New staff and a strong showing in national independent legal guides have seen us increase in size and rank.
We have welcomed additional lawyers to our employment and residential property departments today and the firm is celebrating its best results yet in the guides which are based purely on merit.
Eight of the firm’s eleven specialisms moved up a tier in the prestigious Legal 500 law firm directory. All eleven specialisms and twelve lawyers have been recommended by the guide’s South West researchers.
In addition, the other established industry guide, Chambers, which published its yearly results on Friday, awarded us seven department and eleven lawyer rankings. Four of the commercial departments featured in rankings across the entire South West, which includes Bristol and other regional heavyweight firms.
Willans remains the only law firm in the county to be ranked for its intellectual property legal services and for its property litigation partner’s expertise. One of our partners has been recommended UK-wide for legal work for charities and the family department and lead partner have both retained top tier rankings for Cheltenham and the surrounding area.
Commenting on the progression of the firm and its current legal standing in the region, our managing partner Bridget Redmond said:
“The latest legal directory results display our firm’s ability to ‘punch above our weight’ and demonstrate that across several areas of law, our talented team can hold their own against lawyers from larger, regional firms.”
In two years the number of lawyers in the Legal 500-rated employment department has doubled under the leadership of employment partner, Matthew Clayton. Solicitor Jenny Hawrot has joined from a reputable South East firm where she qualified in 2012. She will help the firm’s clients with the full range of employment related matters including TUPE, defending tribunal proceedings, contractual matters and general employee relations and HR work. Originally from South Wales, she has wide experience working for SMEs, owner-managed businesses and organisations employing in excess of 1,500 staff across the UK.
Earlier in the year, Helen Howes was promoted to a paralegal role in the employment team. She is an employment law masters’ graduate with extensive experience in employee relations and negotiations and helps the team across areas such as legal research, drafting employment policies and tribunal preparation. Prior to joining the firm several years ago, Helen gained experience in collective consultation and redundancy and restructuring exercises and has also worked as a legal researcher for an employment law barrister.
Commenting on the team’s expansion, employment law partner Matthew Clayton said:
“I’m delighted to welcome Jenny to the team alongside Laura Davis, Helen Howes and me. She is clearly a very talented and personable lawyer who takes an interest in her clients and their businesses. Her presence here, and her practical approach to solving clients’ problems, will enable us to continue to expand our service in a way which so many of our business and not-for-profit clients value.”
The other new starter is licensed conveyancer Yasmine Machin. Prior to entering private practice, Yasmine spent 12 years working at the Land Registry, where she progressed to a senior level. Her knowledge and experience further strengthen the firm’s well-respected residential property team.
