Moving on

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

Manchester is the place for the surprisingly small amount of partnership action this week.

Halliwell Landau has launched a specialist environment team after recruiting partner Denise Dowen from Newcastle firm Dickinson Dees, where she was head of environment.

Betesh Fox & Co has made up personal injury associate Laurence Goldstone to partner.

Another Manchester personal injury lawyer to be made up is Robin Patey, an equity partner at Express Solicitors at the age of just 27.

Chelmsford firm Wollastons has re-recruited corporate recovery and insolvency partner Paul Mardon after he spent four years away with City firm Simmons & Simmons.

City firm Rosenblatt has scooped up Keith Corkan, who joins as a partner and head of employment from Collyer-Bristow, where he held the same role.

M4 corridor firm Morgan Cole has named insurance partner Robin Havard as its new chairman for three years from 1 April.

He replaces John Cole, who is to return to a full-time fee-earning role in partnership and commercial law.

Eversheds' Cardiff office loses partner John Moseley, who joins Edwards Geldard to lead the claims management team.

However, Eversheds has become the first of the big firms to name the winners in this year's partnership round.

It will have 358 partners on 1 May after making up 18:

- In corporate, Geraint Thomas (Cardiff), Nigel Braddock (Leeds), Carsten Rumberg (London) and Chris Tinsley (Manchester);

- In commercial, Ros Cook (Cambridge) and Scott Morrison (Manchester);

- In property, Gurjit Atwal (Birmingham), David Roberts (Cambridge), Richard Lloyd (Manchester) and Rachel Frances Lang (London);

- In litigation, Dave Gordon and Peter Scurlock (Birmingham), Jonathan Bowley (London), Simon Chamberlain (Manchester), Paul Worth (Nottingham) and Elizabeth Speed (Newcastle), and;

- In the human resources group, Ann-Marie Pugh (Birmingham) and Diane Gilhooley (Manchester).

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/assistants

David Marsh has left Birmingham firm Wragge & Co to join Newcastle-based Dickinson Dees as an associate and head of IT and e-commerce.

However, two City solicitors are moving to Birmingham to join Pinsent Curtis Biddle's property team: associate Tom Johnson joins from Linklaters and assistant Richard Ford from Clifford Chance.

In the City, Charles Russell has brought in insurance/reinsurance litigation assistant Louise Bagnall from Stephenson Harwood.

EU and healthcare regulatory specialist Maria Isabel Manley has joined intellectual property firm Bristows as an assistant.

She was formerly in the Brussels office of US firm White & Case.

Commercial litigator Sarah Barker-Benfield has joined Southampton-based Eric Robinson from Paul Davidson in Reading.

Welsh firm Morgan Cole has recruited banking and corporate recovery assistant Helen Tudball from TLT in Bristol.

Milton Keynes firm Warren Thomas has a new employment assistant: Fiona Hewitt joins from Underwoods in Hemel Hempstead.

Stockport firm O'Neill Patient has two new assistants: Ben Tatters (property) joins from Lyons Wilson and Susan Carr (commercial litigation) from Kuit Steinart Levy.

James Chapman & Co in Manchester has added commercial property assistant Wanda Goodhead, who previously ran her own legal consultancy, WMG Associates.

City firm Allen & Overy has made a number of additions to its Hong Kong office.

Senior associate Colin Gin joins the energy team from CMS Cameron McKenna, and associates Amy Supangkat and Geoffrey O'Dea join the banking and finance department from Australian firms Blake Dawson Waldron and Allens Arthur Robinson respectively.

OTHERS

Mark Williams, a former legal adviser at insurance company Skandia Life, is the new head of legal at income protection insurer UnumProvident.

London fraud firm Morgan Rose has recruited Graham Compton from Bankside Law as a consultant on high-value fraud and money laundering.

Technical accountant Kathryn Cearns has been promoted to consultant at Herbert Smith and given the equivalent of partner status.

She will act as an in-house adviser on technical and accounting issues.

Janet Knowles, biosciences partner at Eversheds, has become company secretary for Medilink, a not-for-profit organisation which promotes innovation in the medical technology and systems sector.

Stockport firm SASlawyers has appointed its first chief executive, Andrew Perry, who worked in marketing in the pharmaceutical industry.