Legal news: Brabners promotes; Napthens & more
THREE partner, six senior associate and four associate promotions have been made by commercial law firm Brabners.
Adrian Rogers (Corporate), Richard Hough (Commercial) and Leanne Murray (Real Estate) have all joined the partnership; Ms Murray has also been appointed as head of residential development.
Meanwhile, Iain Gamble and Kevin Manley (Real Estate), Jack Froggatt, Phil Steele and Simon Morris (Dispute Resolution), and Sue Mackintosh (Private Client) have all been promoted to senior associate.
Catherine Fearon (Housing & Regeneration), Gary Duffy (Dispute Resolution), Graeme Hughes (Charity) and Michael Winder (Commercial) have become associates.
Mark Brandwood, Brabners’ managing partner, said: “The appointments enhance the firm’s capabilities in core practice areas and growth sectors. These individuals have shown themselves to be excellent lawyers and strong and consistent contributors from a business development perspective. I am confident that they will seize the opportunity these promotions give them to have an even greater personal impact on the success of the firm, and further develop their careers in the future.”
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PERSONAL injury firm Express Solicitors has appointed 10 new fee earners.
The recruitment drive follows the Manchester firm’s acquisition of 450 files from Ashfields Solicitors and the organic growth of its own caseloads by some 45% year-on-year.
Managing partner James Maxey said: “While we needed more lawyers on board, we’ve taken our time to ensure we’ve chosen the most talented people out there, who also have the right experience and attitude.
“We will continue to grow organically but, if the opportunity presents, we are also open to using our RBS funding to acquire other personal injury law firms as going concerns, or just their caseloads.”
The clinical negligence department has been boosted by the appointments of Lisa-Marie Musgrave and Davina McCreary as assistant solicitors; the employer’s liability team has been strengthened with the recruitment of Nicola Irvine and Fiona Barrett as associate solicitors and Elizabeth Poole, Emma Clarke and Laura Ward as assistant solicitors; Catherine Lansley and Steven Jewel have joined the occupiers and public liability department as assistant solicitors and Sophie Loxley has joined the costs team as senior litigation executive.
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NAPTHENS Solicitors will continue to work as a legal panel firm for the NFU in Lancashire and Cumbria for a further three years following a review by the organisation.
Napthens works with the NFU, the trade association for British farming, to offer discounts and fixed fee services for members. Along with rural-focused services, Napthens also advises NFU members on issues including succession planning, tax, probate and conveyancing.
Napthens is one of just 15 panel firms appointed by the NFU, and the intensive six month review by the organisation took into account legal services, fee structures and commitment, along with feedback from members and NFU staff.
The legal panel was originally appointed in May 2008 and subsequently reviewed in 2012 for another period of three years.
Andrew Holden, partner and head of rural business at the law firm, said: “It’s a great privilege to work with the NFU and for its members in delivering legal services.
“The agricultural industry plays an important part in the North West’s economy and we’re proud to have been selected to work hand-in-hand with the NFU to give its members access to quality legal advice and guidance.”
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ONLINE marketing agency for law firms, mmadigital, has now signed up more than 50 law firms to its Free Legal Advice Centre, the UK’s first online legal service offering consumers advice and guidance purely by video.
Firms including Stephensons, Hugh James, DAS Law, Roberts Jackson, Jefferies Solicitors and Scott Rees & Co all feature branded videos on the site covering over 20 legal disciplines including personal injury, employment and private client.
The site provides a consumer portal to quality legal advice via informative plain English video guides, giving modern law firms the ability to reach an even wider audience through easy connections to legal consumers.
Sarah Boustouller is marketing partner at Stephensons, her firm features several videos on the site, she says: “This is a great idea by mmadigital. It gives us the opportunity to demonstrate in a personal and engaging way how we help consumers via self-help material.”
Dez Derry, CEO, mmadigital says Free Legal Advice Centre takes modern marketing for law firms to a whole new level: “The power of video to generate leads for law firms is huge and getting bigger all the time. We’ve put significant investment into the platform, along with an award-winning video production team behind the site. Firms are starting to reap the rewards of communicating to clients in a far more personal way that directly appeals to the legal issue they are facing.”
