— Counsel to listed boards, family offices and sovereign mandates since 2004
- Atlas & Co
- Northgate
- Halebrook
- Vantage
- Komorebi
- Archive 9
- Paper Tiger
- Norma
— The Practice
We are a boutique of twenty-two partners and a small bench of senior counsel, chosen for depth rather than breadth. Our work concentrates where the stakes are highest: cross-border M&A, regulated finance, private wealth architecture, and the long governance work that keeps institutions intact through changes of leadership.
Every mandate is opened by the partner who will sign the closing memorandum. We do not staff to leverage. We accept fewer engagements so that each one is finished the way it was promised — with the partner still present at the end of it.
Eleanor V. WhitmoreManaging Partner · Signet Meridian
— Disciplines
Each discipline is led by a named partner and delivered by a small team with standing relationships to the regulators, banks and auditors that close its mandates.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buy-side and sell-side counsel for strategic and sponsor-backed transactions — diligence, structuring, and negotiation through closing and post-merger integration.
Regulated Finance & Capital Markets
Advisory to banks, asset managers and issuers on debt and equity offerings, licensing, and the quiet work of staying on the right side of the regulator.
Private Wealth & Succession
Trust architecture, family governance, and generational planning for principals whose decisions are measured in decades.
Cross-Border Disputes
Arbitration and commercial litigation in jurisdictions where the evidence is strongest, coordinated by a single partner with standing counsel.
Governance & Compliance
Board advisory, internal investigations, and quiet compliance architecture for institutions under regulatory and reputational pressure.
— Engagement Method
Four phases, no theatre. We quote a fixed scope at the outset and the same partner signs every document the engagement produces.
I — Instruct
A confidential first memorandum from the principal, followed by a ninety-minute partner conversation. We respond in writing within three business days.
II — Frame
A written statement of the issue, the jurisdictions in play, and the decision criteria — agreed with the principal before a single billable hour is spent.
III — Draft
Structuring, documentation, and negotiation — led by the named partner with standing counsel in each relevant jurisdiction on the same call.
IV — Close
Signing, filings, and a bound engagement dossier for the principal's records. We remain on retainer for a full year after closing, at no additional fee.
— Selected Mandates
Two mandates of record, published with the principal's consent. Names and identifying detail have been abridged where confidentiality requires.
— Case № 17 · Financial Services
Client: European private bank, AUM USD 62B. Challenge: accelerating client attrition to digital-first competitors and a succession event in the lead proprietorship. We led the reorganisation, negotiated the governance framework with the regulator, and structured a phased capital injection with a strategic partner — closing in eleven months without a published statement.
$4.2B
Net AUM inflows
in year one after close
— Case № 24 · Energy & Infrastructure
Client: four-party infrastructure consortium operating a transnational natural-gas pipeline. Challenge: a mid-project change of government in one of the three jurisdictions threatened the concession framework. We restructured the consortium agreement, negotiated a new concession perimeter with the incoming regulator, and defended the original capital-allocation rights — without a single day of operational interruption.
0 days
Of operational interruption
through the renegotiation
— By the Record
Mandates of record since 2004
Cumulative transaction value
Jurisdictions with standing counsel
Partners & senior counsel, today
— In Their Own Words
Margaret Holloway
Thomas Ashford
Dr. Amelia Vance
Javier Uribe
— Engage the Practice
Every inquiry is read by a named partner and answered within three business days. Initial consultations are conducted without fee and without obligation.