People: University of Central Lancashire; O’Connors Legal Services; Butcher & Barlow; and more

One of the world’s top fraud and asset recovery lawyers has been appointed as a visiting professor by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)’s School of Justice.

Veteran Canadian attorney Martin Kenney, whose law firm is based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), is one of the world’s leading asset recovery lawyers, regularly acting for clients on multi-million and billion dollar cases.

Kenney is the recipient of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s ACFE’s highest honour, the Cressey Award for life-time achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud. For the past five years he has been chosen as a global elite “Thought Leader” by Who’s Who Legal, and previously has been selected as the number one offshore asset recovery lawyer worldwide. He regularly writes for and contributes to a variety of media outlets, as well as webinars and podcasts, and his firm has earned numerous plaudits from international media.

His firm Martin Kenney & Co (MKS) already supports students from UCLan’s MSc Financial Investigation course through internships and sponsors an annual award in Kenney’s name, awarded to the student who makes an ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Study of Financial Investigation’, which comes with a £1,000 bursary.

In addition, MKS recently employed two UCLan School of Justice graduates at its BVI headquarters: Harley Thomas – a fully qualified accountant as well as investigator – and Sarah Margarson, a financial investigator formerly with the Serious Fraud Office. In addition, the firm will soon be employing a third graduate and former detective from the UK on a part-time basis.

Kenney said: “This recognition is a splendid gesture by the university. I’m delighted to be able to give back something to the next generation of economic crime fighters. They are going to be on the frontlines of the battles against money laundering, corruption and fraud, especially in light of developments in crypto, wars and sanctions, and the political and public pressure to push ever greater ‘transparency’.

“I’m looking forward to speaking with and meeting the students in due course: my firm will be employing two graduates from UCLan’s School of Justice this summer, which speaks to the exceptionally high calibre of the MSc Financial Investigation course.”

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Liverpool and London-based business lawyers and advisers O’Connors Legal Services has promoted four members of its legal team.

Corporate lawyer Craig Geraghty has been promoted to legal director of the firm.

Corporate and commercial lawyers Natasha (Tash) Collins and Phil Bowers and regulatory and insurance lawyer Josh Bates have been promoted to associates.

Director and head of the firm’s corporate team David Malone said: “These promotions are hugely well-deserved and reflect the extremely positive feedback we receive from the clients with whom Craig, Tash, Phil and Josh work. They each bring rare technical and project management skills to the firm and have demonstrated an ability to help clients manage their risk in key projects and transactions, wherever in the world they are taking place.”

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North West Solicitors Butcher & Barlow has congratulated two trainees on their qualification as solicitors.

Tiffany Shoesmith and Angharad Al-Bazi both began their careers with Butcher & Barlow in 2019 as paralegals before beginning their training contracts in 2020 and have been have supported by the firm throughout their training, despite the majority of it taking place during the pandemic.

The law firm, with 10 offices across Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire, offersa Future Lawyers scheme, which gives graduates the necessary training to make the step from theory to practising law.

Jonathan Aldersley, senior partner, said: “We believe in providing talented graduates with a varied caseload and the responsibility that gives them the necessary skills to complete their training and a hunger to succeed. Over the years we have created an ambitious and well trained workforce who work hard to maintain our excellent reputation and are eager to continue their careers with us.

“We are also keen to ensure that all colleagues, whether they are qualified yet or not, feel like part of the team and we endeavour to provide them with as much support as possible to nurture success.”

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Stephen Whelan, technical director at Integrity IT Solutions

A growing IT firm has further strengthened its team by taking on nine new recruits.

Integrity IT Solutions, which is based in Carlisle, Cumbria, and Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, has expanded its team in order to meet the demand for its services.

In the past six months, the firm has recruited seven IT engineers, a BT product specialist and an administrative assistant, taking the total number of people employed by the firm to 23.

The technology business looks after more than 300 clients across the north of England and south-west Scotland, ranging from sole traders to larger organisations, some with more than 1,500 users.

Stephen Whelan, technical director at Integrity IT Solutions, said: “The investment in our team reflects our commitment to delivering an excellent, local service to our clients.

“Every business is unique and by having the right team in place, we can ensure that our clients have an expert on hand to ensure they receive the advice and support they need, whenever they need it.”

The seven IT engineers who have joined Integrity IT Solutions are Simon Selby, Alex Blythe, Andrew Clark, Ian Kennedy, Elena Knox, Remigiusz Hercun and Connor Freebairn. Colin Hewitt has joined as the firm’s BT Product Specialist, while Carmen Van Tilburg is working as an administrative assistant.