Legal news: Stephensons, Shoosmiths & more

STEPHENSONS Solicitors has been appointed to the Procurement for Housing (PfH) framework for the supply of legal services in England and Wales to the social housing sector.
 
The North West firm, headquartered in Leigh, was successful in four areas covering property, development, employment and housing management and will join five other law firms from across the country on the panel.
Partner David Baybut said: “Stephensons has been delivering legal services to housing associations and local authorities for more than 30 years and we have developed an in-depth understanding of the issues they face.

“We are extremely pleased to have been appointed to this panel for the first time and we are looking forward to working with PfH’s members to resolve their legal issues.”

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A TEAM from Shoosmiths in Manchester, led by partner and head of mortgage recoveries Darren Shaw, has passed a milestone in its work with Scanlans Property Management to recover service charges and ground rents for their clients.

The running total for recoveries over the last five years is now £4m.

Mr Shaw said: “It has been great to work with Scanlans Property Management, a long-standing client of ours, to help them meet their strategic aims and, specifically, to help them recover this substantial sum. We are passionate about building our client relationships and it is a testament to the strength of our team here at Shoosmiths that we have hit this target.”

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JOANNE Pickering of Lancashire’s Forbes Solicitors has been invited to become a regional ambassador for the National Apprenticeship Service.

Pickering, director of HR, training and quality at Forbes, will act as an advocate of the National Apprenticeship Service, using her extensive experience, knowledge and commitment to the scheme.

The firm currently has six staff members on its Business & Administration Level II Apprenticeship Scheme, which is a unique programme developed delivered in-house to enable employees to gain their first work related qualification.  

She said: “Not only do Apprenticeships play a vital role in helping people start their careers but they have benefits to businesses too. We have several members of staff here at Forbes who started out as an apprentice and have gone on to have successful careers.”