People: Tyr Law; Fleetondemand; McCormicks Solicitors; and more
Leeds-based commercial law firm Tyr Law has continued its growth with the recruitment of partner, Luisa D’Alessandro.
She was previously a partner at Schofield Sweeney, and trained and worked in the commercial team at Pinsent Masons earlier in her career.
She joins to lead the commercial team at Tyr Law and brings a wealth of experience in advising on commercial contracts.
Her practice also covers data protection and IT work, for which she is recognised in the leading legal directories.
D’Alessandro is the sixth partner to join in the past year, with a total of 12 new joiners in the same period, as Tyr Law has grown consistently despite the challenging climate. The firm is now able to offer a full service to its clients.
Managing partner, Dean Jowett, said: “Luisa completes a fantastic period of growth for the firm. We are now established as a full-service firm offering the highest quality legal service to our clients.
“Luisa is an excellent lawyer with a great reputation. We are attracting top quality work and clients locally, nationally and internationally.
“Luisa is an impressive recruit who will fit perfectly with the existing team, and she brings a key service for the firm’s clients.”
D’Alessandro added: “I am delighted to join Tyr Law and look forward to growing the commercial practice and contributing to the firm’s continued success.
“I am passionate about providing the highest quality service and Tyr Law’s ethos of a first-class service delivered by a team of high calibre lawyers make the firm a great fit for my clients.”
:::
Saltaire-headquartered business vehicle hire and mobility provider, Fleetondemand, has announced seven new appointments across its senior management and software development teams to accelerate its international growth and product innovationstrategy.
Clive Barton has joined the company’s executive board as chief financial officer.
In previous roles he has partnered with CEOs to enable business growth and lead transformational change programmes for large blue-chip companies including Stenhoj, OVO Energy and P&G.
During this time, he also spent five years operatingas a management consultant, leading a number of successful projects for his clients.
Barton will be leading Fleetondemand’s financial division to deliver a strategy that streamlines existing operations tosupport therapid growth of the business worldwide, starting with the expansion of its technology and services services across Europe.
Simon Lamkin also joins the Executive team as chief technology officer, with over 23 years’ experience in the travel and technology sectors.
He has previously held senior roles at easyjet, Coforge, Brussels Airlines and TelewestBusiness.
He also managed his own ITconsultancy, implementing digital transformation strategies for some of the world’s leading airlines.
Lamkin will be focusing on the strategic development of Fleetondemand’s technology platforms, including its Mobility as a Service application,Mobilleo.
Key initiatives will include the automation of end-to-end processes and product innovation roadmaps that scale with the business as it expands into new territories.
Dr Richard Fairchild joins the team as chief product officer.
In his previous role as operations director at Aurrigo, he was responsible for deploying autonomous vehicles as part of city-wide multi-modal mobility services across the globe. He has also held senior positions at RDM Group and AVID Technology Group.
Fairchild is responsible for the strategy and execution of all product-related activities, including the internationalisation of Fleetondemand’s Mobilleo and vehicle rental management platforms to enable global expansion across multiple languages and currencies.
He will also be overseeing the development and launch of two brand new iOS and Android versions of the Mobilleo app later this year, with enhanced features and functionality.
To further support its product innovation strategy, the company has also grown its software development team with the recruitment of four new full stack, Android, Senior iOS and backend developers.
Justin Whitston, CEO and founder at Fleetondemand, said: “We are pleased to welcome these new additions to the FOD family and be in a position to invest in our growing team during these uncertain times.
“With our international expansion successfully underway, we are strengthening our core leadership and product innovation teams to ensure we continue to develop world-class mobility solutions for our customers as we scale the business.”
:::
Solicitor Stephen Hopwood has been appointed managing partner at McCormicks Solicitors of Harrogate.
He takes over the role from Peter McCormick, who will remain senior partner of the practice.
McCormick said: “As a result of both the COVID-19 lockdown and of my increased commitments since I was appointed interim chairman of the FA in November, Hopwood has taken a lot of responsibility for the day-to-day management of the business so this is a logical transition of duties for the future.
“I remain senior partner and will continue to play a very active role in the business of the firm alongside my commitments to the Premier League and the FA.”
Hopwood is a partner and head of the Family department at McCormicks. He joined the practice in 2013 and specialises in all aspects of Family work, with a focus on finance and children.
He is equally specialist in resolving normal family breakdowns and those with complex elements such as trusts and international elements.
He is a member of Resolution and treasurer of the Harrogate and District Law Society, of which he is a past president.
Hopwood said: “I am delighted to be expanding my role with the practice and look forward to working even more closely with the great team we have here to ensure we continue to offer the best possible service to our clients.”
:::
Darren Goldthorpe
Law firm Kennedys has boosted its new office in Leeds with the hire of industrial disease partners Darren Goldthorpe and Gary Brankin.
Both join from BC Legal, bringing with them Harjinder Gill, senior associate, Liam Bedford, senior associate and Rachel Durant, litigation executive.
In January, Kennedys acquired a 36-strong insurance team from Langleys which saw it open an office in Leeds, the firm’s 12th in the UK and 42nd globally.
Goldthorpe, who previously worked at DAC Beachcroft, and Beresfords, is an expert in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims and has a special interest in all aspects of medical causation.
His practice covers claims of higher/lower frequency losses and those which involve exposure from non-traditional sources, alongside a wide variety of disease claims.
Brankin worked with Goldthorpe at BCL and DAC Beachcroft. He is primarily focused on managing a team running high value asbestos litigation in the High Court, with a primary focus on the Local Authority sector.
The pair share a keen interest in tech innovation having worked together to develop IT tools which helped to deliver the lowest average case cost, lowest total claimants costs paid and the highest number of nil settlements, together with the highest repudiation rate of 77% across a portfolio of over 22,000 NIHL claims.
Last year Kennedys launched its own technology company, Kennedys IQ, that provides machine learning tools and data-powered analytics to insurer claims functions and large corporates.
It is a limited company and is wholly owned by Kennedys Law LLP.
Richard West, partner, Kennedys said: “We’ve known Gary and Darren for a number of years. Both are liked and highly respected within this field, and their recruitment marks our intention to grow our disease practice further.
“I’m particularly pleased that they share our passion for utilising technology to advance the claims process.”
Gary Brankin
Nick Thomas, senior partner, Kennedys added: “We continue to grow as we look to focus on the areas that are important to our clients.
“We are very pleased to be expanding so rapidly in the North, following the opening of our new office in Leeds and alongside our offices in Sheffield, and Manchester.”
Goldthorpe said: “Kennedys is going to be a natural home for us. A combination of their innovation and reputation in this sector, matched with Kennedys depth of knowledge in the general insurance sector will help us to build our practise and support our clients.”
Brankin added: “I am looking forward to joining Kennedys and particularly having the opportunity to work with their disease team and the Kennedys IQ team.
“Given the interest and experience Darren and I have in creating innovative products for our clients, we are excited to build on this.”
