Moving On

PRIVATE PRACTICEPartnersThe Queen has a new solicitor following the retirement of Henry Boyd-Carpenter, senior partner of London-based private client specialists Farrer & Co and Her Majesty's official solicitor.

The head of Farrers' international private client team, the Hon Mark Bridges, takes over the illustrious role.

Mr Bridges will doubtless be unfazed by the job, as he already represents the Duchy of Lancaster.Mr Boyd-Carpenter's other job, as senior partner, will be taken on by Robert Clinton, currently head of the firm's media team and a former managing partner.

Farrers has had a busy week, with the addition of Alastair Collett as a partner in the charities department, joining from Denton Wilde Sapte.

It is the season for appointing senior partners, with Glenn Winter taking over from Adrian Hardingham at City-based specialist maritime and transport practice Holmes Hardingham Walser Johnston Winter.

Mr Hardingham continues as a partner, heading the cargo and transport liability department.Another specialist maritime City firm, Shaw and Croft, has elected Richard Coles, the head of the non-contentious shipping department, as senior partner.

He takes over from Roger Croft, who is retiring after nine years in the role and has become a consultant.

Roger Alexander and Trevor Watkins have been re-elected senior and managing partner respectively of City firm Lewis Silkin for another three years.Denton Wilde Sapte has announced its new management team and board.

James Dallas moves from being chairman to non-executive chairman, and will be responsible for leading and reviewing the firm's strategy.

He will be working with former UK managing partner Virginia Glastonbury as chief executive and Steven Blakeley, previously managing partner (strategic initiatives), as deputy chief executive, and both will be responsible for the overall management of the firm's worldwide business.

Four non-executive board members have been elected from within the partnership - Adrian Barr-Smith, Martin Kitchen, Rory McAlpine and Howard Morris.US firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has boosted its London office with insolvency partner Patrick Corr from Pinsent Curtis Biddle.Richard Cobb, who was head of legal and company secretary at Virtual Internet, has joined the Exeter office of Bond Pearce as a corporate finance partner.John Groome has joined Halliwell Landau in Manchester as an equity partner; he was head of insurance litigation at fellow Manchester firm Elliotts.East Anglian firm Cunningham John has made up corporate and commercial associate Clive Wadham-Smith to partner.Eversheds is the first big firm to announce its annual partnership promotions.

The 22 appointments will take the worldwide partnership to 471 on 1 May.

They are:l Commercial - Mark Beaumont, Katherine Ibbotson; l Commoditised services - Paul Coppin; l Corporate - Craig Hodgson, Martin Letza, Laura Masterson, Chris Moss, Nigel Porteous;l Employment - Naeema Choudry, Howard Ridley, Annelise Tracy Phillips;l Litigation and dispute management - Matthew Allen, Diane Bennett, Paul Davison, Amrik Kandola, Aili Marshall;l Property - Iftkhar Ahmed, Tracey Hughes, Callum Nuttall, Monique Sutherland, Philip Tunney, Paul Wootton.

PRIVATE PRACTICEAssociates/assistantsA number of assistants decided to move from local authority work to private practice this week.

Donna Swan, previously a planning law specialist at Gateshead Council, has joined Newcastle firm Robert Muckle as an associate.Durham City Council loses Tafozzul Ali, who becomes a property assistant at Blackett Hart & Pratt's Newcastle office.

Also joining the firm is commercial property specialist Michael Burgess, previously at Hewitts in Bishop Auckland.Employment associate Claire Newberry has rejoined Pinsent Curtis Biddle in Leeds from DLA, while Geraldine Fabre - a dual UK and French qualified corporate solicitor - has left Pinsents in London to become an assistant at City firm Pritchard Englefield.

Also joining Pritchard Englefield are litigation assistant Nicholas Hanna, formerly a partner at London firm Protopapas, and corporate assistant Helen Clifford, from patent attorneys WH Beck Greener.Leaving London is Tom Serby, who has left Hobson Audley to become an assistant in west country firm Bevan Ashford's intellectual property team.

He is joined by assistant Garry MacKay from Foot Anstey Sargent in Exeter.However, Foot Anstey Sargent has recruited two new solicitors: former Davey Son & Jones partner Jonathan Hall (private client), and James Evans (company/ commercial) from TLT in Bristol.TLT has made up for it by recruiting Donna Purchase from Cardiff-based Leo Abse & Cohen, and former barrister Helen Smith, who qualified with the firm, as employment assistants.

OTHERSLondon fraud firm Peters & Peters has recruited barrister and senior crown prosecutor Michael O'Kane as a litigator.Another barrister, Rupert Butler, has left 29 Bedford Row to join media firm David Price Solicitors as an employed barrister.In a move in the opposite direction, Isaac Shapiro - formerly a partner at top New York firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom - has joined 3-4 South Square as an associate member.