People: Avery Walters; rradar; Exchange Chambers; and more

North Leeds law firm, Avery Walters Solicitors, is expanding its Private Client team with the appointment of solicitor Sarah Burrow.

She graduated from Huddersfield University having completed a degree in law and accountancy, a Master of Laws (LLM) and attaining a Commendation for her Legal Practice Course (LPC).

Burrow has worked in the legal profession since 2013 and qualified as a solicitor in 2020. 

The team is headed by experienced Private Client solicitor, Laura Stafford, who has been with Avery Walters for nearly 10 years, having been a trainee with the firm and rising to become the Private Client Department’s head in 2021. 

Stafford said: “Sarah will be a great addition to the team, bringing over 10 years experience of working in the legal industry and has a passion for working in the private client area of the law and is well known for her personal and professional approach.”

Sarah will work alongside team members, Ellie Evans (paralegal), Stefan Mangham (trainee solicitor) and Debbie Lacey (private client secretary).

Managing director, Andrew Parascandolo, said: “We are pleased with this latest addition to our Private Client team and very much welcome Sarah’s experience and customer service skills.

“Sarah’s appointment represents another important step in the continuing growth of our Private Client department following the continuous demand we have experienced for this area of the law and the growth of Avery Walters Solicitors in general.”

Burrow said: “It’s great to have joined such a professional and well established team and to be part of a growing and ambitious firm dedicated to not only excellent legal advice but providing the customer service we feel our clients deserve whilst at the same time reward staff for their hard work. 

“I look forward to assisting the department and firm to continue with its ambitious expansion plans.”

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Law firm, rradar, has appointed David Walsh as head of business development, a newly created role which is part of the company’s vision for further expansion. 

The appointment is designed to support the firm’s growth of services which transform how businesses access legal and other relevant expertise to proactively manage the risks they face. 

rradar is a growing national law firm, with offices now in Hull, Leeds, Birmingham, Leicester, Glasgow and Manchester.

Walsh, who will report directly to chief commercial officer, Davina Gillyon, will be responsible for driving forward and delivering the company’s strategic business development programme.

He will also scale rradar’s sales and business development strategy and proven model, maximising existing opportunities and identifying new ones for its products and services, working with key client partners and strategic brokers to achieve its revenue growth targets.  

Gillyon said: “David has been operating in the financial, insurance and legal sectors for almost 30 years and joins us from Markel International, where he held a number of senior business development positions including head of new business (partnerships) and head of development (legal expenses).  

“David is known for his abilities to drive a business forward through pro-active commercial development strategies which positively engage both his peers and his clientele.

“His experience has honed an impeccable skillset in building and nurturing strong partnerships to identify and deliver on new opportunities within new markets.”

Before joining Markel, Walsh operated in various management roles across some of the leading names in the national and international insurance, financial and brokerage markets, where he was responsible for managing large broker networks and teams of sales executives and account managers.

Commenting on his new role, he said: “My priority is to expand our existing and well-regarded sales and business development team and enhance a new our customer engagement and client relationship framework and support our legal teams in driving forward private fee opportunities alongside our existing insurance business.

“Throughout my career, I have always advocated for the necessity of strong market intelligence, which I will drive forward in partnership with rradar’s senior leadership team, as part of our exciting growth strategies in new and existing markets”. 

His appointment coincides with continued upward progression for rradar, which was founded in 2012. It now employs over 170 people across several locations.

In the coming 12 months, the firm expects to double its headcount and expand its footprint with further office locations through a merger and acquisition strategy, new product development and use of its digital platform which is designed to deliver value to clients.

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A Yorkshire-based barrister is believed to have become the youngest black and minority ethnic Crown Court judge.

After a lengthy process of exams, interviews and approval from the King, 34-year-old Ayesha Smart has been selected to sit as a recorder in Crown Courts across the North East England.

She said: “I’m really proud of the achievement. As are my family.

“I remember my mum commenting when I got the appointment that it made her family’s move from Sri Lanka to the UK all worthwhile.

“As someone that has faced various prejudices in my life and career, it’s really positive to showcase that people of colour and women can be just as successful as their white or male counterparts and that youth doesn’t necessarily mean ineptitude.”

Smart moved to Harrogate with her family when she was 14 and went on to gain an undergraduate degree in medical sciences from the University of Leeds.

“She worked as a pathologist at Harrogate District Hospital before converting to law. She secured pupillage, was called to the bar in 2014 and joined Exchange Chambers in Leeds last month, specialising in crime, regulatory and clinical negligence.

Her new position as recorder will see her sitting for a minimum of 30 days a year.

Smart added: “It is a really positive step towards increasing diversity amongst the judiciary and inspiring people from all backgrounds to pursue a judicial career

“We want the composition of judiciary to reflect the community and modern society we live in, and currently it doesn’t quite cut it – which is reflected in the most recent judicial diversity statistics.”

“The appointment also helps in dispelling the myth that judges have to be more senior, come from a privileged background or gone to Oxbridge.”

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South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA) has appointed Councillor Jayne Dunn, a Sheffield Labour councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sheffield, as new chair of the authority.

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority is the public body responsible for the running of the £10.5bn South Yorkshire Pension Fund which is one of the 86 funds within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales and has and has around 170,000 members working for around 600 different organisations across the county.

She succeeds Cllr John Mounsey, Labour councillor for Adwick and Carcroft, who will remain an authority member.

Rotherham Labour councillor Marnie Havard has also been appointed as the authority’s new vice chair. This is the first time that two women have held both of the roles at the same time within the authority.

Cllr Dunn said: “I am looking forward to working with the other members of the Pensions Authority and our strong and committed team of officers to build on our strong track record and to continue to improve the services that are delivered for our scheme members.”

George Graham, director of South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, said: “It is great to see Cllrs Dunn and Havard appointed as our new authority chair and vice chair.

“They both bring a wealth of real world experience to these positions which will help us to build on our already impressive track record, assist in developing our thinking and support us in achieving our ambitions for the future.”