Keystone Law—ten appointments

Keystone Law has welcomed ten new partners to the firm. Denis Uvarov, Tom Barton, James Douglass, Marina Barnett, Dave Alleear, Lorraine Harvey, Luke Elford, Louise Bibby, Johnny Brooke, and Harriet Donovan will join Keystone’s commercial property, corporate, dispute resolution, energy, family, licensing, planning, private client, and residential property teams.

James Knight, founder and CEO of Keystone Law, said: 'We are delighted to welcome ten new Partners to Keystone Law. Each new Partner brings a wealth of experience and will be a great asset to their relevant department and to the exceptional service we provide our clients. These latest recruits accurately reflect Keystone's enduring appeal to the UK’s top legal talent.'

Denis Uvarov – Corporate (pictured)

Denis is a corporate lawyer specialising in cross-border private M&A transactions, strategic joint ventures, and business reorganisations. His work often involves complex, multi-jurisdictional deals requiring regulatory, finance, and sector-specific expertise.

Denis joins Keystone from Linklaters where he was a Partner.

Tom Barton – Planning

Tom is a planning law specialist with extensive experience advising on the full range of town and country planning matters. He is also recognised as an expert in compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), development consent orders (DCOs), and related applications for compensation including in the Lands Tribunal (Upper Chamber).

Tom acts for private individuals, developers, funders, housing associations, local planning authorities, and central government.

Prior to joining Keystone, Tom was a Partner at Mishcon de Reya.

James Douglass – Energy

James is a highly experienced energy and infrastructure lawyer with a focus on complex, high-value projects across a range of sectors and environments. He specialises in LNG and energy transition including renewable electricity and gas, hydrogen and battery storage, alongside traditional oil & gas, infrastructure, and resources.

James was a Partner at Brown Rudnick before joining Keystone.

Marina Barnett – Residential Property

Marina is a highly experienced residential property lawyer with over 20 years of expertise advising private and commercial clients. She acts on a broad range of property transactions, representing buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, lenders and borrowers, as well as developers, overseas investors, and wealth managers.

Marina joins Keystone from Memery Crystal, having been a Partner there.

Dave Alleear – Commercial Property

Dave is a commercial property lawyer whose practice focuses on acquisitions, disposals, lettings, financing, development, and secured lending. He also advises on the real estate aspects of corporate acquisitions and financing.

His clients include a wide range of private companies, business owners, developers, corporate landlords and tenants, involving commercial property acquisitions, disposals, and landlord-tenant matters.

Dave joins the firm from Adams & Remers where he was a Partner.

Lorraine Harvey – Family

Lorraine is a specialist in family law, handling middle to high-net-worth value cases, including pension claims, complex trust and pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. She advises on unmarried property disputes and cohabitation agreements, as well as private children cases often involving relocation, contact arrangements, and parental alienation.

Prior to joining Keystone, Lorraine was a Partner at Simpson Millar.

Luke Elford – Licensing

Luke is a licensing lawyer with a focus on alcohol and entertainment licensing. He advises a broad range of clients, from high-profile venues and restaurant groups to private members’ clubs, hotels, and individual operators.

Luke has significant experience of premises licence applications, particularly in cumulative impact areas, as well as reviews, closure notice and other regulatory matters. His client base includes Ministry of Sound, JKS Restaurants, and The Arts Club.

Luke was a Partner at John Gaunt & Partners.

Louise Bibby – Private Client

Louise frequently advises on wills, LPAs, trusts, and estate administration. Her clients include individuals, families, and high-net-worth clients, who she acts for on issues such as estate planning, inheritance tax strategies, and complex probate cases.

Louise has significant expertise in advising clients on wills, including those navigating major life changes such as divorce or remarriage, ensuring their assets are protected for future generations.

Prior to joining Keystone, Louise was a Partner at Brooke Gordon Solicitors.

Johnny Brooke – Dispute Resolution  

Johnny is a commercial, private client, and employment law disputes specialist with extensive experience in both high-value and complex litigation and private client matters.

His work encompasses professional negligence, insurance, contract breaches, boundary disputes, intellectual property, probate and inheritance disputes, and white collar crime.

Johnny joins Keystone having previously run his own law firm.

Harriet Donovan – Family 

Harriet is a family partner and has extensive experience in children matters, including court applications for child arrangement orders and parental responsibility orders. She also supports clients facing difficulties with associated persons, assisting in securing non-molestation orders and occupation orders for their protection.