New partner at mfg Solicitors

LAW firm mfg Solicitors has strengthened its employment and HR services division with the appointment of a new partner.

Chris Piggott will be based at the firm’s Adam House headquarters in Kidderminster – reporting to partner and head of department, Sally Morris.

Recognised as a leader in his field by the Legal 500, Piggott has acted for numerous UK businesses, ranging from SMEs to large corporate. His area of advice is on employee-relations issues including TUPE transfers and organisational change. He is also a regular trainer to organisations on employment law and HR practices.

As a partner, he will now support Ms Morris in bolstering the firm’s employment and HR presence in the West Midlands.

Ms Morris said: “Chris has an immense reputation not just here in the West Midlands, but across the country.

“He is exactly the type of person we want as part of the team at mfg. He has extensive experience, is well respected and is someone who always puts clients and their interests first.

“As an employment and HR services department we are thriving and working in partnership with more West Midlands businesses than ever before. Chris will be key in terms of enhancing those existing relations and developing relationships with new clients. He is already proving to be a tremendous addition to mfg.”

Piggott’s appointment comes only four months after mfg announced the appointment of Samantha Haller-Evans as HR services manager – the first non-lawyer to join the team. Her appointment has led to a steep upturn in the number of clients mfg now advises on general HR issues.

DWF bolsters fraud service with new appointment

DWF has appointed partner Lorraine Carolan as the firm’s national head of counter fraud. Ms Carolan has joined from DAC Beachcroft where she was head of the national claims validation team and prior to that, the firm’s head of litigation.

Based in Birmingham, Ms Carolan will work with DWF’s 900-strong national insurance team to deliver increased value to the firm’s client base of major insurers.

Ms Carolan has extensive expertise in defendant personal injury work, specifically focused on handling motor and casualty fraud. She also has experience in handling multi-track claims, minimal impact/significant trauma cases and staged cases, noise induced hearing loss, whiplash injuries and credit hire fraud, as well as advising on technical and policy issues.

She has advised a wide range of clients in the public and private sectors, ranging from large general insurers to Lloyd syndicates, self-insured, retailers and corporates and across all lines of business including personal, commercial, high risk and aggregator sourced.

DWF’s Head of Insurance, Paul Berry, said: “Lorraine brings outstanding fraud and intelligence expertise and a strong track record of leadership that will allow us to further invest in and develop our team, expand our fraud capability and strengthen relationships with existing and potential clients. “
Her appointment to the insurance team follows DWF’s recent merger with niche insurance practice Watmores.

HCR beefs up employment law with new partner

HARRISON Clark Rickerbys has strengthened its employment law service with the appointment of new partner Simon Gilmour.

His appointment brings the employment law department up to 14 lawyers.

Gilmour (left) has a legal career spanning 20 years during which he has worked for the likes of Pinsent Masons, Eversheds, Shakespeares and then Martineaus. He has worked with some major names in the TMT and manufacturing sectors, with large-scale restructures and complex TUPE transactions being a particular strength.
 
His clients include a global IT business as well as a household name drinks business, plus a number of large Worcestershire businesses.
 
Jenny Jones, partner and head of the employment law team at Harrison Clark Rickerbys, said: “Our client list includes employers of all sizes from start-ups to multi-nationals. Simon’s experience with some very complex employment matters is a real asset to our offering.”