Legal appointments: Leeds lawyer takes up prestigous role, new partner at Hempsons, mental health expert joins firm and more

A round-up of the region’s legal appointments.

DR JOHN McMullen, head of employment law at Watson Burton LLP, has been appointed to the Law Society’s prestigious Employment Law Committee for a three-year term.

He is one of only 14 employment lawyers in the UK to be chosen for the role.

This is the second three-year term John McMullen will serve.

His national reputation has been strengthened in recent years as a leading authority on employment law.

He is one of the country’s foremost practitioners in European employment law, an internationally recognised authority on transfer of undertakings, and has been involved in some of the UK’s largest transactions and cases involving TUPE.

Dr McMullen is also a part-time Professor of Law at the University of Leeds, and a respected author, editor and writer in employment law.

He is a member of the Council of the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).

His role as a member of the Law Society’s Employment Law Committee is to promote improvements in employment law and practice, make representations to Government consultations, and to support solicitors in this field throughout the country.

He said: “It is an honour to have been appointed for a further three years to this national Law Society committee. To be able to influence the future direction of employment law and be involved in lobbying government is a rare privilege. It takes dedication and energy to work towards making a positive difference to employment law and practice, and I am fully committed to doing as much as I can during the next three years.”

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HEMPSONS has promoted Harrogate senior solicitor Crispin Pettifer to partner, bringing the total number of partners at the Harrogate office to 13 and nationally to 42.

Mr Pettifer joined Hempsons in 2005 and is head of construction advising on construction and commercial projects.

He regularly advises numerous NHS and Foundation Trusts on the development of hospital premises.

He also advises Primary Care Trusts and medical practices looking to develop, purchase or lease primary care premises.

Mr Pettifer is involved in the corporate and commercial aspects of PFI and LIFT schemes.

He has also successfully structured and negotiated bespoke public-private partnerships for privately run clinical facilities at NHS hospitals to deliver services both to NHS and private patients.

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ASH Mahmood has qualified as a solicitor with Harrogate-based law firm Berwins.

Mr Mahmood arrived in England from Pakistan as a ten-year-old in 1990 and could not speak a word of English.

When he passed his ‘A’ levels he took up business studies and accountancy but then decided he would like to follow a career in law.

He joined Berwins two years ago from Bradford solicitors Drydens and is now working with Chris Newton, Berwins dispute resolution partner.

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LEEDS solicitor Grahame Stowe Bateson is continuing its expansion with the appointment of a mental health expert and the creation of a new housing law team.

The move comes one month after the firm, which operates across six offices in Yorkshire, acquired one of Leeds’ most established criminal law practices, Robert Moore Culleton, and two months after a new property and conveyancing office was unveiled in Middleton, Leeds.

Simone Voss joins from the Trafford Law centre, where she spent six years advising people under arrest and those facing mental health tribunal hearings on issues including mental capacity and community care orders. Ms Voss will work as a paralegal alongside the firm’s 4 mental health lawyers who represent clients regularly at Mental Health Review Tribunals, of which she is a member.

The practice is regarded as one of the leading mental health practices in the region, while senior partner Grahame Stowe is acknowledged as one the most experienced mental health lawyers in the north of England, having acted for more than 20 years as president of the Mental Health tribunal, chairing hearings across the region.