Conveyancing, banking and real estate boost for Shoosmiths

National law firm Shoosmiths has announced the launch of a conveyancing team in Manchester, along with senior appointments to its Northern banking and real estate teams as a result of growing client demand.

The firm has appointed conveyancing partner Lisa Gibbs into the Manchester office signalling the launch of the Northern Shoosmiths’ conveyancing offering.

Shoosmiths says its national conveyancing team has experienced exceptional success over the last year and that the launch of a team in Manchester will complement the established teams in Northampton, Solent and Edinburgh.

Gibbs joins from Simpson Millar where she managed their Manchester conveyancing team and prior to this she played a leading role in the volume and conveyancing teams at Irwin Mitchell and Eversheds.

She will be in charge of developing and leading the Manchester conveyancing team that will service clients’ needs in the North of England.

Shoosmiths is also bolstering its banking presence with the appointment of partner Tim McNamara.

McNamara is returning to private practice having spent the last seven  years at The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS), the first 6 of which he spent leading transaction management for the corporate real estate finance teams across the North of England.

For the past year he was senior in-house counsel for the Future Williams & Glyn division of the bank.

Before joining RBS, McNamara was a managing associate in the finance division at Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester having returned to the North from London where he was a banking solicitor with Herbert Smith.

McNamara will operate across the North region with specific focus on Manchester and Leeds and will join banking partner and deputy Manchester office head, Liz Sweeney in growing the North-based banking team and further strengthening the firm’s corporate offering in the North. He will also support on national projects for Shoosmiths.

The Shoosmiths Manchester real estate practice is also enhancing its team with the appointment of real estate partner Paul Gidman who will help Shoosmiths to service its rapidly expanding property sector client base in the North and further build its market. Gidman, who was previously at DWF, brings with him extensive experience in development and investment work.

Head of Shoosmiths in Manchester, Vaqas Farooq, said: “In a competitive marketplace, we continue to attract the very best of Manchester’s legal talent; individuals like Lisa, Tim and Paul who have built up years of experience and are leaders in their respective areas of law.

“These are exciting times for the firm as we continue to evolve our offering and we look forward to providing clients in the North with our award-winning conveyancing service, along with enhanced capability in our banking and real estate teams.”

Shoosmiths is a national law firm with a network of 12 offices in the UK. The Manchester office has enjoyed rapid organic growth in the past five years and has built a reputation for offering superb client service, developing a strong foothold in the Manchester market.

2017 sees the Manchester office moving into a new purpose-built agile workspace at the XYZ building in Spinningfields.