Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance boosts leading Tax practice with hire of Liesl Fichardt

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance announced today that Liesl Fichardt, a market-leading contentious tax lawyer, is to join the firm's highly-rated Tax Practice in London.

Ms Fichardt, currently head of the Contentious Tax practice at BLP, specialises in tax litigation and settlement of disputes. She has advised multi-national organisations, financial institutions and high net worth individuals on a number of tax and VAT disputes and has conducted cases in the Tax Tribunal, the courts of appeal and the European Court of Justice. Her expertise covers both UK and cross border disputes, including all areas of international tax involving the EU Treaty, Double Tax Conventions and the EC Directives in relation to tax and VAT.

David Harkness, Global Head of Clifford Chance's Tax, Pensions and Employment Practice, said:

"Liesl's extensive contentious tax and trial experience will be a valuable addition to our existing strong tax team both in London and globally. The current tax environment is becoming ever more complex for large organisations as they face greater amounts of legislation, including the General Anti Avoidance Rule, an enhanced disclosure regime and shifting public and government expectations. As a result we are seeing increasing demand from clients for advice and help on resolving their tax disputes and we expect this is an area that will continue to grow for the Firm's market leading practice."

Ms Fichardt added "CC's leading reputation in tax and global reach will enable me to provide quality advice to clients in dealing with and resolving their tax disputes in the UK and internationally. Their offering combines unrivalled expertise in taxation and regulatory matters, extensive experience in dealing with tax authorities in resolving disputes and litigating in the courts and the ability to advise clients in a commercial and sensible manner on how best to deal with risk - within one global team."

Ms Fichardt has considerable court and tribunal experience both in the UK and internationally having practiced as a tax barrister for 13 years before joining Dorsey & Whitney in 2006, where she advised on a number of high profile litigation cases. She moved to BLP in 2008.

Clifford Chance has one of the largest international tax groups of any law firm, with over 180 tax advisors across Europe, the US and Asia. The Practice advises clients on the complete range of international and domestic tax issues. Expertise includes corporate, financing, investment and real estate transactions, as well as tax litigation, disputes and transfer pricing.