East Mids law firm expands into Liverpool

Law firm Freeths, which has offices in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, has launched its twelfth office in Liverpool’s 20 Chapel Street building.

The office, which will in time offer a full range of legal services, will initially have two partners and support staff. Freeths says that aim to to recruit more staff over coming months, with its networking of UK offices initially providing support to the new location.

The office will he headed by Andy Nichol and Luke Hopkins who both join Freeths from DWF.

Nichol will be managing partner of the new office and was previously executive partner for DWF’s Liverpool office, heading up its property team. He acts for institutional and private investors, dealing with the acquisition, management and disposal of commercial property assets and has over 15 years’ experience in property finance.

Hopkins is a real estate partner with over 12 years’ experience. He has acted for UK and international investors, with a particular focus on the acquisition, management, development and disposal of retail and office assets. He previously headed up the property finance team at DWF’s Liverpool office.

Colin Flanagan, chairman of Freeths, said: “This is an exciting venture for us to expand further in the north-west. The office location is great and we are pleased to join other businesses such as Ernst & Young, Barclays and Liverpool Football Club in the grade A space. Both Andy and Luke are well known in their sectors – we look forward to them being part of our team and helping to grow our presence in the region.”