Omnia Strategy
An international law firm founded by Cherie Blair in 2011 with offices in London and Washington D.C.
Contents
Activities
According to the Daily Mail, Omnia helps companies manage political and security risks with a legal rather than a security emphasis. 'It is also known to use former intelligence officers and investigative companies'.[1]
Omnia' website says it aims to
- Tackle complex problems that require an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach. We provide a bespoke service and carefully select a tailored project team which may include solicitors, barristers, corporate general counsel, former CEOs, strategy consultants, diplomats, economists, investment bankers and communications specialists from across the globe.’
Fee
It is understood by the Telegraph that the firm usually charge clients £1,150 an hour.[2]
Affiliations
Omnia's offices are based in Great Cumberland Place in Central London overlooking Hyde Park, alongside the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. [1] Despite this, the offices are officially registered in Baker Street, London where the firm's accountants are based and no one at the building's reception desk is aware of the law firm's existence. The Blair's child - Euan Blair - also runs his recruitment agency, Sarina Russo Job Access from the same offices as his parents.[3]
People
Team
- Cherie Blair, founder and chair. A QC and wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- Julia Yun Hulme, managing director. Former deputy general counsel for a major European downstream oil company with over €20 billion in revenue.
- Roxana Pierce, director
- Toby Cadman, partner
- James Palmer, senior associate
- Mai-Linh Hamisultane, senior associate
- Adam Smith-Anthony, senior associate
- Thomas Coats, associate
- Laura Edwards, associate
- Caroline Brooks, associate[4]
Advisory Council
- Aliko Dangote GCON. Founder, president and chief executive of the Dangote Group in Nigeria. Listed by Forbes as the richest African with a net worth of $25 billion.
- William H. Neukom. Founder and CEO of the World Justice Project. A retired partner of K&L Gates, former lead lawyer and executive vice president for law and corporate affairs for Microsoft Corporation
- The Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Brooke CMG. Former barrister and QC, Lord Justice of Appeal, Judge in charge of modernisation, chairman of the Law Commission and vice-president of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal. Has been president of the Slynn Foundation since 1999.
- Ida Beerhalter. Heads the private investment partnership of women principals from the Gulf region in Riyadh at IOME. Currently serves as a member of the board, strategic advisor and expert for various for-profit and not-for-profit organisations.
- Prof. Jeffrey Golden. Chairman of the P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation in the Hague.
- Shanu Hinduja. Chairperson of the Hinduja Foundation US and co-chair of Hinduja Global Solutions and a board member of Hinduja Bank Switzerland
- Kamal F. Tabet. Private investor and a member of the Wharton School's executive board for Europe, Middle East and Asia. Former head and member of the executive committee of Terra Firma's investor relations.
- The Rt. Hon. Baroness Patricia Scotland. A QC and Labour peer in the House of Lords[5]
Clients
- Government of Bahrain[1]
- Government of Albania[1] Has been appointed to act on behalf of the new government who have canceled a £250 million contract with a Rapiscan Systems to construct and operate special scanners along its international borders in an attempt to tighten up the borders, crack down on drugs, tobacco and weapon struggling and stop people trafficking. The case was taken to the International Chamber of Commerce in Vienna.[6] Cherie's husband, Tony, has been an adviser to the government of Albania through his firm Tony Blair Associates.
- 'a pressure group in Nigeria'[1]
- 'a company in Egypt'[1]
- Provides 'strategic counsel' to Ali Bongo Ondimba, the president of Gabon. According to the Telegraph and local media reports, the contract involves drawing up law reforms to put in place 'legal texts for better management of biodiversity and the ecosystem'. Lione Legault describes himself on Linkedin as Omnia's consultant and legal adviser in Gabon.[3]
- Acted for a 'mobile phone company which won a contract to build and operate a broadband network in Ghana and has, according to local reports, shown interest in winning work in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa'[3]
- Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice. Omnia signed a contract in 2014 to conduct a review of the country's 'bilateral investment treaties'. It was understood by the Telegraph that the first stage of the review which was expected to take three months was worth £120,000 and the second phase, expected to take three to four months, was worth £200,000 to £250,000. The firm also had the option to complete a third stage at a fee yet to be decided.[2] Another country Cherie's husband Tony has been an adviser to the government of through his firm Tony Blair Associates.
- Government of Maldives. In June 2015 it was announced Omnia had signed a contract with the government, which 'faces international condemnation for human rights abuses'. The value of the contract is unknown. The government are currently under investigation for giving a 13-year jail sentence to former President Mohamed Nasheed - Nasheed was the state's first democratically elected president in 2008, but was forced to resign at gunpoint in 2012 and has been convicted on 'terror charges'.[7]
Contact
The Omnia website, like Tony Blair’s various organisations, provides no actual address or phone number. Cherie Blair Foundation For Women is also situated in the same building. [1]
- Website: http://omniastrategy.com/
Resources
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Francis Beckett, David Hencke And Nick Kochan, Will Tony and Cherie get divorced? They lead separate lives amid claims that she still resents her treatment at No10 - and his closeness to Murdoch's ex-wife. Now friends are asking an explosive question, Daily Mail, 8 March 2015, accessed same day
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Robert Mendick How Cherie Blair earns £1,000 an hour from the Kazakh taxpayer Telegraph, 17 August 2014, accessed 30 March 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Robert Mendick Cherie Blair’s empire and its secret HQ Telegraph, 30 March 2014, accessed 30 March 2015
- ↑ Omnia Strategy Team, accessed 30 March 2015
- ↑ Omnia Strategy Advisory council, accessed 30 March 2015
- ↑ Robert Mendick Cherie Blair signs deal to act for Albania where her husband is official adviser Telegraph, 7 March 2015, accessed 30 March 2015
- ↑ Paul Gallagher Cherie Blair’s firm accused of 'unethical profiteering' over deal with Maldives Independent, 18 June 2015, accessed July 2015.