PRIVATE PRACTICE

Partners



Magic circle firm Allen & Overy keeps the partner promotions ball rolling by making up 14 worldwide, which brings its total to 444. Five are in London: banking specialist Sanjeev Dhuna, Andrew Sulston in the derivatives and structured finance group, litigation specialist Matthew Gearing, Vimal Tilakapala in tax, and Jennifer Chambers in the private client team.

Six of the ten promoted at Ashurst are in London: Jeremy Bell, Nick Bryans, Nicholas Holmes and Nick Williamson are made up in the corporate department and James Hogben and Martyn Rogers in the international finance practice. It will have 161 partners as a result.


Taylor Wessing promotes five at its London office: Alan Evans and Michael Helfgott in the real estate team, employment and pensions specialist Paul Callaghan, litigation specialist Saleem Fazal and intellectual property specialist Nigel Stoate, making 101 UK partners.


Matt Hannaford joins Clyde & Co’s ship finance practice from Clifford Chance.


Juliet Blanch joins the international disputes group at US firm McDermott Will & Emery from Norton Rose.


Moving away from London, Lymington firm Scott Bailey & Co promotes family specialist Sarah Unsworth to equity partner.


In Oxfordshire, Hedges promotes property specialist Elizabeth Moffitt and family specialist Nicola Poole.


To the West Country, where Osborne Clarke promotes three in Bristol: David Ferris (corporate), David North (commercial development), and Andrew Clayton (property). The firm has 98 partners.


Ashfords promotes three: in the Tiverton office personal injury lawyer Flora Wood, and in the Taunton office Jason Squire (personal injury) and Michelle Bevan (employment). It now has 44 partners.


Bristol firm Meade-King promotes Julie Scott in the commercial property team.


Birmingham firm Shakespeares appoints Mike Hibbs, its head of employment, as senior partner, replacing Tony Jones who steps down after six years in the role. Mr Jones will continue as head of education and charities.


Regional firm Cobbetts appoints Stephen Benson as senior partner, replacing Stephen White who remains part of the management team with responsibility for premises.


Moving north, James Duckworth joins Yorkshire firm Andrew M Jackson to head its construction unit from City giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.


Preston firm Napthens promotes commercial property specialist Dominic Hester.


Wilmslow personal injury practice Bott & Co promotes Mike Hankinson.


In Manchester, Howard Burns joins the commercial department of Rowe Cohen. He was previously a partner at Donns.




Associates/Assistants

In London, Seddons promotes Kate Allan to commercial dispute resolution associate.


Assistant Sabahhit Ali joins the employment department of Kent firm Clarkson Wright & Jakes, having previously been at Maidstone firm Davies Lavery.


Wendy Blunden joins Worthing firm Williams Macdougall & Campbell as an assistant in the family department.


Dinshaw Printer, previously at Moore & Blatch in Southampton, joins the family team at Scott Bailey & Co in Lymington.


Assistants David Seals, from Lincolnshire firm Bridge McFarland, and Yasmin Tayob, from Geoffrey Leaver in Milton Keynes, join the employment team at the Crawley office of Rawlison Butler. Commercial property assistant James Smallman, meanwhile, moved to the Horsham branch of Rawlison Butler from the Horsham office of PDT, not as stated in [2005] Gazette, 7 April, 32.

Joanne Cookson joins the commercial property division of Cheshire firm Forshaws from the Manchester office of Cobbetts.


McCormicks promotes corporate fraud law specialist Steve Milner to senior associate at its Leeds office.





BAR AND BENCH


Barrister Andrew McFarlane QC is appointed a High Court judge in the Family Division, while barrister Nicholas Warren QC is appointed a High Court judge in the Chancery Division.



Barrister Stephen Kramer QC is appointed to sit at the Central Criminal Court.


Barrister Jennifer Kershaw QC is appointed a circuit judge on the north-eastern circuit and barrister Jeremy Lea on the midland circuit. Solicitor Peter Bellamy is appointed a district judge on the northern circuit.