Private practice
Partners – promotion
The 2005 promotion season is well under way. Beginning in the City, just five out of 21 promotions at magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are in the London headquarters: Bruce Embley (corporate), Ali Sallaway (dispute resolution), Caroline Stroud (employment, pensions and benefits), Chris Davis (finance) and Helen Lethaby (tax). It now has 524 partners.
Three of the 20 promotions at recently merged US/UK firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham are in London: Redmond Byrne (real estate), Sebastian Charles (planning and environment) and Peter Morton (litigation). The firm, which came together on 1 January, is up to 384 partners.
Berrrymans Lace Mawer is nearing the partnership century, after promotions for Guy Lane (dispute resolution, London), Neil Richards (defendant insurance, Manchester) and Jeremy Cama (commercial, Dubai) took it to 98.
Trowers & Hamlins becomes a 79-partner firm after making up six, five of whom are in London: Katie Saunders and Susannah Davis (both projects and construction), Jonathan Jarvis (public sector commercial), Jeremy Hunt (housing projects) and Rebecca Newns (tax).
The promotion of employment associates Denise Tomlinson and Jonathan Carr takes Lewis Silkin to 45 partners.
US firm Latham & Watkins promotes two in London: arbitration, litigation and mediation specialist Philip Clifford and finance lawyer Lene Malthasen.
Central London firm Forsters promotes four: Glenn Dunn, Eugene McMahon and Matthew Swainston in the commercial property team, and Julian Washington in the private client practice. The firm now has 29 partners.
Bristows
has promoted Myles Jeff, who specialises in intellectual property law with an emphasis on litigation. It now has 27 partners.
Niche commercial property firm Michael Conn Goldsobel has promoted litigation associate Jamie Waller as its sixth partner.
Outside the capital, Kent firm Clarkson Wright & Jakes promotes Claire Gardner in the family team. The firm now has 12 partners.
Darren Salter, head of the insurance department investigation team at Exeter’s Veitch Penny has been made up, bringing the partnership total to ten.
The head of employment at Reading firm Field Seymour Parkes, Rachel Tozer, has been promoted to partner, the firm’s 14th.
Lincoln firm Andrew & Co promotes Julie Bailey and Jessica Tilley, family and corporate specialists respectively. The firm has nine partners.
In Leicester, Harvey Ingram promotes Karen Clarke in the trusts department and personal injury specialist Steven Baylis, bringing the total number of partners to 30.
Wendy Fox has been made up in the personal injury department of Manchester insurance litigation firm James Chapman & Co, which now has 37 partners.
Manchester firm JMW promotes clinical negligence specialist Eddie Jones and insurance litigation lawyer Richard Powell to equity. The firm now has eight equity partners.
In Belgium, English and Welsh solicitor Reshad Forbes, who specialises in European environmental, consumer and product safety laws, has been elected to the partnership of Brussels firm Van Bael & Bellis.
Partners – hires
There has been plenty of action on the lateral hire front as well. In addition to its promotions, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham will next month bring in Martin Lane, currently national head of corporate and joint London office managing partner at Pinsent Masons.
Another national head of corporate on the move is Jonathan Shorrock, who has left that role at Weightmans, where he was based in the Manchester office, to join Bolton firm Kippax Beaumont Lewis.
Two commercial property partners – Joseph Johnston and Glyn Willmott – have also left the Manchester office of Weightmans, this time for local firm Linder Myers. Linder Myers has also merged with Willan Bootland, bringing in corporate/commercial lawyer Paul Willan and commercial litigator Edward Bootland as partners.
Back in the capital, Osborne Clarke has a new head of competition, based in its London office, after attracting Simon Neill from Norton Rose.
At the same time, Norton Rose has hired Ashley Allton as an acquisition finance partner. He was previously head of banking in the Birmingham office of Hammonds.
Gillian Sproul joins the EU and competition group at the London office of US/UK firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw; she moves from Denton Wilde Sapte.
Olswang appoints Michael Deeks as an employee share schemes partner; he joins from accountancy firm Ernst & Young, where he worked in the human capital team.
John Forrester joins Holman Fenwick & Willan’s ship finance team from Stephenson Harwood where he was a partner. Senior assistants Ruth Allcoat and Adam Shire move with him.
Meanwhile, joining Stephenson Harwood is corporate specialist John Buyers, who leaves McGrigors.
Bevan Brittan’s London office has brought in litigation partner Charles Atkins from RadcliffesLeBrasseur.
Julian Taylor, a founding partner of Manches’ employment department in Oxford, leaves to launch his own specialist employment firm, Julian Taylor, in Oxfordshire.
Andrew Drake joins the corporate and commercial department at the Newbury office of Penningtons; he was formerly a partner at London firm Boodle Hatfield.
Laurie Dale joins the corporate finance team at the Leeds office of Schofield Sweeney from the local office of Addleshaw Goddard, bringing the partnership to nine.
Finally to Newcastle, where Sintons has recruited industrial disease litigation specialist Mark Quigley from Beecham Peacock. He joins in the summer.
Senior partners
Ian Pittaway takes over as senior partner at specialist London pensions firm Sacker & Partners, replacing Mark Greenlees after he completed his three-year term of office.
In Wales, Mike Sage takes over as senior partner at Newport firm Harding Evans after the retirement of Bill Morris.
Associates/Assistants
Two move to Kent firm Clarkson Wright & Jakes: Richard Starr, previously at City firm Carter Lemon Camerons, as a commercial property associate and Mehnaz Siddiqui, as an estate administration and wills assistant, from Palmers in Basildon.
Moving to the capital is Raheel Khan, who joins the corporate recovery and insolvency department at Moorhead James as an assistant from ASB Law in Brighton.
Employment solicitor Claire Purdell-Lewis has swapped magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for the London office of Irwin Mitchell.
Cynthia Fairweather, who was the sole IT lawyer within PruTech at Prudential, has gone to private practice and joined the London office of US firm Shaw Pittman as a technology and outsourcing associate.
Christina Bowyer, who was a pension consultant for 13 years, has qualified into the pensions team at Wedlake Bell.
Caroline Doran (employment) and Gary Nelson (commercial property) have been promoted to associate at Rooks Rider.
John Allen joins Darbys in Oxford as an associate in the corporate technology and finance team from City firm Lewis Silkin.
Ruth Creed and Vicki Southall have qualified into the family and criminal law departments respectively at West Midlands firm Challinors Lyon Clark.
Leicester firm Harvey Ingram promotes two to associate: Lisa Botterill in the corporate team and Louisa Matthews in the personal injury department.
In Nottingham, Rothera Dowson promotes family specialists Alison Fernandes and Lorna Sear to associate.
In Stoke-on-Trent, Kent Jones & Done promotes Steven Ford to commercial property associate.
Commercial litigator Sandra Morrison is promoted to associate at Manchester firm George Davies.
Nearby in Chester, Aaron & Partners has expanded its litigation team by hiring Joanne Emery, previously at Healys in London.
Hull firm Williamsons has a new head of commercial and property after Claire Ramsden, formerly a solicitor at Hull City Council, joined as an associate.
Other
Lord Slynn of Hadley is appointed president of the London Dispute Resolution Service.
Sue Massey joins the employment team at the Birmingham office of Irwin Mitchell as a consultant. She was previously head of employment at Manby & Steward in Wolverhampton.
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