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The Assurance Desk

Winston Taylor UK LLP (formerly Taylor Wessing) review

Advisory firm

The UK law firm formerly called Taylor Wessing, renamed Winston Taylor in a 2026 merger with US firm Winston & Strawn, with a Chambers-ranked data protection team.

Relevant if you face a breach, regulator inquiry or EU AI Act question and want a law firm

Price Published
Indemnity cover Not published
How it uses AI Not published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Winston Taylor UK scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 3/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5
What it publishes about fees 2/5
Knowledge of your sector 4/5
Independence from what it sells 5/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 3/5

What Winston Taylor UK offers, and what it publishes

This is a large law firm's data protection team. Its practice page lists breach investigation and notification, defence of regulatory inquiries and data-security class actions, and EU AI Act work. Chambers UK 2026 ranks the practice Band 3, and partner Christopher Jeffery Band 5. Partner Jo Joyce's stated focus is AI and privacy governance.

Winston Taylor UK does not publish a price for data protection work. The hourly rates it publishes, £290 to £1,030 plus VAT, cover only the services the solicitors' regulator requires it to price, such as probate and conveyancing. It does not disclose its UK professional indemnity cover or publish client case studies.

In 2017 the firm lost at the Court of Appeal of England and Wales over its own handling of a subject access request, in Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing; the court held it had not shown that complying would take disproportionate effort. The SRA register shows no published disciplinary decisions. Its unclaimed Trustpilot page has four reviews, sharply split.

Strengths

  • SRA-recognised body since 2011 (SRA 463016) with no disciplinary or regulatory decisions currently published on the register
  • Dedicated, named Data Protection & Information Law practice ranked Band 3 by Chambers UK, with partner Christopher Jeffery individually ranked Band 5
  • Firm states on its own site that it publishes SRA-mandated fee/pricing transparency information
  • Practice page claims over 20 years' team experience across breach response, regulatory-inquiry defence and international data protection, spanning sectors including financial services, life sciences and technology

Things to check

  • The entity historically known as 'Taylor Wessing' has been renamed and restructured following a 2026 transatlantic merger, so the firm as originally named no longer trades under that name.
  • The firm itself has litigated, and lost at the Court of Appeal, over its own handling of a subject access request from a client's beneficiary.
  • No professional indemnity insurance cover amount is publicly disclosed for the UK entity or entities carrying on the practice.

Common questions

Is Taylor Wessing still called Taylor Wessing?

No. Companies House shows the UK partnership was renamed Winston Taylor UK LLP on 14 April 2026. The merger with US firm Winston & Strawn went live on 1 June 2026.

Does the firm publish its fees?

Not for data protection work. It publishes hourly rates of £290 to £1,030 plus VAT only for the services the solicitors' regulator requires it to price, such as probate and conveyancing.

Is Winston Taylor regulated in the UK?

Yes. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has recognised Winston Taylor UK LLP since 1 November 2011. A second entity, Winston Taylor International LLP, recognised on 25 March 2026, also carries on the UK practice.

Has a court ruled against the firm on data protection?

Yes. In Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing LLP [2017] EWCA Civ 74, the Court of Appeal found the firm had not shown that answering a subject access request would take disproportionate effort. The SRA register shows no published disciplinary decisions against it.

Evidence for each Winston Taylor UK score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • The entity historically known as 'Taylor Wessing' has been renamed and restructured following a 2026 transatlantic merger, so the firm as originally named no longer trades under that name. (Companies House OC322935 was renamed from 'Taylor Wessing Limited Liability Partnership' to 'Winston Taylor UK LLP' on 14 Apr 2026, and the UK practice is now also carried on via a separate new SRA-recognised entity, Winston Taylor International LLP (SRA 8015022, recognised 25/03/2026).)
  • The firm itself has litigated, and lost at the Court of Appeal, over its own handling of a subject access request from a client's beneficiary. (Dawson-Damer v Taylor Wessing LLP [2017] EWCA Civ 74: the Court of Appeal held there was no 'no other purpose' bar to relief and that the firm had not shown compliance would involve disproportionate effort, reversing the High Court's dismissal of the claimants' application.)
  • No professional indemnity insurance cover amount is publicly disclosed for the UK entity or entities carrying on the practice. (Winston Taylor's own regulatory-and-legal-information page addresses professional indemnity insurance only for its French Avocats entity via the Paris Bar; no equivalent UK PII disclosure was found on the pages checked.)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 3/5 Chambers Band 3 ranking and self-described breach/regulatory-inquiry defence work, but the firm's own 2017 Court of Appeal loss on a subject access request shows a documented compliance shortfall.
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5 SRA-recognised body since 2011 with no published disciplinary record; Chambers-ranked individual lawyer Christopher Jeffery, Band 5, in UK data protection.
What it publishes about fees 2/5 Firm states it publishes SRA-mandated fee-transparency data, but core data-protection advisory rates were not found published; consistent with bespoke City-firm hourly billing.
Knowledge of your sector 4/5 Dedicated Privacy & Data Security practice page, 20+ years' team claim, named partners Jeffery and Joyce, and a Chambers-ranked specialism.
Independence from what it sells 5/5 Traditional law-firm billing model; no evidence found of tied software-product sales or funnel-style monetisation of the advisory relationship.
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 3/5 SRA regulation imposes mandatory indemnity-insurance rules on recognised bodies, but no specific UK cover amount is publicly disclosed by the firm.

Sources for Winston Taylor UK

  • Companies House record for the LLP that traded as Taylor Wessing (Company OC322935, incorporated 5 Oct 2006 as 'TAYLOR WESSING LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP'; renamed 'WINSTON TAYLOR UK LLP' on 14 Apr 2026; status Active) (Companies House, checked 19 September 2026)
  • SRA recognised-body record for Winston Taylor UK LLP (formerly Taylor Wessing LLP) (SRA number 463016, recognised body since 01/11/2011, authorised for all legal services, head office 5 New Street Square, London EC4A 3TW; register states no disciplinary or regulatory decisions currently published) (sra.org.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • A second, newer SRA-recognised entity now also carries on the UK practice post-merger (Winston Taylor International LLP, SRA number 8015022, recognised body since 25/03/2026, a Delaware LLP (file no. 10474334) registered in England as an overseas entity) (sra.org.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Taylor Wessing completed a transatlantic merger with US firm Winston & Strawn, forming Winston Taylor (Merger went live 1 June 2026; combined firm reported at over 1,400 lawyers and revenues of about £1.3 billion across roughly 20 offices in the US, UK and Europe) (legalcheek.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Firm's own regulatory page states it publishes SRA-mandated fee/pricing information ("In compliance with this requirement, we publish information on our fees and pricing, which is available here", page states figures correct as of 1 April 2026) (winstontaylor.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Firm's Privacy & Data Security practice page self-describes team experience and services ("dedicated team has over 20 years of experience helping businesses solve their data and cyber challenges"; lists breach investigation, notification management, defence of data-security class actions and regulatory inquiries among services) (winstontaylor.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Chambers UK 2026 ranks the firm's Data Protection & Information Law practice and a named partner (Practice ranked Band 3; Christopher Jeffery individually ranked Band 5 and described in client feedback as "a great all-round privacy lawyer") (chambers.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Court of Appeal case in which the firm itself, as a data controller, was respondent to a subject access request dispute (Dawson-Damer and others v Taylor Wessing LLP (Information Commissioner intervening) [2017] EWCA Civ 74, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), judgment handed down 16 February 2017) (ucpi.org.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Winston Taylor publishes hourly rates for the services the solicitors' regulator requires it to price (probate, residential conveyancing, immigration and employment tribunal claims): "These range from £290 plus VAT for a paralegal to £1,030 plus VAT for a senior partner." It publishes no figure for data protection work. (£290 to £1,030 an hour plus VAT (SRA-mandated services only)) (winstontaylor.com, checked 29 September 2026)
  • Trustpilot: A Trustpilot page exists under the firm's pre-merger domain (taylorwessing.com) but is unclaimed and has only 4 reviews (3.2 average), so it is a thin, unverified sample rather than a reliable aggregate. Reviews are sharply split: one 5-star corporate-client testimonial praising expertise and billing; one 1-star complaint about recruitment-process manners; one 3-star review from opposing counsel alleging a document-redaction failure exposed confidential data in a PDF; and one 2-star review alleging a missed court date and a threat to release client data, with the deposit eventually refunded. These are single-author, unverified claims on a very small unclaimed profile, not a settled aggregate view, and no equivalent Trustpilot page was found yet under the new winstontaylor.com domain. (Trustpilot, checked 20 September 2026)

SRA-recognised body, reference 463016, recognised since 1 November 2011 (stated on sra.org.uk) SRA-recognised body, reference 8015022, recognised since 25 March 2026, held by Winston Taylor International LLP (stated on sra.org.uk)

After a breach or ICO contactExposed to the EU AI ActRegulated sectors

Where this firm appears

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This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.