International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has announced a number of senior promotions across its UK offices, including 12 new partners and two legal directors.
The promotions bring the total number of UK partners at WBD to 138 and follows the promotions of 17 new associates and associate paralegals in May.
Paul Stewart, UK managing partner at WBD, said: "Congratulations to all of our new partners and legal directors, whose hard work, commitment and contribution to the growth of our business deserves to be recognised and celebrated.
"We're proud of the incredible talent we've developed at the firm. People are at the heart of what we do and we want them to enjoy long and successful careers with us. This is why we make it our priority to ensure everyone has the opportunity to develop, grow and be rewarded for their success."
Plymouth
Commercial disputes lawyer Luke Holmes, who specialises in litigation and dispute resolution with particular expertise in advising in the energy and financial services sectors. Residential property litigation lawyer Jason Hobday, who advises investors, Real Estate Investment Trusts, social landlords, Build to Rent and private sector residential property portfolio holders, and Samantha Orluta, who leads the Plymouth residential team and specialises in the delivery of residential housing development on a range of property transactions advising developers, landowners, investors and housing associations on options, development agreements, conditional contracts, golden brick agreements and promotion agreements.
Southampton
Stephen Anderson specialises in providing advice on commercial agreements (especially those concerning logistics, intellectual property and technology) relating to UK government procurement/projects and the Aerospace, Marine & Defence sectors. Georgina Hook, a real estate lawyer specialising in acquisitions and disposals, all aspects of ground up development, asset management and funding of real estate assets; and Vicki Young, who specialises in commercial real estate related litigation with particular expertise in dealing with legal issues that arise when managing large property portfolios for Landlords and Tenants.
Bristol
Ronan Lowney advises on tax aspects of transactions (both domestic UK and cross-border) with considerable experience in advising on the structuring and negotiation of transactions in real estate, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, finance and the energy sector (both renewable and oil & gas). A member of the corporate finance team, Alex Fergus deals with a full range of corporate finance matters, with a focus on M&A and private equity. He has a sector specialism in insurance and financial services transactions, and transactions in the real estate sector. Louise Norman is our Deputy General Counsel. She helps our business and colleagues to meet legal and regulatory compliance obligations and manage our risk.
Leeds
David Cole is a Strategic Land specialist advising clients on the assembly, promotion, development and disposal of commercial, residential and mixed-use property.
WBD Advance
Nathalie Romain, based in London, will lead WBD Advance's flexible resource service, GC Solutions. Nathalie followed a non-traditional path to qualification, training in house in local government and subsequently working in house across a multitude of industries including retail and manufacturing, financial services and the public sector. Nathalie's background enables her to bring a unique perspective to supporting the firm on its EDI journey and she sits on the firm's race diversity group, the REACH Network's steering committee.
Rachel Jones, based in Plymouth, is the first partner promotion within WBD Advance's Legal Solutions Centre (LSC). Having worked within the LSC since it was established in 2016, Rachel leads the Litigation Services and Commercial Projects Team which supports clients with volume projects and is also part of the senior management group with responsibility for the wider LSC. A qualified employment lawyer, Rachel designs legal processes with embedded technology and manages legal services outsourced by clients. Such legal services include, commercial transaction support, board minute and note taking, bundle and bible production, contract lifecycle management, document review, insurance claims management, contract production, execution and redaction.
Legal Directors
Clare Lamond, who is based in Edinburgh. With over 25 years' experience in commercial real estate, Clare has grown the retail arm of the firm's Scottish practice significantly since joining WBD just over two years ago. She has particular expertise in retail leasing and acts for many major high street retailers.
Lex Tansley from the Leeds office. A commercial and strategically focused dispute resolution solicitor with extensive post qualification experience, Lex works across a broad range of commercial, data and financial services disputes and has wide litigation experience in the High Court in London, often with a multi-jurisdictional element.
This year's partner promotions follow a number of senior hires across the firm since May 2022, including partners Alan Bennett (restructuring and insolvency, Bristol), Gearalt Fahy (employment, Leeds), Claire Kistner (banking, London), Emma Harling-Phillips, (planning and infrastructure, Bristol), Amy Gallimore (restructuring and insolvency, London), Rebecca Ferguson and Carl Powlson (both corporate, London); and Bela Zavery (real estate, London).
