PRIVATE PRACTICE
Partners

Starting in the capital, national firm DLA Piper appoints Michael McKee to its non-contentious financial services team as partner; he was previously executive director of the British Banking Association.



Chaz Dheer is made up to partner in London firm Simons Muirhead & Burton’s corporate and commercial department.



South-west firm Hedges promotes private client solicitor Nicholas Doe to the partnership.



Patrick Boyd joins the commercial law department at Evesham firm Saunders Roberts from Davey Franklin Jones in Cirencester.



In the north east, Crutes adds partner Anne McCulloch to its corporate division; she was previously at national firm Eversheds.



Mitch Brown joins the real estate group at the Newcastle office of Eversheds as a partner; he was previously at Dickinson Dees.



Property lawyer Andrea Swatts is made up to partner at Newcastle firm Mark Gilbert Morse.





Associates/Assistants

TLW in North Shields hires personal injury solicitor Steven Thomson, who was previously working as a locum in the area.



In the north west, DWF recruits six to its Manchester office: associate Elizabeth Jenner (corporate) from DLA Piper; associate Stuart Stones (banking and finance) from O’Neill Patient in Stockport; senior solicitors Michael Speight (insurance) and Gareth Roberts (employment) from Hill Dickinson and Cobbetts respectively; Jo Wilcox (real estate) from Goodman Harvey; and Owen McKenna (real estate) from Brabners Chaffe Street.



Solicitor Caroline Pinney joins the private client department at Manchester firm George Davies from local firm Otten Penna.



Also in Manchester, Boote Edgar Esterkin hires two senior solicitors in its real estate department: Sean Daly and Stephen Worral join from DWF and Trowers & Hamlins respectively. The firm also promotes litigation lawyer Marc Yaffe to associate.



Associate Natalie Smith joins the family department at West Yorkshire firm Ware & Kay; she was previously at Stanley Hays.



Leeds-based Godloves makes three appointments: assistant solicitors Stephanie Pennington (wills and probate) and Justine Hunkins (housing litigation) join from Keeble Hawson and Williscroft & Co respectively; associate Robert Bellhouse (family) arrives from Emsleys; and Mark Brookes is promoted to associate in the online conveyancing department.



Banner Jones adds three to its ranks: in its Derbyshire office, Rebecca Lee joins from Lawson West in Leicestershire to head the wills and probate department, while personal injury solicitor Joanne Coughlan arrives from Beachcroft’s Birmingham office. Commercial property solicitor Marika Portelli Field joins the firm’s Sheffield office from Kemp & Brown in Barnsley.



In Bath, Karen Thomas has completed her training with Withy King and joins the firm’s commercial dispute resolution team.



The Oxford office of Morgan Cole appoints solicitor Kathryn Woodward from Hodsons in Abingdon to its private client practice.



Assistant John Barklam joins the family law department at Saunders Roberts in Evesham from Worcester’s Woolley & Co.



In London, solicitor-advocate Sam Themis joins the cross-border dispute resolution practice at Rooks Rider; he was previously at Anglo-Scandinavian firm Miller & Rosenfalck.



City firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain appoints senior lawyer David Cran to its intellectual property and technology group; he was previously with US firm Jones Day.



Associate Helen Harvie joins the business services department at Surrey firm Barlow Robbins from Thomas Eggar.





NEW FIRMS

Family lawyer Peter Whitfield has set up sole practice Whitfield & Co in Tunbridge Wells; he was previously an independent peer reviewer at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.



Kim Lee and James Brooker Adcock have formed criminal defence practice Fosse Law, based in Leicestershire.





CONSULTANT

Immigration lawyer Tanya Goldfarb joins Clintons in London; she previously worked at Reed Smith.