Private Practice




Partners



Herbert Smith kicks off the 2007 partnership round at the largest City firms, promoting eight lawyers in its London office and one in Hong Kong. The new partners in London are: Justin D’Agostino, Sebastian Moore, Nusrat Zar and Nick Peacock (litigation and arbitration); Nick Moore and Adam Wells (corporate); Roderick Morton (employment, trusts and pensions); and Simon Price (real estate). The firm, which now has 230 partners, also promotes financial services litigator Tim Mak in Hong Kong.



Olswang hires Nigel Swycher as head of technology; he leaves Slaughter and May, where he was head of IP/IT and telecommunications, media and technology (TMT). The firm also welcomes private equity specialist Richard Clifton from Taylor Wessing.



Howard Kennedy recruits Ruth Moore for its private client department, where she is to advise on estate planning, probate and trusts. She leaves City firm Kingsley Napley.



Laytons bolsters the international corporate and commercial team in its London office by hiring Michael Nathanson and Rupert Lescher from RadcliffesLeBrasseur.



Simmons & Simmons appoints Alexander Shepherd to its Dubai office, where he is to lead the firm’s Middle Eastern TMT practice. He leaves City rival Linklaters.





Management



Martin Ryan becomes managing partner and head of legal practice at Beresfords in Doncaster. He was previously operations director.





Associates / Assistants



Starting in the north-east, Christina Cummins joins the clinical negligence and medical law department of Newcastle firm Samuel Phillips. She leaves local firm Freemans.



To the north-west, where Hill Dickinson’s Liverpool office welcomes associate solicitor Philippa Hipwell to its commercial property practice. She leaves the Northampton office of Hewitsons.



Specialist commercial road transport law firm Backhouse Jones in Clitheroe hires Gregory Gardner Boyes from Haworth & Nuttall in Blackburn, Alexa Hornsby from the Co-operative Insurance Society’s legal team in Manchester, and Maria Balazs from the Crown Prosecution Service.



Associate solicitor Julie Twist moves from Scott Rees in Skelmersdale to Liverpool firm Coyne Learmonth to focus on personal injury and business development.



Birmingham firm Divorce and Family Law Practice recruits Vivienne Fisher as an assistant from Blakemores.



Two solicitors join Hawkins Hatton in Dudley. Commercial litigation associate Harminder Sandhu leaves Oxford firm Henmans and corporate assistant Aarti Kotecha arrives from Yorkshire firm Keeble Hawson.



Peterborough firm Greenwoods welcomes two commercial property solicitors. Cheryl McCready leaves Shammah Nicholls in Manchester and Carole Wrench leaves the Cambridge office of Kester Cunningham John.



To Wales, where Harding Evans in Newport recruits three probate and inheritance tax planning solicitors. Margaret Banks and Sarah Lahive leave Forrester & Forrester in Wiltshire and RTL Solicitors in Bridgend respectively. Paul Lindsey joins from Newport firm TS Edwards & Son.



Assistant solicitor Hazel Roberts returns from New Zealand to join the residential and commercial conveyancing team at Dale Johnston in Bath.



Litigation practice Ascot Lawyers in Berkshire hires three assistant solicitors from Shoosmiths in Basingstoke. Lucy Rayner, Peter Williams and Anne Dickinson will help develop the firm’s civil litigation and medical negligence practices.



Martine Pelosi leaves Croydon firm Robert Blackford to join the East Grinstead office of Burt Brill & Cardens as a conveyancing solicitor.



Philip Rowland joins the commercial property team at Adams & Remers in Lewes, East Sussex, from Farrington Webb in Brighton.





Consultant



Preeya Khoorbhoor joins Hadfield & Co in Welling in Kent as a consultant and head of the matrimonial department. She leaves local firm Cattermoles.