Tuesday, April 01, 2008New Partner Promotions

ApplebyAppleby Announces Two Staff Members Promoted to Partner

Leading offshore firm Appleby has announced the promotion of Sally Cox and Valerie Georges-Thomas, to the position of Partner in the British Virgin Islands office. Overall, the firm promoted seven lawyers to partnership. Capping a year in which the firm added 46 new lawyers, including three lateral partner additions, these appointments confirm Appleby’s commitment to expansion across the firm’s global network.

Sally Cox has been practising corporate law for over a decade. Sally is in the British Virgin Islands Corporate Team and serves as the Local Practice Group Head of Property. She also holds the positions of Compliance Officer and Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer. Sally’s practice areas include banking and asset finance, ship and aircraft financing, mergers and acquisitions, securitisations, funds and investment services, property transactions, trusts and estate planning, intellectual property and insurance.

Sally has a Master of Laws in Commercial Law from the University of London and joined the group in 2004. She has worked on many cases of considerable commercial and financial significance, including the strategic investment by two of the world’s largest international financial institutions in a PRC private financial lending institution. She has also been involved in a high value issue of listed convertible bonds, one of the largest in Hong Kong in recent years and evidential of the Asian economic recovery.

Sally is a member of the British Virgin Islands Bar Association, the St. Kitts and Nevis Bar, the Barbados Bar Association, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the BVI Association of Compliance Officers. She is also the Vice President of Business of the Executive Board of the BVI Chamber of Commerce.

Valerie Georges-Thomas practises corporate and commercial law in the British Virgin Islands and focuses on various aspects of international/offshore business with specialisation in advising upon the formation of investment funds. Valerie also has broad experience in banking and finance and advises on general lending, debt issuance, property finance transactions and general aspects of banking and finance and corporate and commercial law in the British Virgin Islands. She also has general litigation experience.

Valerie joined the firm in 2005 having previously worked for nine years in the British Virgin Islands. She graduated from York University, Toronto in 1989, studied law at the University of the West Indies graduating in 1992, and was admitted to the Bar in Antigua in 1994 and to the British Virgin Islands Bar in 1996. She is a member of the Bar Associations of the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda.

“We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the strong growth, depth and diversity of our global business,” explains Alex Erskine, Managing Partner of the British Virgin Islands office. “Appleby’s BVI office is well placed to build on our global position as a leading offshore law firm and fiduciary services provider. The recent nomination of Appleby by the BVI Chamber of Commerce as the BVI commercial firm of the year for 2007 also underscores the huge strides that Appleby is making within the BVI community as a whole. The appointment of Sally and Valerie further illustrates our ability to attract and retain legal professionals of quality who are committed to the continued success of Appleby. I am particularly proud that the first partners to be appointed in the BVI office of Appleby are women.”

Appleby is a leading provider of offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services. Uniquely positioned in the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Mauritius, as well as the international financial centres of London and Hong Kong, the group offers objective jurisdictional business solutions. The firm has close to 700 lawyers and professional specialists who deliver sophisticated services primarily in the areas of Corporate and Commercial, Litigation and Insolvency, Trusts and Property. Clients include global public and private companies, financial institutions, and high-net-worth individuals.

In addition to the law firm, Appleby’s Fiduciary and Administration Group provides services in the areas of corporate services, employee benefit trusts, fund administration, insurance management, listing services, management and accounting services, special purpose vehicles and trust services.

Oyster Publications Inc, PO box 3369, Road Town Tortola, British Virgin Islands, VG1110