Manchester law firm appoints two big hitters

One of Manchester’s fastest growing law firms is taking on two new partners.

JMW, which is based in Spinningfields, has taken on a family law barrister and a new head of construction.

Abigail Bennett has joined as as a partner and in-house counsel from St John’s Buildings Chambers where she was a family law barrister.

Abigail will become the first established barrister to become in-house counsel within a family team at a law firm in Manchester.

The ground-breaking move for JMW will see their family law team offer clients a comprehensive service from start to finish in a family law case with expert advice and representation from an experienced, much sought after barrister.

Abigail has experience in all area of matrimonial finance work but does specialise in high net worth cases.

She worked on the high-profile case of Richardson-Ruhan v Ruhan in 2017 and has also acted for many professional sport stars, business owners and entrepreneurs.

The Irish millionaire Andrew Ruhan was involved in a bitter court case with his estranged wife Tania Richardson-Ruhan.

In 2010 Abigail was appointed as a Deputy District Judge.

As a judge she will be able to offer private FDR hearings to broker financial settlements outside of the courtroom, making JMW the first law firm to offer this service in Manchester.

She joins the largest and most high profile family team in the North West, which is led by Michael Chapman and Elspeth Kinder.

David Pickering, head of private client at JMW said: “We are delighted to welcome Abigail to join our family law team at JMW in this ground breaking move.

“Abigail is very well respected Barrister who we have worked with for many years. We feel this move really benefits our clients as it offers them a comprehensive service from start to finish during divorce proceedings.”

Andrew Rimmer

Andrew Rimmer has been poached from Turner Parkinson and will be partner and head of construction.

Andrew specialises in a range of contentious and non-contentious construction matters, working with clients including developers, contractors and subcontractors.

He counts amongst his clients Bardsley Construction, Urban Splash, Wetherby Building Systems and Domis Construction.

Ruth McCarthy, joint head of real estate commercial said:  “Andrew is a very welcome addition to the Real Estate Commercial Team at JMW and he brings with him a wealth of experience in construction disputes. Andrew’s appointment adds to our already growing team, cementing us as one of the biggest real estate teams in Manchester.”

Joy Kingsley, senior partner at JMW added “We are delighted that specialists in their field of work such Abigail Bennett and Andrew Rimmer have joined their respective teams at JMW.

“These appointments again show how important lateral hires are to the growth and development of JMW.”