Thursfields expands commercial team

THURSFIELDS has strengthened its growing commercial team with the appointment of Mohammed Qasim. Previously at Brindley Twist Tafft & James in Birmingham, he joins the commercial litigation team based in Halesowen.

Qasim has dealt with a wide range of litigation cases including high profile commercial litigation, insolvency litigation and both prosecution and defence of directors disqualification proceedings.

He is a high profile litigator and is the consulting Editor to “Mithani on Directors Disqualification”, the leading publication on the subject.

Michelle Hetheridge, lead partner at Thursfields’ Halesowen office said: “Further to the launch of our Halesowen office in the summer, and second commercial office in Worcester this month, Thursfields now has an even more significant presence in the region, so the appointment of Qasim comes at a time when we are growing.  We are delighted to welcome him to the firm.’

Housing pick-up prompts expansion by Shoosmiths

INCREASING momentum in the housing market has prompted Shoosmiths to expand its residential team.

Following the appointment of a number of residential development specialists, the team has been further strengthened with the recruitment of senior associate Neil Gosling.

Gosling, who will be based in Birmingham, joins from Gateley, and has more than 12 years’ experience in the residential development sector.

He has acted for eight of the UK’s top 10 housebuilders, along with land owners and housing associations; and his expertise is in immediate and strategic land acquisitions, disposals, and urban regeneration projects.

Hiring Gosling is part of Shoosmiths’ strategy to provide greater dedicated strength in depth in the West Midlands’ residential development legal market, complementing the resources already at its disposal in its Northampton and Milton Keynes offices.

Gavin Le Chat, partner and head of residential development in Birmingham, said: “We’ve seen housebuilders publishing significant increases in sales figures, citing the positive effect of Help to Buy and improved lending rates, as well as a housing supply shortage.

“It means they’re having to buy more land as well as draw on their land reserves and existing stock sooner than expected to keep up with demand.
 
“We’ve hired Neil, a highly experienced solicitor in this field, to help us provide more depth to our team to enable us to better serve clients as they seek to take advantage of this welcome upturn in the housing market.”
    
For the financial year 2012-13, Shoosmiths‘ residential development team saw 16% year-on-year growth, partly the result of a deliberate strategy of focusing on key relationships during the recession, which in turn saw fee income from leading clients double in the past four years.

Commercial boost for Thomas Horton

THOMAS Horton Solicitors has strengthened its commercial team with the appointment of Malford Harris as a senior business and charity solicitor.

Harris has more than 35 years’ experience in corporate and commercial law, gained at three prominent regional law firms. He will now work to build on the success of Thomas Horton’s corporate and commercial department, which has this year been ranked second in Worcestershire and fourth in the West Midlands by Legal 500.

In addition, Harris will draw upon his expertise in charity law, having built a reputation as an advisor to both local and national charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Jeff Taylor, head of the business services team at Thomas Horton, said: “We’re pleased to welcome Malford to our firm. We will undoubtedly benefit from his expertise, knowledge and passion for both the commercial and charitable arenas.”

Malford Harris, left, is welcomed to Thomas Horton by head of the business services team, Jeff Taylor.