Dentons is pleased to announce that Celia Gardiner has joined its Banking and Finance practice as a partner in London. A leading commodities and trade finance partner, Gardiner joins from Watson Farley & Williams where she was a partner in the firm's Commodities and Export Finance practice.

Gardiner has extensive experience in international commodities and export finance and her client roster includes some of the major players in the market including banks, commodities trading houses, non-bank lenders and trade borrowers.

At Dentons, Gardiner will work closely with the Firm's commodities, bank regulatory and Project Finance practices to further develop the Firm's relationships with existing bank clients and commodities trading houses, with a particular geographic focus in Asia and Africa as the Firm continues to grow in those markets.

Paul Holland, Partner and Head of Dentons' Banking and Finance practice in the UK, said, "We are delighted that Celia has chosen to join us. We have been recognised as a pre-eminent firm in structured trade finance for a very long time and Celia's arrival will only serve to strengthen our position further. Celia is the most recent of a number of lateral hires we have made in the Banking practice as we seek to expand and strengthen our finance offering to benefit our clients."

Gardiner said, "The advantages that Dentons' global platform will bring to my practice are significant, and I'm delighted to be joining the team.  The recent fall in commodities prices has opened up new areas of work in the extremely active trade finance market. Dentons' reputation in commodities and trade finance will, no doubt result in increased activity in both transactions and disputes."

Gardiner is highly ranked in Chambers UK 2015 as a Band 1 lawyer in Commodities: Trade Finance. She joined Watson Farley & Williams as a partner in 2008, after spending five years at Reed Smith. Prior to Reed Smith, she also gained experience at Landwell (now PwC Legal), Norton Rose and the Bank of England, which she joined on graduation in 1984.

Also announced today is the promotion to partner of funds finance senior associate, Liz Soutter, boosting the firm's existing offering in this space. Liz's practice covers advising on debt financing solutions to investment funds across all sectors. Her expertise spans the entire range of fund lending products, from investor call bridging to general support and management fee line facilities and portfolio acquisitions. Liz's clients, globally, include lenders, borrowers and sponsors, both established and newer to the fund lending market.