Blake Morgan rewards 54 lawyers and support staff in latest promotions round

Leading law firm Blake Morgan has announced the promotion of 54 lawyers and support staff who work across its offices in the Solent region, Thames Valley, London and Cardiff.

The promotions reflect their commitment to putting the client first and their contribution to the continued success of Blake Morgan.

The latest promotions round demonstrates the firm is committed to developing talent in-house. All promotions come into effect today (1 November 2017).

At the firm’s South Coast offices in Portsmouth and Southampton there were 27 promotions. Thirteen lawyers were promoted in the firm’s built environment division, reflecting the increasing demand for real estate advice in the Solent region. Hollie Jones was promoted to associate, Alison Westbrook and Anna Larbi take on new roles as legal directors, while Beth Bowers and Soul Kayouche assume additional responsibilities as senior paralegals. Molly Siggs and Elizabeth Cooke-Smith have both been promoted to senior solicitor. James Realff, Andrea Mathias, Martin Logan, Katie Hunt, Christine Kessler-Robinson and Deena Blake have all been promoted to senior associate.

There are four promotions in the commercial team. Employment lawyer Vicky Schollar has been promoted to associate, charities expert Kirsteen Hook has been promoted to associate and two corporate lawyers, Mat Wilson and Gemma Spiceley, have been promoted to senior associate. They are joined in the promotions round by Vikki Heard, who works as court of protection manager, has been promoted to associate.

The firm’s Litigation, Dispute Resolution (LDR) offering on the South Coast has been bolstered with seven promotions.  Heather Welham and Claire Hitchman are promoted to associate, Ben Evans and Helen Dickie take on new roles as senior associates, Helen McCarthy is promoted to senior costs lawyer while Carina McFadden and David Crockford are both promoted to senior solicitor.

Gemma Osgood, who specialises in clinical negligence cases, becomes a senior associate, while Charlotte Allen is promoted to senior solicitor. Both work within the BL Claims division of the firm on the South Coast.

At Blake Morgan’s Thames Valley offices in Oxford and Reading, 10 lawyers were promoted. The firm has a thriving private client practice in the region, supporting families and entrepreneurs on a wide range of domestic and business affairs. Conveyancing expert Tanya Warner has been promoted to legal director, while family lawyer Catherine Morgan has been promoted to senior associate and Laura Bennett steps up to senior solicitor.

There have been four promotions in the built environment team. Kay Rumford takes on her new role as senior associate, Nicky Williams is promoted to senior legal executive, Victoria Warmington steps up to senior paralegal and Anna Singleton to senior solicitor.

Two commercial lawyers in the Thames Valley are also recognised in the promotions round. Elisabeth Bell has been promoted to legal director and Sara Thompson is promoted to senior solicitor. Thomas Djan-Krofa in the LDR team steps up to associate.

In the firm’s London office, there are six promotions. It has been a strong year for the professional regulatory team in the City. Three of their lawyers have been promoted to senior associate – James Danks, Cass Scarborough, Antonia Dowgray. Meanwhile their colleague Keziah Pearson has been promoted to senior solicitor. They are joined in LDR by commercial litigation specialist Conor Daly who has been promoted to associate. Banking and Finance expert Felicity Rowan has also been rewarded with a step up to legal director.

There were 11 promotions in Blake Morgan’s Cardiff office – including the promotion of commercial lawyers Jon Belcher and Alexander Butler to associate. Cathy Bryant and Reshma Jogia have been promoted to legal director.

In the Cardiff LDR team, four lawyers are stepping up. Holly Stedman steps up to associate, Tina Whitman takes on a new role as senior associate, while Jennifer Feeney and Sophia Farmer assume additional responsibilities as senior solicitors.

It has been a great year for the real estate team in Wales and Rachel Hillberg and Natalie Lawley are both rewarded with promotion to associate. Planning expert Chris Allingham also steps up to associate in the latest promotions round.

Blake Morgan Chairman Bruce Potter said: “Our success comes down to the experience and expertise of our people and we are proud to recognise their dedication and hard work in our latest promotions round.

“The high number of promotions is testament to our ethos of recognising, rewarding and developing in-house talent.

“Many of those promoted have taken on additional responsibilities and projects that will drive forward and ensure our continued success.  I would like to thank each and every one of them for their contribution in making us a Top 50 law firm and leaders in each of the regions we work in.”

The promotions follow another successful year for the firm which sees them crowned Property Law Firm and Law Firm of the Year on the South Coast, Legal Team of the Year in Wales, and acknowledged as a top law firm by eprivateclient.

The expertise and experience within the firm’s legal teams were also acknowledged by the latest Legal 500 results, which named 38 Blake Morgan lawyers as leading individuals and recommended a further 159 lawyers.