Norton Rose Fulbright’s Farmida Bi and Kate Tomlinson included in The Lawyer Hot 100

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright is pleased to announce that Farmida Bi and Kate Tomlinson have been included in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 as “Leader” and “Disruptor” respectively.

The Hot 100 is an annual listing that recognises the best lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the sector in the UK over the past year.

Farmida Bi

Farmida Bi is the Chair of Norton Rose Fulbright LLP. She is a partner in the firm’s London office and has specialised in capital markets and Islamic finance transactions for over 20 years, advising on English and New York law. She is European Head of Islamic Finance at Norton Rose Fulbright.

Farmida acts for arrangers, dealers, issuers and trustees on a wide range of debt instruments, including project bonds, debt programmes, high-yield bonds, private placements and Islamic bond issuances. She has also advised a broad range of participants in the securitisation of a wide variety of assets in numerous jurisdictions, and in structured debt restructurings and workouts.

A recognised expert in the capital markets field, Farmida is named a 'leading individual' for debt capital markets in Legal 500 2017 and ranked in securitisation in Chambers 2017. Farmida is also ranked in Band 1 for Islamic finance in Chambers UK 2017 and named as a 'leading individual' for Islamic finance in the Legal 500 2017.

Farmida has collected many accolades for her work and has twice been awarded 'Best in Banking and Finance' at IFLR's European Women in Business Law Awards; named one of the five most powerful Muslim women in the UK at the inaugural Muslim Women Power List published by The Times; and named Commercial Lawyer of the Year by the Society of Asian Lawyers.

Kate Tomlinson

Kate Tomlinson is the firm’s Innovation Director in EMEA. Kate was a member of the team who originally set up the Norton Rose Fulbright Newcastle Hub in 2015. 

Kate is responsible for a team operating from the firm’s Newcastle Hub that manages the technology driven innovation projects from the generation of ideas, to exploring new ways of working and the development of new client-led solutions. These initiatives are bringing together legal and non-legal skill sets from across the firm to successfully merge a more process driven way of working with flexible resourcing and the application of technology.

The Newcastle Hub is a key aspect of the firm’s strategy and focuses on delivering legal and business services to the global network in a more innovative and efficient way. The Hub is home to the firm’s legal process and technology paralegals, a group of skilled paralegals who conduct fee-earning, process-based legal work. They work closely with the Innovation and Business Solutions team re-engineering the firm’s legal processes to make them more efficient and trialling and implementing new technologies.

Kate trained at Norton Rose Fulbright and was previously Of Counsel in the corporate department. Kate is a member of the NRF Transform team, the firm’s global change and innovation program.

Martin Scott, managing partner for Europe, Middle East and Asia, Norton Rose Fulbright commented:

“I am delighted that Farmida and Kate have been recognised for all their achievements over the course of the year. It is testament to their invaluable work within the firm and their contribution to the firm’s wider strategy.”

For further information please contact:

Kate Farrell, PR Executive
Tel: +44 20 7444 3724 Mob: +44 07515 324 290
kate.farrell@nortonrosefulbright.com

Notes for editors:

Norton Rose Fulbright 

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm providing the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. The firm has more than 4,000 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

Recognized for its industry focus, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare. Through its global risk advisory group, the firm leverages its industry experience with its knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses.

Norton Rose Fulbright operates in accordance with its global business principles of quality, unity and integrity, aiming to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of its offices and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.

Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein, helps coordinate the activities of Norton Rose Fulbright members but does not itself provide legal services to clients. Norton Rose Fulbright has offices in more than 50 cities worldwide, including London, Houston, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. For more information, see nortonrosefulbright.com/legal-notices.