Blake Morgan promotes 44 Solicitors and staff

Leading law firm Blake Morgan has announced the promotion of 44 solicitors and team members who work across its offices in the Solent region, Thames Valley, London and Cardiff.

The firm says the high number of individuals taking a step up throughout the business underlines its commitment to nurturing and developing talent in-house. The promotions come after the firm achieved a strong showing in the Legal 500 and Chambers directories, with Chambers praising it as a “pre-eminent full service law firm” with “highly-experienced” lawyers and “excellent” client service.

At the firm’s South Coast offices in Portsmouth and Southampton, where the firm is celebrating a successful year with a diverse client base that includes The Southern Co-operative, Wightlink, Raymond Brown, Radian Group, Premier Marinas and Beale plc, there were 16 promotions.

Among them was the promotion of three lawyers within the Built Environment Division, who become Senior Associates.

Chris Carr has been recognised for the quality of specialist legal advice he provides to registered providers of social housing. Having worked in the sector for over eight years he has a wealth of experience in residential lease assignments and shared ownership agreements.

Liz Covill, who specialises in corporate property transactions, primarily for clients in the retail and leisure industries, and Caroline Lindon-Morris, who provides advice to landowners, farm partnerships, corporates and agri-businesses seeking to diversify and develop the use of their agricultural property, also become Senior Associates.

The three promotions reflect the increasing demand for real estate advice in the Solent region and Blake Morgan’s position as a firm of choice for property developers and investors in key regeneration and investment projects on the South Coast.

Employment Law expert Lisa Wallis, travel claims specialist Eleanor Armstrong and the head of costs team Andy Harnett also become Senior Associates in the promotions round.

At Blake Morgan’s Thames Valley offices in Oxford and Reading, eleven lawyers were promoted, among them two within the firm’s Private Law team who have been promoted to Senior Associate.

Kate Allred, who specialises in wills, inheritance tax planning, trusts and the administration of complex estates, has been recognised for the quality of legal advice she provides to clients.

Her colleague Tanya Warner, an experienced conveyancing solicitor who specialises in domestic properties, also takes the step up in recognition of her outstanding efficiency and client care.

In other teams, Karen Kirk, a risk and compliance expert, becomes a Senior Associate, as does commercial litigator Nicola Diggle, who advises on a wide range of commercial contract claims and corporate disputes and specialises in international cases and mediation.

In the firm’s London office, there are nine promotions: Experienced commercial litigation specialist Lucy Edwards, who specialises in proceeds of crime work, restructuring and insolvency rises from Senior Associate to Legal Director.

Planning specialist Keith Lancaster, known for the high quality of his work on major projects in the commercial, industrial and residential sectors, becomes a Senior Associate. Barristers Chris Pataky and Guy Micklewright, both in the Professional Regulatory Team, also become Senior Associates as does Sean McNulty in the Pensions and Benefits Team. Laura Wilkinson in the Real Estate division is promoted from Solicitor to Senior Solicitor.

There were eight promotions in Blake Morgan’s Cardiff office – among them Cathrine Bryant in the Commercial Services Division, who becomes a Senior Associate. Cathrine’s promotion reflects her exceptional work specialising in procurement, projects and commercial matters.

Blake Morgan Chairman Bruce Potter said: “I would like to congratulate all the Blake Morgan team members on these promotions – each and every one is on merit and well-deserved.

“As a firm we place huge value on our culture of mentoring, training and developing the talent that we have and this is demonstrated by our policy of promoting from within wherever possible. The high number of promotions that we announce today is a source of great pride and shows the extent of expertise that we have within the firm at all levels.”