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.
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.
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.
Camila is a Brazilian qualified lawyer with over 5 years’ experience in corporate law, financial and capital markets, having worked as an in-house lawyer at important Brazilian financial institutions and as an intern at a highly regarded Brazilian boutique law firm.
She completed her LLB in 2014 at Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro, ranked as the top Brazilian private university and the top 4 of all universities in Latin America, according to the Times Higher Education’ ranking.
Passionate about financial and capital markets, she has just finished her LLM in Commercial and Corporate Law at Queen Mary University of London, where she developed a wide understanding about UK corporate law, EU and UK financial regulation, and law and finance in emerging economies.
Simone studied Law at the University of Hertfordshire achieving a first-class honours degree, before going on to compete the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law.
Prior to joining Cleveland & Co, Simone worked as an in-house Paralegal within the Legal and Compliance Department of a global investment management firm.
Kwan Mei obtained her degree in law from the National University of Singapore and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2008. She has since undertaken a wide range of work in the corporate and commercial field, with more than five years of experience in the real estate and investment space. She enjoys working with people from different places and in various capacities, as both an external counsel and in-house counsel. She has worked in several notable MNCs, as well as the fund manager of a listed hospitality real estate investment trust.
Kwan Mei is used to working with members of the standard financial hubs as well as more recently visible or unique market players such as the United Arab Emirates, China and the Maldives, having most recently worked in the Middle Eastern branch of a Chinese private equity company.
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.
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.
Victoria has over 16 years’ of experience working in the professional services industry, including 13 years spent at magic circle law firm, Linklaters, as both a personal assistant and marketing assistant. She has worked alongside managing director, Emma, and supported her in her vision to change the shape of legal services within the financial services sector for many years.
At Linklaters, Victoria supported a wide range of senior staff and partners, across both the practice itself and business services and has extensive knowledge and experience of business areas such as HR, marketing and professional indemnity. In terms of her practice experience, Victoria has worked in investment management, financial regulation, pensions, real estate and private equity.
Julie has over 10 years’ of experience as a personal assistant and administrator and has successfully supported a wide-range of senior staff across various sectors throughout her career.
Julie has worked primarily at a variety Legal 500 law firms and most recently at a financial services company. Additionally, Julie has experience in the entertainment sector, working at music companies including Polydor, Island Records and Sony.
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.
Linda has over 30 years’ experience in the legal sector, primarily within financial services, qualifying as a barrister in 1982 and then as a solicitor in 1987, with an expertise in funds and insurance. She has extensive experience of a number of key financial services regulations such as AIFMD, NPPR, SMCR, and the Payment Services Directive and significant technical skills covering structured loan notes, FCA applications, peer to peer lending, investment management agreements and collective investment schemes.
She previously held the position of Head of Legal at the Aviva Group, where she was part of the management team who had responsibility for all legal and regulatory issues. Most recently, Linda was a Partner at Eversheds Financial Services Group advising on all aspects of UK financial services regulation.
