Blake Morgan rewards 52 lawyers and support staff in latest promotions round

Leading law firm Blake Morgan has announced the promotion of 52 lawyers and support staff who work across its offices in the Solent region, Thames Valley, London and Cardiff.

The promotions reflect their commitment to taking a commercial approach to finding relevant, realistic legal solutions for their clients and their contribution to the continued success of Blake Morgan.

The corporate team at Blake Morgan have had another stellar year with a number of high-profile deal completions recognised within the regional markets. The team were recently crowned ‘corporate and commercial team of the year at the Wales Legal Awards. This success is reflected by the growth of and investment in the team, which includes the promotions of Gemma Spiceley and Mathew Wilson to Legal Director and Daniel Conway to Senior Solicitor. In their new roles they will continue to provide expert advice on a range of transactions including mergers, acquisitions and disposals.

The property team at Blake Morgan also have reason to celebrate with twenty promotions recognising their commercialism and client care while advising on some of the largest property deals and infrastructure projects across the regions.  Christine Kessler-Robinson, James Realff, Euan Mitchell, George Panteli and Dawn Smith have all stepped up to Legal Director. Hollie Jones has been promoted to Senior Associate. Marisa Abrahams, Vanessa Groom, Sophie Boswell, Dominic Elster and Peter Lewis have all been promoted to Associate.

Also within the team, Thomas Djan-Krofa and Sophie Shaladi have taken on additional responsibilities in their new roles as Senior Associates. While Alex King and Abigail Lambert step up to Senior Paralegal, Matt Ivey will also be supporting the team in his new role as Paralegal. This follows an outstanding 12 months which have seen the team named Property Law Firm of the year by OxPropFest and Property and Construction Team of the Year at the Wales Legal Awards.

The success of the Blake Morgan construction team has also been recognised by the promotion of Dominic Jones to Legal Director, Kate Howell to Senior Associate and Simon Lewis to Senior Solicitor.

With the launch of the firm’s BM Life Stages campaign and recognition by the ePrivateclient as a top law firm for private clients the firm’s offering to private individuals has gone from strength to strength. James Davies who specialises in family law has been promoted to Legal Director while Amy Fullerton, Sophie Cisler and Laura Richards all celebrate promotions to Senior Solicitors.

The quality of help and support provided to private clients who have suffered trauma as a result of accident or injury was also recognised by seven promotions with the Blake Morgan Injury Group. Both Patricia Wakeford and Andrew Harnett were promoted to Legal Director. She is joined by Jennifer Sore who takes on her new role as Senior Associate, while Kerry Blomerus and Katherine Ettridge step up to Senior Solicitor. Iqval Dale is also promoted to Senior Legal Executive and Byron Cole to Senior Paralegal.

Dan Geddes and Nicole Diggle in the firm’s commercial litigation team have been promoted to Legal Director in recognition of their expertise in supporting clients on a number of highly contentious cases through settlement negotiations, the courts or arbitration. They are joined by Heather Welham who is promoted to Senior Associate.

It’s been a busy year for the employment team who celebrate three promotions. Lisa Wallis steps up to Legal Director while Rhiannon Jenkins and Charlotte Marshall celebrate their promotions to Senior Associate and Senior Solicitor respectively.

The firm has established an enviable reputation with the charities and public sector where legal experts Kirsteen Hook step up to Senior Associate, Rob Jeffries take on a new role as Associate and Tomos Lewis and Charlie Mallows are both recognised with promotions to Senior Solicitors.

Regulatory lawyer, Jennifer Feeney has been promoted to Associate in recognition of her experience in advising regulators in developing and operating with their regulatory schemes.

In addition to the promotions across the firm’s legal teams four support staff have also been rewarded for their contribution in driving forward the success of the firm. Jack Wiseman-White has been promoted to Associate within the Risk team, Nye Davies has been promoted to Revenue Controller in Finance, Victoria Morgan has been promoted to Client Operations Manager in Business Development. Ben Denness has played a key role in the firm’s transition to new CRM solution Peppermint and the introduction of new technologies has been recognised in his promotion to IT Development Manager.

Blake Morgan Chairman Bruce Potter said: “Blake Morgan is proud to recognise so many talented individuals within the firm who are dedicated to providing commercial solutions and first-class legal advice to our business and private clients. I would like to thank everyone who has been promoted for their role in securing our continued success as leaders in each of the regions we work in.”