MOVING ON

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

Starting off in Birmingham, Lee Crowder has a new head of property in the shape of Jon Austin, who is leaving Pinsent Curtis Biddle.

He replaces Kevin Nagle, who is retiring from the law but is staying on as a consultant for a year to ensure a smooth handover.

Birmingham's biggest firm, Wragge & Co, is making up four lawyers, taking it to 113 partners from 1 May: Patrick Brodie (employment), Mark Chester (real estate), Cerryg Jones (intellectual property) and David Lowe (technology).

Cheltenham firm Rickerbys has made up intellectual property lawyer Edward Davies to salaried partner, and elevated family head Carolyn Green to the equity.

In Essex, Barking firm Sternberg Reed Taylor & Gill has 16 partners after recruiting Andrew Harrison (personal injury) from Kennedys of Brentwood and David Wise (commercial conveyancing) from north-west London firm Kosky Seal.

In the City, Watson Farley & Williams has hired international finance specialist Ron Stuber from US firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.

In New York, Watson Farley has brought in tax specialist Patricia Iandoli as a partner.

She was formerly a senior associate at Allen & Overy.

Herbert Smith has promoted 11 to the partnership, taking it to 203 in total: Robin Wittering, Alex Kay and, Malcolm Lombers and Roddy Martin (all corporate); litigators Matthew Weiniger, Michael Young and Tony Dymond, IP lawyer Joel Smith; Richard Forsdyke (property) and tax lawyers Derek Hill and Isaac Zailer.

The London office of US firm White & Case has brought in Tim Jeveons and David Barwise as capital markets partners from Linklaters, where both were senior associates.

Elsewhere in London, Hunters has promoted family lawyer Hetty Gleave and litigator Richard Kershaw to the partnership, which now totals 14.

Memery Crystal has made up corporate finance lawyers Nick Davis and Andrew Titmas.

Specialist commercial fraud firm Philippsohn Crawfords Berwald now has eight partners after promoting William Christopher and Trevor Mascarenhas.

Cumberland Ellis Peirs has a new partner and head of commercial litigation after Barry Davies gave up practice as a sole practitioner in Epsom.

Lee & Pembertons has 12 partners after making up Paul Lane (employment), Karen Lintern (company/

commercial) and Matthew Wakefield (private client), all of whom trained with the firm.

Crawley firm Stevensdrake has hired commercial property lawyer Spencer Grimshaw as a partner from the London office of Manchester firm Halliwell Landau.

In Bournemouth, Matthew & Matthew has taken on conveyancing and probate specialist David Webb from Dixon Stewart Webb as its sixth partner.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Management

Kendall Freeman, the City insurance firm that has demerged from DJ Freeman, has elected David Kendall and Laurence Harris as senior and managing partner respectively.

Mr Kendall will serve for five years, Mr Harris for three at the 20-partner practice.

In Kent, Andrew Fermor and Jonathan Denny have been re-elected senior and managing partner respectively of Cripps Harries Hall.

A similar story at south-west firm Clarke Willmott, where David Sedgwick has become the first managing partner in the firm's 105-year history to be re-elected for a second four-year term.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/

assistants

Lawyers leaving London is a notable theme this week.

Mark Rhodes has joined Canterbury-based Furley Page as a commercial assistant.

He previously worked in-house with Corporate Oxygen in London.

Meanwhile, corporate finance assistant Keith McAlister and litigation assistant Claire Williams are joining Maidstone firm Brachers from City firms KLegal and Herbert Smith respectively.

Edwards Geldard's Cardiff office has recruited Anita Waters to its corporate team.

She joins from City firm Norton Rose.

However, moving to central London is media assistant Fraser Bloom, who has joined Davenport Lyons from Frank Bloom & Co in Walton-on-Thames.

In Reading, Yvonne Fuller, who has been working as a locum, joins Field Seymour Parkes as an assistant in the property department, where she is joined by Natasha Patis, from Oxfordshire firm Brookstreet Des Roches.

Birmingham firm Heatons has added corporate finance assistant James Melen from Edwards Geldard.

In Leeds, Walker Morris's intellectual property group has been bolstered by two assistants: Dr Roger Lowe from Hammonds and Katy Cullen - a dual-qualified solicitor and trademark attorney - from in-house at Unilever.

In nearby Harrogate, Raworths has recruited wills, trusts and probate solicitor Safter Karim from Worcestershire firm Morton Fisher.

Across the Pennines, professional indemnity litigator Chris Stanton has moved from Addleshaw Booth & Co in Manchester to Hill Dickinson.

Blackburn firm Taylors has snapped up non-contentious IT/IP solicitor Andrew Herricks from Keoghs in Bolton.