considerable experience in advising clients faced with all types of threats across all aspects of reputation management and privacy protection. Click here to discover more about the team's work.

We further enhanced our international private wealth capability, creating one of the largest private wealth teams by total number of lawyers in the European market with the hire of a team of lawyers from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.