PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners

Amid the partnership round, there is also plenty of recruitment action all over the country.

In the City, Kendall Freeman will have a new head of employment in July after Neil Adams, currently a partner at Trowers & Hamlins, joins as a partner.

He replaces David von Hagen, who the firm said is leaving the City for family reasons to join Taylor Walton's Luton office.

Pat Dugdale, currently head of tax know-how and training at Allen & Overy, is joining SJ Berwin as a tax partner.

Marshall Levine, former head of construction at Linklaters, is to join Field Fisher Waterhouse in October after a six-month sabbatical.

Speechly Bircham has hired property partner Susan Lewis from Osborne Clarke.

Manches has brought in Tite & Lewis construction partner Christopher Fellowes for its London office, and Field Fisher Waterhouse commercial property partner David Mills for its Oxford office.

Guy Jordon, one-time head of property at Masons, has moved to Forsters.

US firms are busy recruiting from each other.

Leveraged finance specialist John Markland has joined the London office of Kirkland & Ellis as a partner from Weil Gotshal & Manges, where he was counsel.

Ian Clark has joined Latham & Watkins as a partner from White & Case.

Three partner promotions at Boodle Hatfield: Natasha Hassall (tax and financial planning), Simon Kerrigan (property) and Colin Young (property litigation).

It now has 26 partners.

Five promotions at regional firm Levenes.

In north London, Jonathan Lynn (criminal law), Sadiye Arslan Allsop and Serpil Ersan (both personal injury); in Birmingham, Jasminka O'Hora (employment) and Tim Beasley (personal injury).

Poole firm Bruce Lance & Co has promoted Andrew Goss to its sixth partner and head of personal injury.

South-west firm Porter Dodson has named Taunton-based commercial partner David Perratt as its new senior partner in succession to Michael Lloyd-Davies, who becomes a consultant.

Employment solicitor Rob Tice has been made up at Derby firm Flint Bishop & Barnett.

To Manchester, where James Chapman & Co has appointed new partner Amanda Kearsley from Addleshaw Goddard to develop its technology and data practice.

Fellow Manchester firm George Davies has brought in Warren Usden as a commercial litigation partner from Hill Dickinson.

Charles Tomlinson (litigation) has been made up in the Manchester office of Mace & Jones, while Tina Dunn (family) has been promoted in the Knutsford office.

It now has 36 partners.

Over in Liverpool, Goodmans' head of property, Julia Posener, has become the firm's seventh partner.

Across the Pennines, Tracy Hall has left the Leeds office of Eversheds, where she was head of real estate finance, for Cobbetts.

Leeds property firm Kelly & Co has brought back Steve Stainer as a partner from Irwin Mitchell, which he joined as a senior solicitor from Kelly & Co three years ago.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Associates/assistants

In London, Finers Stephens Innocent has hired senior solicitor Marcus Tapley-Peabody for its private finance initiative and projects group from City firm Taylor Wessing.

Boodle Hatfield has promoted four lawyers to associate level: Fiona Graham and Geoffrey Todd (both tax and financial planning), Victoria Symons (corporate) and Andrew Wilmot-Smith (property).

Leaving the City is banking lawyer Tara Blackham, who has moved to Cobbetts in Leeds from Denton Wilde Sapte.

Five solicitors have been promoted to associate at north-west firm Mace & Jones: in Liverpool, Roland Hutchins (corporate); in Manchester, Mark Gillies and Mark Knights (both property); and in Knutsford, Ros Bever (family) and Tania McGrory (probate).

Three new associates promoted at Liverpool firm Goodmans: Caroline Austin (clinical negligence), Tracey Winstanley (family) and Usha Sharma (residential conveyancing).

CORRECTIONS

Selina Childs moved from Kent firm Watson Nevill to Boyce Hatton in Torquay, and not Selina Chiles (see [2004] Gazette, 7 May, 42).