Movers & Shakers: South West

2021

Febraury

• Ashfords has promoted James Heath to partner in the real estate team in Plymouth

• Willans has announced the promotion of Adam Hale, agricultural law specialist, to partner

• Auxillias, a new specialist legal and compliance firm for the consumer, asset & motor finance sectors providing advisory, consultancy, regulatory and training support, has been launched by Jo Davis and

• Ashfords has expanded its real estate team in Plymouth with the appointment of associate Lola Skuse

• Willans has promoted three members of the team to associate level. Wills, trusts & probate specialists Miranda Hawkes and Tom O’Riordan both become associates, as does residential property lawyer Mary Young.

• Lodders has promoted employment law specialist Faye Reynolds to senior associate

• WSP Solicitors has announced three internal promotions in the residential property conveyancing and private client teams: Lucy McCallum, Kirstie Carr and Robert Selwood

• Veale Wasbrough Vizards (VWV) has welcomed James Shepherd as regional relationship manager

• Michelmores has welcomed employment lawyer Kate Gardner as a partner in the firm’s Exeter office

• Ashfords has appointed Robin de Wreede as a partner in the real estate team based in the Exeter office

• Private client solicitor, Adam Scott has joined Trethowans as a partner

• Ashfords has made a number of senior appointments: Ellie Jack (solicitor, banking & finance team), Hayley Marles (associate, employment team), Lola Skuse (associate, real estate team), Philip Mogridge (consultant, residential property team)

• Dunn & Baker Solicitors has appointed Jasmine Milton as a licensed conveyancer in the residential property team based in Exeter

• Frettens has appointed Anne Albritton as an associate in the lease extension and enfranchisement team and Hannah Faith has joined the team as a paralegal

• Awdry Bailey & Douglas has welcomed Rosanne Pitta-Browning and Gary Robson-Hemmings as new solicitors in the commercial property department.

• Coles Miller Solicitors has welcomed newly-qualified solicitor Carla Jordan on the successful completion of her training contract to the personal injury team

March

• Trowers & Hamlins has appointed Chris Rundle as head of office in Exeter

• Wards Solicitors has opened a new office in Thornbury

• Stowe Family Law LLP has promoted Jemma Slavin to regional director for the Midlands and South West

• Thomas Harrigan has completed his training at Lester Aldridge and qualified as a solicitor in March 2021. He joins the firm’s litigation & recoveries team.

• Capsticks has made a number of recent appointments in its housing team. Josie Williams has joined the housing and regeneration team as a senior solicitor. Simone Reddington joined the firm’s Winchester office in February 2021.

April

• Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of five new partners: Victoria Allsopp and Emily Scaife, Richard Binns Emily Robert and Chris Chesterman

• Dutton Gregory has appointed Amanda Watts as a residential property partner and head of the residential property team

• Stone King has appointed Luke Watson as a partner in the dispute resolution & litigation team based in the Bath

• James Braund, a partner in Trethowans’ personal injury and clinical negligence team, has been appointed as vice-president of the Dorset Law Society

• Media, technology and IP firm Wiggin has promoted Patrick Rennie (data privacy) and Seth Roe (employment) to the partnership

• James Wickett, a medical negligence specialist at Davies & Partners, has been promoted to legal director and head of the North Devon office

• Ince Metcalfes has welcomed newly- qualified Amy Nunn to its private client department

• Thrings has announced that seven newly qualified solicitors are joining the firm after completing their training contracts with the firm: Amelia Watson and Lorna Medcraft (both commercial property); Chloe Williams and Matt Cornforth (both corporate); Bethan Hill-Howells and Hannah Jenkins (both family); and Annahita Roohi (commercial dispute resolution)

• Amicus Law has welcomed John Ryan to the conveyancing team

• Ince has promoted eight lawyers to its partnership: In the Bristol office Cherry Stuckey (private client) has been promoted

• Burges Salmon partner Ross Polkinghorne, who leads the firm’s real estate development team in advising developers on complex regeneration projects, has been appointed to a task group on the Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap

• Property finance specialist, Jessica Church has joined Bevan Brittan’s housing finance team as a partner

• Lindsay Halliwell, family specialist, has been promoted to partner at Steele Raymond

• Blanchards Bailey has made two new partner promotions: Laura Martin, head of family law and Ben Jones, a member of the litigation and disputes team

• Royds Withy King has appointed Mark Stubberfield as its new director of marketing and business development

• Steele Raymond has announced a number of promotions. Associate Joanna Staples (residential property) becomes a senior associate, while Alice Toop (dispute resolution), Michelle Bettell (family), and Rosanna Parker (commercial property) have become associates.

• Stowe Family Law LLP has appointed senior solicitor Amy Langford in the Bristol office

• Blanchards Bailey has made three senior promotions: Lucy Mignot (litigation and disputes) and Catherine Roberts (private client) both become senior associates, whilst Matt Collis (residential property) has been promoted to associate

• Meade King has announced a number of promotions. In the commercial conveyancing department Manjinder Kang has been promoted to senior associate. Meanwhile, in the commercial conveyancing department Rhiannon Evans and Alanna McDonough become associates. In the corporate team Campbell McKellar also becomes an associate.

• Capsticks has announced a number of promotions: in the Winchester office, Louise Wilshire (regulatory) has been promoted to associate

May

• Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has made a number of partner promotions with effect from 1 May 2021 including David Allinson (professional & financial risks, insurance group), Katharine Cusack (construction, insurance group), and Kirstie Pike (professional & financial risks, insurance group) in Bristol.

• Burges Salmon has announced the appointment of Guy Bastable as a partner to lead the firm’s corporate crime team.

• TLT has announced the promotion of five lawyers to partner with effect from 1 May 2021: Louise Chopra (financial services disputes), Emma Cork (litigation), Sarah Hale (housing and regeneration), Juliet Mason (technology and IP) and Ed Hayes (technology and IP).

• Irwin Mitchell has made a number of partner promotions, including Deborah Rose (serious injury), Eleanor Windsor (operations), Erin Sawyer (family), and Hayley Trim (family) in the Bristol office.

• Browne Jacobson has announced a number of partner promotions including Claire Cornish (financial professional risk) in the Exeter office.

• Lester Aldridge has promoted three senior associate to partner at the firm. Parisa Jones has become a partner in the tax, trusts, wills & probate team based in Bournemouth, Rachel Gimson, also based in Bournemouth, has been made partner in the property litigation team. Rebecca Humm, based in Southampton, becomes a partner in the real estate team.

• Coles Miller Solicitors has announced that managing partner Neil Andrews will now lead the residential leasehold property team.

• Family law specialist Jayne Martins has joined the Bath office of Royds Withy King as a partner.

• Bevan Brittan has announced a number of senior promotions, including Aimee Cottam (property), Anna Davies (commercial and infrastructure), Deborah Jeremiah (clinical risk) and Trevor Watt (litigation, advisory and regulatory) to senior associates in the Bristol office. Also in the Bristol office, Scott Couzens (commercial and infrastructure), Kyle Duggan (litigation, advisory and regulatory) and Oliver Glynn- Jones (property) have been promoted to associates.

• Lester Aldridge has announced seven new associates and two new senior associates across their Bournemouth and Southampton offices. In the Bournemouth office, promotions to associate include Phoebe Chandler and Anna Perry in the real estate team, Danielle Slater and James Pantling-Skeet in the corporate & commercial team, and Lucy Wadley in the international private client team. In Southampton, Paul Markides and Marianne Ironside will be promoted to associates in the real estate team. Also in real estate, current associate Sian Rogers will be promoted to senior associate, along with Jennie Harris from LA Marine, the firm’s specialist marine law team. In addition, Amy Lewis has competed her two-year training contract at Lester Aldridge, and qualifies as a solicitor from 1 May 2021, also  joining the Southampton real estate team.

• Senior associate Lisa Watson-Cook has joined Lester Aldridge as the new head of charities & social enterprise.

• BPE has announced the promotion of Katie Moylan to senior associate

• Coles Miller Solicitors has promoted Nick Leedham to associate in the residential leasehold property team.

• Battens Solicitors has announced the promotion of Jason Carr to associate solicitor. Carr leads the firm’s residential property services in Castle Cary

• The Family Law Company has announced the appointment of Mary-Ann Wanjiku to its Exeter children and domestic abuse team in Exeter

• DAC Beachcroft has appointed Heather Durston-Hillyer as the new location head for its Winchester office.

• DAC Beachcroft has elected Bristol- based insurance partner, Marcus Campbell to the firm’s LLP group board.

• Ince has announced that Daniel Crockford and Alex Penberthy will join the firm as partners in July 2021 based in the Bristol office.

• Michelmores has hired Christian Massey to expand its private wealth offering.

• Porter Dodson has promoted David Culshaw to partner.

• Stephens Scown has made five partner promotions: Thea Bennun (divorce and matrimonial finance), Catherine Carlton (corporate and commercial), Thomas Chartres-Moore (IP/IT, food and drink sector head), Ian Thomas (property litigation) and Tim Walmsley (public sector). In addition to these promotions, Stephens Scown has recently recruited partners Jill Bruce (family), Aimee Barrable (commercial real estate) and John Beesley (commercial real estate).

• Wansbroughs Solicitors has promoted Josh Taylor to partner in the commercial team.

• Zaeem Mughal has qualified into the company and commercial team at Steele Raymond.

• Wards Solicitors has welcomed Georgia Wookey as an associate in the disputes team

• WSP Solicitors has welcomed private client solicitor Imogen D’Arcy into the wills, trusts and probate team based in the Gloucester office.

• Wansbroughs Solicitors has announced the promotions of Emma Jewell (commercial) and Matthew Roberts (family) to associate solicitors.

• Novum Law has welcomed senior associate Brigit Nolan to its Plymouth office.

June

• Trethowans has promoted Jenni Wicheard from senior associate to partner in the commercial property team.

• Hugh James has announced the appointment of Andrew Walker to its specialist asbestos team.
• Royds Withy King has appointed partner Mei-Ling Huang as chair. Huang, who heads the firm’s dispute resolution team in Bath, is qualified in the US and UK

• Womble Bond Dickinson has announced a number of promotions. In the Bristol office, Georgina Morgan-Giles (corporate and commercial), Debbie Asquith (private wealth), Kayleigh Harrison-Dunford (private wealth) and Martin Bailey (real estate) have been made managing associates. Meanwhile, Jo Norris (corporate and commercial) and Michael Conway (private wealth) have been made associates. In the Plymouth office, Jason Hobday (dispute resolution) has been made a managing associate.

• Trethowans has made a number of senior appointments in the Salisbury office. Bernadette Bendall joins the private client team. Meanwhile, newly qualified solicitor James Looi has joined the family law team. Also joining Trethowans is conveyancing assistant Charlotte Carroll, who joins the residential new build team.
• Coodes Solicitors has appointed two new conveyancers. Solicitor Heidi Start has been appointed as head of the ‘later living’ team. Legal executive Michelle Hawkins, who has previously worked for Coodes, has two decades of conveyancing experience.
• Goughs Solicitors has appointed Rebecca Dennis as head of employment.

July

• Coles Miller Solicitors has announced that Jason Barnett, Richard Perrins and Anthony Weber have become equity partners at the firm

• Porter Dodson has promoted Gemma Lindegaard and Jenny Shepherd to the position of associate.

• Awdry Bailey & Douglas has appointed Kelly Rogers as a litigation solicitor in Devizes.

August

• Battens Solicitors has promoted Jacqui Swann and Michael Sewell to associates.

• Ashfords has welcomed five newly qualified solicitors, following the completion of their training contracts with the firm. NQs in the Exeter office are Bryoney Alford - real estate, Katie Gwyther - commercial & IP (public sector) and David Tomlin - trusts & estates (disputed wills & trusts).

• Veale Wasbrough Vizards has promoted seven lawyers to partner, including Bristol-based James Garside (regulatory compliance), Laura Chesham (charities), Vicki Bowles (data protection), Jo Campbell (VWV approach) and Caitlin Anniss (VWV’s subsidiary brand Narrow Quay HR).

• Ashfords has announced six partner promotions across the firm. In the real estate team Ben Tarrant, Simon Bailey and Lara Moore have been promoted.

• Willans has made three senior appointments. Sarah Richardson has joined the agriculture & estates team as a senior associate. The employment law and business immigration team has welcomed solicitor Hayley Ainsworth, Meanwhile, licensed conveyancer Tina Caster has returned to the residential property team.

September

• Steele Raymond has appointed Robert Salame as an associate in the dispute resolution team.

• Lodders has appointed lawyer Rupert Burchett as an associate in its agricultural and landed estates team.

• Lodders has launched a bespoke family law service to be operational from its Cheltenham office. The firm has recruited experienced family lawyer Janice Leyland as a senior associate in the new family law team.

• Corporate and commercial lawyer Alexis Colfer has joined Excello Law.
• 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 the Taunton office Danielle De Val and Michelle Johnston (both insurance) have been promoted to legal directors, while Chris Murphy and John Pain (both insurance) have been promoted to senior associates.

• Murrell Associates has appointed David Williams as a partner in the commercial property team.

October

• Ince has appointed Naomi Woods as a partner in its private wealth practice based in South West England.

• Siobhan Fitzgerald, a partner in TLT’s national employment team, has being appointed a Fee-paid Judge of the Employment Tribunal. She will continue in her current at TLT, and commence working as a Judge in the Employment Tribunal’s Midlands West region based in Birmingham.

• Thrings has announced a number of promotions across the firm. Joining the firm’s partnership are succession and tax specialist Penny Munro, who also leads the firm’s probate team, and Emily Prout, a dispute resolution specialist and head of the firm’s contentious probate team.

• Gilbert Stephens and Veitch Penny have merged with effect from 1 October 2021. The merged firm will retain the name of Gilbert Stephens LLP and Veitch Penny will continue to be known as Veitch Penny but as part of Gilbert Stephens.

• WBW Solicitors has appointed Kate Maslen as a partner in the dispute resolution team based in the Exmouth office.

• Harrison Clark Rickerbys has made a number of senior promotions. In the Cheltenham office, Rowena Kay (employment) and Ian Seymour (dispute resolution) become senior associates. Also in the Cheltenham office, Jamie Davies (private client) and Kevin Mahoney (commercial) become associates.  Meanwhile, in the Hereford office, Chris Finch (family) has been made an associate.

• Michelmores has appointed Sarah Green as a senior associate in the family team.

• Osborne Clarke has retained 22 out of 23 trainees staying on as newly qualified solicitors in 2021. In Bristol they are: Arthur Hopkinson (CPE planning and environment), Ellie Downey (commercial disputes), George Oakes (property disputes), Kirsty Poulton (corporate tax), Liam O’Connor (corporate), Millie Smith (regulatory disputes), Oliver Dawson (banking), Owen Baldwin (FIG), Zarina Alexander (corporate) and Zoe Marks (employment).

• Steele Raymond has announced that Amy Baugh has qualified into the family team.

• Thrings has announced a number of promotions across the firm. Anna Christie, Lauren Stanley (both private property) and Fred Quartermain (planning) have been made senior associate. Meanwhile, Georgia Slater (real estate), Lizzie King corporate), Joanna Barr (commercial dispute resolution), Josephine Taylor noncontentious agriculture), Rukshana Khanom (succession and tax), Joseph Watkins (corporate/banking and finance) and Richie Rees (agriculture litigation) have been promoted to associate.

• Graham King, a contract law specialist at Lyons Davidson in Bristol, has been appointed as a Fee-paid Judge of the Employment Tribunal. King is a CILEX fellow and has previously worked for Morgan Cole.

• Stone King has appointed Hannah Gates as a senior associate in the commercial property team based in the Bath office. The firm has also appointed Sean Honan as a senior HR consultant in the Bath office. Meanwhile, Hannah Sterry and Angus McWilliams have qualified as solicitors with the firm into the information law and criminal law teams respectively.

• Stowe Family Law LLP has appointed Partner Vicki Rawlins to head up the Winchester office.

• Stowe Family Law LLP has appointed Liza Gatrell as a senior family lawyer in Winchester.

• WSP Solicitors has appointed Jennifer Martin as a solicitor in the family law department.

• Meade King has appointed Karl Stephan as a solicitor in the commercial property department working in the firm’s dental team. He also assists in general property matters.

• Nash & Co has made two senior appointments. Ceren Fox and Sharmaine Nethercott join as solicitors in the commercial dispute resolution and employment teams respectively.

December

• Womble Bond Dickinson has made a  number of new managing associate and associate promotions. In Plymouth, Catherine Gill has become a managing associate in the legal solutions centre, and Will King has become an associate in the  real estate team.

• Lucy Spollin has joined Trethowans as a partner in Winchester where she will lead the residential property team.

• Capsticks has promoted associate Suzanne Smith to partner.

• Womble Bond Dickinson has made a number of new managing associate and associate promotions. In Bristol, Davina Watson has become a managing associate and Lee Davis an associate, both in the dispute resolution team.

• Battens Solicitors has made two appointments to its agriculture and rural property team. Rachel Saltonstall joins as a senior associate solicitor. Meanwhile, conveyancing executive  Michelle Lane is returning to the agricultural team after a career break.

• Davies and Partners has appointed Kirsten Compton and Tom Lowe as new board members.

• The Family Law Company has announced that Michelle O’Neill has qualified into the divorce and finance team based in Plymouth.

• 3PB barrister Antonia Jameson (call 1999), who specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence and inquests, has returned to 3PB.

• Barrister Ellena Pearson (call 2015) has joined 3PB.

• St John’s Chambers has welcomed Harry Spurr as a member of the planning and environmental, real estate and mediation teams.

• St John’s Chambers has announced that specialist competition law barrister Matthew O’Regan has joined the editorial team of Chitty on Contracts, published by Sweet and Maxwell.