Tara Jones, Trainee Solicitor at Frettens, provides her top tips for students looking to apply for legal placements and describes her own experience as a placement student.
Karen Edwards
Corporate & Commercial Partner
Karen was made Partner in January 2022 and heads up the Corporate & Commercial team. She specialises in all aspects of non-contentious company transactions including mergers, acquisitions and sales. She can also assist with internal company reorganisations from share exchanges or share buybacks, to capital reduction demergers.
Karen was individually recommended for the second year running as a 'rising star' in her field, one of only five lawyers in the region, in the 2020/21 Legal 500, an independent guide to law firms.
Work
Karen completed her training contract at Frettens to qualify as a solicitor and became an Associate in our Commercial Team. As part of her journey to becoming a solicitor Karen completed an LLB law degree at the University of Surrey and the Legal Practice Course at the London College of Law.
In 2018, the firm opened a new office in Ringwood, expanding its corporate reach into the New Forest. Having previously been based in Christchurch, Karen moved over to Ringwood to lead the team there and Frettens’ commercial presence in Ringwood and beyond is now strongly recognised. This has lead Karen to become the Head of Corporate & Commercial and now oversees both offices as a Partner of the firm.
Karen has a wealth of experience in a variety of commercial contracts, covering areas such as terms and conditions, franchising, shareholder, partnership and LLP arrangements, personal guarantees, facility and security related agreements and joint venture development agreements.
Karen has developed a niche expertise and reputation for the sale and acquisition of veterinary practices, acting for existing shareholders in a number of sales, to national consolidators. Karen is also particularly known for assisting on similar transactions within the funeral sector.
Experience
- Working in conjunction with the firm’s specialist Social Housing Team, by leading on several complex and high-value matters, including on the sale of the entire issued share capital of a property development SPV, with a value of c.£6.5m, to a private funder.
- Advising a major corporate shareholder based in the Netherlands on the sale of shares for an English based management consultancy business, deal worth c.£2.5m.
- Acting on a sale of the entire issued share capital of a veterinary company to a national consolidator, deal worth c.£12.3m.
- Ongoing corporate support to a major property company with a multi-million pound portfolio of residential and commercial properties, including company buybacks, exiting the majority shareholder and associated company re-organisation work.
- Ongoing advice to a tech investment group relating to multiple investments in the technology and IT sector.
Play
Karen is usually busy raising her young (energetic!) children and loves spending time with family and friends. She enjoys kayaking on the river, running and generally being outdoors.
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Julien Labruyere, SleekWant to express my sincere gratitude for the great work you and the team have provided, at the expense of your holidays. We will look forward to reconnecting with you on our future needs across the Board.
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Vivienne Gray - Corporate ClientWe used Karen to facilitate the selling of some of our company shares. As it was unknown territory for us, Karen made the process very straightforward. She explained every step in a very clear, easy to understand language. She totally understood what we were trying to achieve and kept us informed at all times. I would certainly use Karen in the future if the situation arises.
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James Hadley-Clift, Winkworth Estate AgentsKaren has been fantastic and someone I will return to repeatedly as my business grows. She has managed to give not only a high level of advice, customer service and professionalism which you would expect from anyone at Frettens but delivered it in a friendly and relevant way…human you could say.
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Chas Speed, Accolade Building Services LtdMy dealings with Karen Edwards on my recent business sale were exemplary. Karen acted with complete integrity and professionalism throughout the whole process from our very first communication through to completion. Karen gave me all the understanding, guidance and support I needed from start to finish to help me through what was initially a very difficult and daunting prospect for me after being with the company for some 30 years and having owned it for the last 13 years. I wouldn’t hesitate to instruct Karen again.
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TECHNEDs GroupAs a fast moving tech investment business, responsiveness and speed of execution are absolutely paramount to our success. Finding a legal partner with the same culture was extremely important. Frettens have acted for the TECHNEDs group in relation to investments in several tech businesses and have also recently dealt with our group internal reorganisation. Karen was quick to understand the situation and offered clear, proactive advice throughout these transactions, most of which have been completed within tight timescales. It is always reassuring to have a trusted solicitor who understands what makes us tick.
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Derek Timoney, Medicare Systems LtdMy wife and I used Karen to deal with the sale of my company shares. What we thought might be a long and arduous process was handled quickly and very smoothly with the utmost attention given to the best interests of my family. I recommend Karen with the confidence of someone who first hand has witnessed her thorough and professional attention.
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Matt Rees, England & CoKaren has recently helped draw up a business purchase agreement for a practice my firm was acquiring. She was professional, easy to talk to and gave clear expert advice throughout. Deadlines were always kept and Karen made this aspect of the purchase as straightforward as it could be. I would use Karen again and highly recommend her.
