Attracting and retaining experienced and talented professionals is key to supporting our client relationships and their continued success. We pride ourselves on being flexible, effective and efficient in determining our clients’ objectives and are driven by their success.
We are diverse in our backgrounds, education and experience allowing us to serve our clients with the scalability of an external law firm and the responsiveness of an in-house team.
Founder and Managing Director
Emma Cleveland
Emma’s goal since launching Cleveland & Co has been to change the shape of legal services provision within financial services, and provide clients with high-quality effective advice. With over 15 years’ experience in the investment management sector, working with blue chips such as AIG, Threadneedle, Russell Investments and Aviva Investors, she is well-placed to do so.
A tri-qualified lawyer, whose career began at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, her broad-based expertise covers all areas of investment management: front office, middle and back office, business development, risk, compliance and legal. Emma has also played a key role in building new legal departments, creating and implementing global policies and managing international teams.
Legal Team
Alessandra Annoscia
Alessandra is an Italian qualified lawyer with over 10 years’ experience in the legal industry. She has extensive experience of private practice in litigation roles, both in Italy and in London and her more recent roles have been in-house at financial services institutions, such as Barclays and Lloyds Bank.
A reliable and motivated professional, Alessandra is currently in the process of qualifying in England and Wales. Her dual-jurisdictional experience gives her a unique insight and perspective on matters, and has placed her in an ideal position in the financial services industry, where cross border transactions are the norm. Alessandra’s experience in litigation and dispute resolution, linked to derivatives, has allowed her to hone her expertise in relation to complex financial products and their trading documentation.
Caroline has a combined 8 years of post-qualification experience in leveraged finance and financial services, working previously in private practice at Kirkland & Ellis and Ropes & Gray, focusing on acquisition and syndicated financing (primarily for private equity houses) and in-house at JPMorgan Chase Bank, focusing on securities lending and repo transactions.
Caroline aims to dual-qualify in either the US or APAC in the next five years.
Caroline studied law at the University of East Anglia, before going on to study the Legal Practice Course at BPP University in Cambridge, achieving a distinction. She specialised in commercial law and intellectual property, civil litigation and commercial property.
At Cleveland & Co, Caroline assists the team with a broad range of legal matters and research covering investment management and general commercial matters as they arise. Caroline also assists in putting together guides for our company templates and contributing to our Industry News posts regarding relevant updates to the financial industry.
Leela has 5 years’ experience in financial services, having previously worked in the legal team at Invesco. Leela’s experience to date covers private equity, hedge funds and traditional fund sectors and includes advising and assisting a range of services providers within the asset management industry including administrators, brokers, custodians, introducers, investment advisors & managers, and placement agents.
Since joining Cleveland & Co, Leela has worked with clients to prepare and submit FCA notifications (e.g. change in control), along with advising and assisting them in updating their legal documentation as a result of MiFID II, GDPR and the upcoming SM&CR.
Leela is a determined and ambitious professional who has become adept at working in different, fast paced environments with people of all levels within an organisation. Leela’s motivation, versatility and unflappable attitude, make her a highly valued member of the Cleveland & Co team.
Sarah has 5 years’ financial services experience working previously at BNP Paribas Asset Management and at international law firms Addleshaw Goddard LLP and Taylor Wessing LLP respectively, working in Banking & Finance and assisting with cross-border deals.
At Cleveland & Co, Sarah assists with a broad range of legal matters covering investment management and derivatives as well as loan transactions and working with clients to prepare and submit FCA notifications (e.g. change in control). Sarah also assist with general commercial law matters as they arise. Sarah assists in putting together guides for our company templates and contributing to our Industry News posts regarding relevant updates to the financial industry.
Sarah aims to dual-qualify in either the US or Asia in the next five years. Sarah is personable, hard-working and client focused.
Vicki has in excess of 15 years’ financial services experience working in various back office roles, including working within the mergers and acquisitions team of Credit Suisse for 7 years.
Coupled with over 6 years’ experience in senior operational roles within SME environments – Vicki has a broad array of transferrable skills and experience in both multi-national companies and SME’s which allow her to utilise her strong organisational, interpersonal and problem-solving skills to achieve favourable outcomes.
Nikhil has over four years’ experience working closely with senior level personnel’s and within operations in the security sector. Previously as an operations manager he has developed skills and experiences in HR, office management, IT and business development strategies.
Anna has over 15 years’ experience in the employment industry, training in international law firm Freshfields and working for Addleshaw Goddard for 10 years. Anna acts for individuals (including senior executives) and companies, from small local businesses to FTSE 100 companies.
Andrea has over 16 years’ experience, having previously trained and worked for 11 years with national law firm Pinsent Masons LLP. She acts for companies of all sizes as well as individuals. Andrea acts for companies of all sizes as well as individuals and has considerable experience of carrying out due diligence and advising on employment law issues in relation to business sales and acquisitions.
