Kathleen Russ was appointed Travers Smith's Senior Partner on 1 July 2019, having been a partner in the Tax Department since 2001, and Head of the Tax Department from July 2007 to January 2017. Kathleen is also Chair of the firm's International Board.
Kathleen has occupied a strategic and leadership role in the firm helping shape and execute Travers Smith's business strategy for a number of years, initially as a member of the firm's Partnership Board, and currently as its Chair. In addition, she Chair's the firm's Audit committee as well as the Diversity and Inclusion and Environmental Boards, with those roles reflecting the importance that she ascribes to those issues.
As Head of Travers Smith's Tax Department for almost ten years, Kathleen grew the department into one of the firm's key business areas.
Kathleen specialises in private equity transactions and has experience acting for both institutional investors and management teams. She was a member of the BVCA Tax Committee from 2002 to 2017 where she was regularly involved in discussions with HMRC on the BVCA's behalf. She sits on the Board of the Office of Tax Simplification as a Non-Executive Director, providing advice to the Chancellor on simplifying the UK tax system.
Kathleen is a member of the CBI London Regional Council.
Kathleen is individually recommended by Chambers and Partners UK, the Legal 500 and PLC as one of the City's leading tax practitioners. She is listed in the 'Hall of Fame' in the Legal 500 2022, an 'Eminent Practitioner' in Chambers and Partners 2022 and a 'Global Leader' for Advisory Corporate Tax by Who's Who Legal 2021.