Movers & Shakers: Yorkshire & Humber

2021

February

• Walker Morris has appointed Sarah Ward as a partner in the competition team

• Devonshires’ real estate partner, Elad Yasdi, has relocated to the firm’s Leeds office

• Clarion Solicitors has appointed chartered trade mark attorney Lindsey Wrenn as a partner in the intellectual property practice

• Lupton Fawcett has announced a number of promotions to associate across Leeds, Sheffield & York: Sarah Webster, Sandie Robinson, Mike Lees, Matthew Rodwell, Sarah Illidge, Richard Buckley and Katie Dawson

• Emma Lowe and Cat Tanham have joined Clarion Solicitors’ contentious insolvency litigation team within the business restructuring and insolvency practice

• Raworths Solicitors has welcomed family lawyer Ellie Foster to the firm as legal director.

• Williamsons solicitors has welcomed Rachael Scott as a solicitor in the wills and probate department

• Squire Patton Boggs has announced a number of partner promotions including Leeds-based Jason Blakey (litigation), Abduss Patel (real estate), and Mae Salem (corporate).

• Gateley Legal has appointed Andrew Peddie as head of its Reading office

• Eaton Smith has appointed Jo Jones as a partner in the private client team

• Clarion Solicitors has appointed Victoria Kay as legal director in the business restructuring and insolvency practice

• Ridley & Hall has promoted childcare lawyer Laura Milburn to partner

• Barnaby Rosenthall has joined Ward Hadaway’s built environment team

• Clare Middleton, an associate solicitor in the clinical negligence department at Atherton Godfrey, has been accredited as a senior litigator by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers

• Sue Carter has joined Switalskis Solicitors as a non-executive director

• Devonshires has recruited two new solicitors to its Leeds office: Zoe McLean-Wells (housing management and litigation) and Geri Batchelor (construction)

• Lupton Fawcett has appointed Charlene Vilia as a senior solicitor in the private client team based in the Sheffield office

• Jamie Whiteley has joined Gamlins Law as a solicitor advocate - employment team

• Newport Land and Law has welcomed Andrew Challener (commercial property), Leah Gore (property law), and Emma Morris (death and disputes) as consultant solicitors

• Gordons has appointed Peter Hampson as head of regulatory

• Sarah Coates-Madden has joined Gordons’ property disputes team

• Beth Bearder has joined Keebles as a senior associate in the firm’s employment law team

• LCF Law has announced that residential property conveyancer, Liam Gray, has joined LCF Residential

• Ridley & Hall has promoted Loreena Walker to associate, family law

March

• Shoosmiths has appointed Anna Robson as a banking partner in the Leeds office

• Capsticks has announced that Mary Mundy has joined the procurement team in Leeds, as a partner

• DLA Piper has appointed Lizzie Drylie as a senior associate in the restructuring and insolvency team based in the Leeds office

• Lupton Fawcett has appointed Lauren Waterman as a solicitor in the intellectual property & commercial department

• Rollits has announced the appointment of newly-qualified solicitor Harriet Kingston – joining the dispute resolution team in Hull

• McCormicks Solicitors has welcomed Tiffany Jackson as a newly qualified commercial property solicitor

• Laura Schofield, a solicitor at Ware & Kay, has been awarded the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners diploma in trusts and estates and is now a full member of the society

• Clarion Solicitors has welcomed four new associates: Catherine Laundy and Aby (commercial dispute resolution team), Anna Raha (real estate team), qualified costs lawyer, Daniel Murray (costs and litigation funding team) and Natalie Ingram and Paige Duller (property litigation team)

• Wrigleys has welcomed experienced agricultural and rural property solicitor Will Foley to its Leeds office

April

• Kennedys has hired industrial disease partners Darren Goldthorpe and Gary Brankin. They join the firm’s Leeds office from BC Legal and bring with them two senior associates and a litigation executive

• Partner Paula Myers, national head of tax, trust, estates and disputes at Irwin Mitchell, has been appointed as chair of the Contentious Trusts and Estates SIG Steering Committee for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

• Levi Solicitors has promoted conveyancing executive, Afsha Ayub, to partner based in the Wakefield office

• Switalskis Solicitors has acquired York-based Pryers Solicitors from Pure Legal Services

• RadcliffesLeBrasseur has appointed Smita Nadkarni as a litigation executive based in Leeds

• Harjinder Gill, senior associate, Liam Bedford, senior associate and Rachel Durant, litigation executive have joined Kennedys Leeds office

• Ison Harrison has appointed senior solicitor Ben Palmer to its corporate law division in Leeds

• Holden Smith Law has appointed Ben Moore as a new head of private client services covering Halifax and Leeds

• Devonshires in Leeds has hired real estate specialist Amy Lees

• Clarion Solicitors has welcomed three new recruits to its dedicated construction team within its real estate practice: Siobhan Dexter as an associate, Andrew Noble joins Clarion’s construction team and Charlotte Hudson joins the team as a paralegal

• Clarion Solicitors has welcomed a number of new joiners to the firm: Santino Stifanelli (corporate), Rebecca Simpson (employment) and Leah Pattison (commercial)

• CMS has announced the promotion of 52 new partners globally in 2021. In the Sheffield office Eleanor Merrett (intellectual property) and Tim Riordan (insurance & reinsurance group) have been promoted.

• Stephen Hopwood, partner and head of family, has been appointed as managing partner at McCormicks, taking over from Peter McCormick who will remain as senior partner

• Raworths Solicitors has announced three new partners; Sally Togher (employment), Alison Walker and Sam Jenner (both trusts, wills and estates)

• Partner Lisa Molinari has re-joined the residential conveyancing team at Taylor & Emmet in the Banner Cross office

• Sills & Betteridge has announced the acquisition of boutique legal practice Rawson Family Law of Sheffield, and the appointment of its principal solicitor and family law specialist Louise Rawson

• Eversheds Sutherland has promoted 17 lawyers to legal director, in Leeds Peter Shervington (CDR) and Roddy Macdonald (planning) have been promoted

• Wake Smith Solicitors has welcomed associate Colleen Dooney to the private client team

• Lupton Fawcett has promoted Meghan Waldron to senior associate in the regulatory and corporate defence team

• Stewarts Law has promoted senior associate Rebecca Hill (personal injury) to legal director

• Walker Foster Solicitors has welcomed litigation solicitor Ellie Clements to the firm and Jonny Cockayne joins as a private client executive, specialising in wills and probate.

• Tracie Middleton has joined the residential property team at Pearsons & Ward Solicitors

• Shelley McLachlan, a care proceedings specialist at Wilkinson Woodward, has been promoted to director

May

• DLA Piper has promoted to its partnership: Victoria Rhodes (corporate) and Sohail Ali (litigation and regulatory).

• Irwin Mitchell has made partner promotions; Anna Stacey (medical negligence) and Fiona Benoist (IT) in the Sheffield office.

• Womble Bond Dickinson has appointed partner Simon Pilling as head of its Leeds office.

• Kennedys has promoted partner Lewis Thompson. He leads the firm’s cost team based in Sheffield.

• Bevan Brittan has announced that property partner James Atkins becomes the new Leeds office head and corporate partner . . . Christian Hunt takes over as the firm’s new national head of commercial services. Within the firm’s latest promotion round, the firm has also promoted Susan Trigg, who is part of the firm’s clinical risk team in Leeds, to partner.

• DWF has appointed Wendy Harrison and Jonathan Procter as partners in the corporate team based in Leeds

• DWF has appointed Andrew Batterton as a partner in its real estate team in Leeds

• Walker Morris has made four partner promotions: Adam Reed (real estate); Cameron Baloyi-Rigby (real estate); Mark Byrne (real estate); and Nick McQueen (litigation & dispute resolution).

• Andrew Jackson has announced that Daniel Hammond, Fiona Phillips and Mark Davies have been promoted to partner.

• Eaton Smith has appointed Deborah Melluish as senior partner.

• Taylor & Emmet has promoted wills and probate specialist, Ben Brown, to partner.

• Employment law firm Boardside has appointed partner Nadine Marston to lead its new business immigration practice

• Helen Webster has joined Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds tax, trusts and estates team, as a solicitor

• DWF has appointed Naithan McBride as a legal director in the global construction team based in Leeds.

• Walker Morris has made a number of senior promotions. The new directors are: Claire Acklam (litigation & dispute resolution); Daniel Appleyard (real estate); Hayley Hayes (construction & engineering); Lewis Couth (real estate litigation); and Shabana Muneer (employment). The new senior associates are: Aaron Dixon (commercial); Adrian Moss (corporate); Asia Munir (real estate litigation); Christian Brundell (regulatory & compliance); Deborah Walls (construction & engineering); Kate Schofield (real estate); Rachel Elgar (banking & finance litigation); Ricky Walker (commercial finance); Sam Parkinson (construction & engineering); Tom McKeown (real estate); Twm Russen (litigation & dispute resolution); and Will Kay (construction & engineering).

• Schofield Sweeney has appointed two new lawyers. David Hunter joins the commercial team as a director and Brian d’Arcy, solicitor, joins the corporate team

• Clarion Solicitors has made two senior appointments to the family law practice. Siobhan Jeffels and Sarah Manning.

• Andrew Jackson has announced that Joanne Brennan and Samuel Peake (property); Jennifer Bradford (client service and compliance); and Amy Floater (tax and trusts), have been promoted to associate

• A specialist planning solicitor Stuart Lumb has joined Rollits as an associate working from the firm’s offices in York and Hull.

• Archers Law has announced that Laura Dale and Oliver Hebdon have been promoted to associate solicitor in the commercial property and corporate and commercial teams respectively.

• Gordons has appointed Martin Lunt as a Consultant

• Taylor & Emmet has made two senior associate promotions, Elizabeth Alderson (residential conveyancing) and Richard Whitely (commercial property). Meanwhile, the firm has made seven promotions to associate, including residential conveyancers, Helen Millard, Rebecca Tsang and Adam Gould, family law’s Dawn Lowry and Rachel Barlow, probate specialist Clare Gorman and Bryony Shaw from the commercial property team.

• Addleshaw Goddard has announced that partner Pervinder Kaur will succeed Simon Kamstra as the head of the firm’s Leeds office for a three year term

• Lupton Fawcett has appointed dispute resolution lawyer Simon Lockley as head of its Sheffield office.

• Lupton Fawcett has appointed Claire Mayfield-Tulip as a partner in the commercial property team based in the Sheffield office.

• LCF Law has welcomed Wayne Parker as a partner in the firm’s insolvency division.

• Stowe Family Law LLP has recently promoted partners Maria Coster and Katie Kilburn

• Square One Law has appointed Kate Johnson as a partner in the property team based in the Leeds office

• Irwin Mitchell has made two senior appointments in the Leeds office. Gillian Kaufman joins as a senior associate solicitor in the restructuring & insolvency team and Kathryn Pitters has been appointed as a barrister-associate in the firm’s regulatory investigations group.

• Hill Dickinson has appointed Heather Caddy, legal director, and Will Morris, associate, to the firm’s healthcare team in Leeds.

• Bevan Brittan has appointed Niamh Batterton, a non-contentious construction lawyer, as a legal director based in the Leeds office.

• Walker Morris has appointed Simon Tingle as a director in its specialist regulatory & compliance team.

• Suzanne Treen has joined Clarion Solicitors’ employment team as a legal director.

• McCormicks solicitors has promoted commercial litigation solicitor Will Bates to senior associate.

• Square One Law has appointed Merissa Galley and Richard Barrett as associates in the property team based in the Leeds office.

June

• CMS has announced the appointment of Gregor Woods as a partner in the Sheffield office.

• Pinsent Masons has appointed Jon Riley as head of its Leeds office

• Clarion Solicitors has promoted Jane Ingleby to partner.

• Clarion Solicitors has announced the promotion of Jane Ingleby to partner in the family law team

• Bridge McFarland has announced four partner promotions. Joe Pepper specialises in residential and commercial property, business transactions, planning law, and lending and security. Michelle Bradford is a member of the residential conveyancing department. Nicola Evans advising a variety of clients on all aspects of clinical negligence covering a wide variety of claims such as dental, orthopaedic, delayed diagnosis of cancer and obstetric/gynaecological claims. Chris Gresswell- Green is a member of the medical negligence department and is deputy head of department at the firm’s Grimsby office.

• Hempsons has welcomed partner Liz Hackett to its healthcare advisory team in Harrogate

July

• HGF has appointed Martyn Fish as CEO. Fish, an IP litigator
• Berwins solicitors has appointed Danielle Day, who heads the firms’ family law unit
• Knights plc has appointed Scott McHugh as an associate in the asset management team based in Leeds.

August

• Luke Maidens recently joined Blacks Solicitors as partner and head of the property disputes team.

• Bell & Buxton has announced that Dax Keeling has been promoted to associate solicitor in the firm’s litigation department.

• Guest Walker has announced that Rowena Rogers, head of life planning, has been appointed a director and joins the senior management team

• Ware & Kay has appointed David Silver, who has over 40 years’ experience, as a solicitor in the corporate and commercial services team.

• Clarion Solicitors has welcomed Samantha Lauriston as an associate to the firm’s private client team.

September

• Two commercial property lawyers have joined LCF Law. Steve Stanier, who has worked in commercial property for more than 30 years, joins as a senior associate and Angela Macready, who has over 17 years’ experience, joins as an associate.

• Chadwick Lawrence has created a new team of conveyancers in its Bradford office. Projects manager, Amanda Ambler joined the firm in December 2020 to lead and build the team. The full team now includes: Vicky Sneddon a conveyancing fee earner who has progressed to team conveyancing leader; Lynda Harland, Michelle Helliwell and Afra Khan all conveyancing fee earners; Zoe Hudson a trainee conveyancer; and Kayla Falkingham and Sarah Dewhirst as conveyancing assistants.

• Specialist intellectual property lawyer Kerry Russell has moved to Shakespeare Martineau’s Sheffield office hub

• Simon Slade has joined Walker Morris as a director in the tax team.

• Kennedys has announced the promotion of 86 associates to senior associate and introduced a new legal director role, with 44 legal directors and two special counsel. In Sheffield Laura Siddall (liability) has been promoted to legal director, while Kadie Cooper (liability), Rebecca Connell (liability) and Sarah Lord (healthcare) have all been promoted to senior associates

• Boutique law firm Indemnity Legal has announced that John Curran joined as a partner

• Andrew Pedley as a partner in the commercial property team. Pedley has over 20 years’ experience in commercial property, having previously practised in West Yorkshire and the North West.

• gunnercooke has announced the hire of 11 new partners across the firm. Kelly- Marie Bannister joins the real estate team in Leeds, whilst Mini Setty, an employment specialist joins the Yorkshire team.

• Walker Morris has appointed Philip Scott as partner and head of banking.

October

• Schofield Sweeney has appointed Rachael Brook as a partner in the firm’s private wealth and succession team in Huddersfield.

• Ware & Kay appointed David Hyams as managing director with effect from 1 October 2021.

• Simpson Millar has opened a new office in Catterick. 

• Ridley & Hall has acquired Newman & Bond in Barnsley. The deal sees Jane Munden and Jill Leece joining Ridley & Hall as partners.

• Square One Law has appointed Dawn Carlisle as a partner in the Leeds office.

• Irwin Mitchell has made a number of senior appointments to its private client services team in Sheffield. Dispute resolution solicitor, Rachael Harrison, joins the will, trust and estate disputes team and Kate Maybury and Thomas Scott joins.

• Clarion Solicitors has announced three newly qualified solicitors. Grace Parker qualifies into the family team, Rana Akram joins the employment team, and Lucy Entwistle becomes a member of the real estate team.

• Schofield Sweeney has welcomed a number of new joiners to the firm. They include solicitors Sabine Rodwell (employment), Jon Exall (litigation), Sadia Ali, commercial property) and Liz Coe (residential conveyancing). Meanwhile, Amanda Saul has joined as a private wealth paralegal.

• LCF Law has appointed David Mattocks as finance director.

• Switalskis Solicitors has made three promotions to director. Jennifer Heckingbottom oversees the child care law team in Sheffield.  Catrin Lloyd joined the firm in 2010 to head up the wills & probate team. Charlotte Reeves joined the clinical negligence department in 2010, specialising in complex obstetric injury cases.

• Chadwick Lawrence has announced that Phoebe Gogarty has qualified as a solicitor into the employment law team in Leeds.

• Ramsdens Solicitors has announced that Lindsay Preston, an associate in the firm’s abuse and personal injury department, has been appointed as a trustee at the Pennine Domestic Abuse Partnership in Kirklees.

December

• Ward Hadaway has made two partner appointments in the Leeds office. Kathryn Walters, a finance specialist, joins from Eversheds Sutherland. She will lead the Yorkshire banking and finance team. Mark Wilkinson, a specialist in insolvency and restructuring.

• Schofield Sweeney has appointed Ian  Anderson as a partner in the environmental and regulatory team based in Leeds.

• Arc Pensions Law has announced the appointment of Alex Rodger, who joins the Leeds office as a partner.

• Capsticks has promoted associate Dominic Ip to partner.

• Ison Harrison has opened a new office in Harrogate located at 6a Albert Street. The branch manager is Georgina Pogge-von Strandmann, a residential property specialist. The Harrogate team also includes partner Shaun Hulme, a private family solicitor, and residential property solicitor James Pascoe.

• Levi Solicitors has announced that it is to open a new office in Leeds, situated on Harrogate Road, Moortown, in early 2022.

• Womble Bond Dickinson has made a number of new managing associate and associate promotions. In Leeds, Emma Speight has become a managing associate in the real estate team, and Erika Sinclair a managing associate in the private wealth team.

• Simpson Millar has appointed Balal Qaiser as a solicitor in the employment law team based in the Leeds office.

• Clarion Solicitors has appointed Vicky Banks as a legal director in the real estate practice.

• Gordons has appointed Jonathan Jackson as head of restructuring.

• LCF Law has announced that Bridie Johnson-Power and Ryan Cotton have qualified as solicitors with the firm.

• Professional services provider Leonard Curtis has appointed Laura Green as a senior associate in the corporate and commercial team based in Leeds.