Paul Holmes

Paul advises corporations and institutions on high-stakes challenges, with a focus on crisis and issues, civil and criminal litigation, compliance, enforcement and governance. He has counseled directors and C-suites on some of the biggest crises in corporate history, sensitive leadership changes, record-breaking settlements and bet-the-company lawsuits. His less conventional mandates include representing the shipping line in the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates and pro bono support for a death row inmate and the families of Americans held hostage in Iran.

Before taking up a career in strategic communications, Paul was a successful international journalist for almost three decades, working in more than 50 countries. He was the Global Editor for Political and General News for five years at Reuters.

Paul’s work in litigation and crisis communications has been recognized by Chambers & Partners and Lawdragon, and he is a co-author of the Latin Lawyer guide to crisis management and of four books on international affairs. He is an Ethics Fellow of the Poynter Institute of Journalism Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida and a member of the Leadership Council of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A UK and Italian national, Paul has five children and lives on Manhattan with his life partner, an award-winning journalist who writes about culture and gender. He speaks fluent French, German and Italian and has a bachelor’s degree in modern languages from the University of Exeter in the UK.