Moving on

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

The busy start to the year continues in London with leading media firm Schillings bringing in Rachel Atkins as a partner.

She was formerly head of publishing at Harbottle & Lewis.

Hammond Suddards Edge has swooped on US firm McDermott Will & Emery to boost its intellectual property (IP) team.

Phillip Rees - who was head of McDermott's European transactional IP team - and Kathleen Harris join as partners, along with solicitors Marie-Claire McCartney and Rico Calleja, and a trade mark agent.

As if that was not enough, contentious IP partner Paul Harris has joined Hammonds from Eversheds.

US firm Reed Smith has announced plans to build an international corporate recovery practice in the UK after recruiting insolvency lawyer Mark Parkhouse to its London office.

He joins from Seddons.

Shipping and commodities law firm Waterson Hicks has scooped up partner Mark Aspinall and his assistants Tim Baker and Julian White from Shaw & Croft.

They specialise in shipping and oil trading litigation, and energy joint venture and project work.

Another shipping specialist, Anne Liversedge, has been promoted to partner at City firm Thomas Cooper & Stibbard.

Catastrophic injury specialist Warren Collins has joined the London office of Alexander Harris as a partner from Russell Jones & Walker.

Moon Beever has promoted insolvency and business recovery associate Graham McPhie to partner.

City firm Allen & Overy has appointed Jonathan Brayne as non-executive chairman of its global banking practice, following David Morley's election as the firm's managing partner.

Leaving the City is a popular theme this week.

Richard Taylor, an IP partner at City firm Stringer Saul, has joined DLA's Sheffield office.

Rory O'Connor, formerly head of Ernst & Young's employment law unit in London, has joined Furley Page in Canterbury as partner and head of employment.

Commercial litigator Jonathan Sachs leaves London firm Pettman Smith, where he was head of litigation, to join the Crawley office of south-east firm asb law as a partner.

Paul Solon has swapped City-based Beachcroft Wansbroughs for the Cambridge office of Mills & Reeve as a tax and trusts partner.

John Scannell has joined Ipswich firm Prettys as a partner from Eversheds to build its commercial property litigation practice.

Maidstone-based Gulland & Gulland has promoted criminal lawyer John Roberts to partner.

Family lawyer Malcolm Stevens has joined Hugh James in Cardiff as a partner.

He leaves Pontypool-based Watkins & Gunn.

Devon-based Symes Robinson Lee has promoted property associate Clare Trevelyan Thomas to partner.

Two new partners for Coventry-based Brindley Twist Tafft & James: insolvency and commercial litigators Mohammed Qasim and Andrew Garland have been promoted.

There is a new firm in Worcester, named The Worcester Family Law Practice.

Its founders are Paul Kemp and John Barklam (previously at Midwinter Connell Smith) and Penny Andrew and Lesley Scott (formerly at Andrew Lyons & Co).

Farther north, Keoghs in Bolton has made up personal injury associate Lis Shrimpton to partner.

Shane Markham (personal injury) and Chris Darlington (commercial conveyancing) have been made up at Cheshire firm Poole Alcock, which now has 17 partners.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates / assistants

A busy week in the home counties.

Commercial property associate David Power joins Hertfordshire firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin from Lee Crowder in Birmingham.

Employment lawyer Stuart Lawrenson has qualified into the Milton Keynes office of Shoosmiths.

The Basingstoke office of Penningtons has recruited pensions law associate Nigel Penzer from Morgan Cole.

Employment assistant Liz Wilson (from the Reading office of Osborne Clarke) and corporate and commercial assistant Alix Picard (from Cheltenham firm Wiggin & Co) have joined Marlow-based Moorcrofts.

Berkshire-based Charles Lucas & Marshall has recruited family assistant Claire Hodges from Newbury firm Gardner Leader.

Also leaving Gardner Leader is private client assistant Trudy Rogers, who joins Reading firm Clarks, along with Penny Hunt (employment), who has left US firm Baker & McKenzie in the City.

Lorraine Green leaves south London firm Fisher Meredith to join Hutchins & Co in east London as an assistant and head of family.

Alexandra Boshell has qualified into Winchester firm Shentons' civil litigation department.

Bristol firm TLT has four recruits: associate Simon Goss (construction) from City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, associate Neil Waller (banking) from Jersey firm Bedell Cristin, assistant Louise Myles (commercial) from City firm DJ Freeman, and Robert Foote (commercial litigation) from Pitmans in Reading.

Still in Bristol, commercial firm Meade-King has scooped up associate Alison Bluck, who was head of insolvency at Laytons.

Peter Barton has been promoted to associate in the tax, trusts and probate team at west country firm Bevan Ashford.