Due to continued growth across our departments, we have welcomed four new partners to our corporate & commercial, litigation & dispute resolution, agriculture & estates and employment law teams.
The appointments take the firm’s partner count to 22 and its headcount to 121 people, representing a 25% increase over the past five years.
This month, Claire Cox strengthens Willans’ litigation & dispute resolution team, which is headed up by senior partner, Paul Gordon. With over 15 years of experience as a litigator, Claire is a specialist in inheritance and trusts disputes and helps people who have been unfairly left out of a will, as well as with disputes between executors or trustees, issues with estate administration, breaches of trust and claims regarding will validity.
Willans’ employment law & business immigration team have also recently welcomed partner Simon Pathé to work alongside head of department, Jenny Hawrot and senior partner Matthew Clayton. Having worked as part of established law firms in Bristol and Cardiff, Simon has extensive experience in advising businesses on dispute management, equality and human rights, HR, restructuring and redundancy processes, and more.
Claire and Simon’s move to Willans follows the addition of partner, Peter Raybould who joined the firm’s corporate & commercial team and John Fisher who joined the Agriculture & Estates team in September 2024.
Peter has over 15 years of experience as a corporate solicitor and advises businesses of all kinds on a full range of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, company reorganisations and shareholder agreements. He joins head of department Chris Wills and senior associate, solicitor Helen Howes.
For over 30 years, John has been advising landowners with development and renewable projects, including both battery and large-scale solar schemes. He joins head of department Adam Hale to focus on strategic land and development, as well as advising on sales and purchases of rural properties and estates.
Speaking about the appointments, managing partner Bridget Redmond commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Peter, John, Claire and Simon to the firm as we continue to experience growth across our departments.
“Their experience, knowledge and expertise will be assets both to Willans and to our clients, helping the firm to continue offering the top-quality advice and high service levels we are known for.”
The new partners are joining at an exciting time for the firm. In December, we announced our official partnership with Gloucester Rugby Club for the next three seasons, as well as our sponsorship of Gloucester Rugby Business Club.
At the end of 2024, five of Willans’ outstanding departments and nine individual lawyers were recognised in the 2025 edition of Chambers UK – an independent guide to the country’s leading lawyers and law firms. The results followed the latest rankings for The Legal 500 UK, which recommended 24 of Willans’ lawyers across multiple departments for their specialist knowledge and level of service.
