Moving on

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

It is all change for the new year at the heart of the legal world in Chancery Lane after the merger between Chas T Nicholls and Beynons to create Beynon Nicholls.

The new partners heading the firm are former Nicholls partners Nicholas Boucher and John O'Donnell, and Eupremio Capuano, who moves from London firm Samsons.

Richard Beynon will remain as a full-time consultant.

Restructuring and insolvency lawyer Devi Shah has been promoted to partner at City firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.

Southampton firm Moore & Blatch has recruited commercial property partner Gareth Williams from Trethowans.

Midlands firm Alsters has promoted three departmental heads to partner: Mark Hodgson (head of commercial property), Andrew Marshall (head of civil and commercial litigation), and Karen Wardley-Tipple (head of conveyancing and remortgaging in the Coventry and Nuneaton offices).

Two DLA lawyers have gone on to pastures new.

Andrew Price, who was head of the sports business group and a one-time director of legal affairs at Newcastle United, has transferred to the Leeds office of Addleshaw Booth & Co.

Associate Marie-Claire Maney moves to national firm Irwin Mitchell to head up its Sheffield employment team as a partner.

Some major management changes are also in the air.

Bristol-based Osborne Clark has announced what will happen to its management later this year ahead of the retirement of senior partner Chris Curling in 12 months' time.

Current managing partner Leslie Perrin is set to become its first full-time senior partner in September, while international head of private equity Simon Beswick will take over as managing partner in May.

Landwell, the legal arm of accountants PricewaterhouseCooper, has named head of corporate Leon Flavell as its senior partner.

He replaces founder Chris Arnheim, who is heading back to a full-time client role.

Following the election of David Gray as Eversheds' managing partner, Stephen Hopkins has replaced him as regional managing partner for Leeds and Manchester.

Abroad, Allen & Overy's Hamburg office has added intellectual property partner Henning Harte-Bavendamm from Lovells, where he was co-head of the international IP practice.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/assistants

Possibly the biggest recruitment at this level has come at Manchester firm Cottrill Stone Lawless, which has brought in Domenico Centeleghe, formerly head of legal services at Macclesfield Borough Council.

Also in Manchester, insurance litigation specialist firm James Chapman & Co has three new assistants.

Ziana Hassan joins from Weightman Vizards, Samantha Knowles from Stephensons, and Alexandra Monro from Warrington-based John Gorner.

Manchester-based Olliers has a new solicitor in its specialist fraud department: Lynn Parlane joins from Miller Gardner.

Midlands firm Alsters has two new associates after promoting family lawyers Catherine Wahlberg and Teresa Mannion.

Conveyancing assistant Nadeem Yousef joins the West Bromwich office of Challinors Lyon Clark from Sehgal & Co.

Construction assistant Fleur Kitchingman moves from Hammond Suddards Edge to join Birmingham firm The Wilkes Partnership.

In London, Westminster firm Bircham Dyson Bell has recruited architect-turned-solicitor Eva Greenspan to its property department; she moves from Howard Kennedy.

Senior solicitor Julian Cohen moves from Kidd Rapinet to join London firm Moon Beever's trusts, tax and probate department.

Two new insurance solicitors for the London office of East Anglian firm Mills & Reeve: Gary Hazelton from Hammond Suddards Edge and Ada Waddington from DJ Freeman.

Leaving London is corporate finance solicitor David Gordon, who has swapped KLegal for the Crawley office of ASB Law, and commercial litigation solicitor Rebecca Tinham, who has left City-based Banks Kelly to join Canterbury's Furley Page.

OTHERS

Solicitor Gemma Reece has been promoted to the new role of head of legal and compliance at Southern Pacific Mortgage.

Leading franchising lawyer Manzoor Ishani has joined Hertfordshire-based commercial firm Sherrards as a consultant one day a week.

After making his name at Surrey firm Mundays, he left in the summer to join Stagecoach Theatre Arts as franchise development director, where he will spend the other four days.

A couple of barristers have joined law firms.

Howard Russell, currently an independent legal consultant, has joined City firm Davies Arnold Cooper to boosts its non-contentious international transport and shipping capabilities.

North-west firm Brabners Chaffe Street has expanded its media and entertainment group with barrister Francis McEntegart, who joins from DWF.

Non-lawyer Newton Scott, previously a main board director at Scottish Widows, has joined Manchester firm Berg & Co as a consultant.