Jon Esner to lead Napthens commercial contracts team

Jon Esner has joined Napthens solicitors as a partner within the corporate department, heading up the specialist commercial contracts team.

He joins Napthens after 17 years holding senior in-house legal positions within large corporate businesses, including Co-op Group, Arriva Group and US-owned leisure business, Wyndham Corporation. Prior to this Jon spent time in private practice with DLA Piper and Eversheds.

At Napthens, Jon will lead a team of three solicitors advising on all aspects of commercial contracts including trading agreements, outsourcing contracts, cross-border arrangements, e-commerce and intellectual property exploitation.

He has particular expertise within the travel and tourism, transport and retail sectors.

Keith Melling, head of Corporate at Napthens, said: “Strong commercial agreements play a key role in the success of any enterprise.

“Increased cross-border trading, changes to data protection laws and the impact of Brexit mean businesses require specialist support which is why we have invested in someone of Jon’s expertise. His experience in this arena enables us to expand our offering in this fast-moving field.

“Given the forthcoming deadline for the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Jon’s appointment is a timely one and will undoubtedly be of great value to our clients as they look to navigate these complex new rules.” Lawyers including Phil Brown, a specialist in GDPR, and commercial law expert Claire Hynes will form part of Jon’s team.