News

Legal and professional services group Ampa Group has announced 35 promotions across its house of brands including Shakespeare Martineau, Corclaim, Lime Solicitors, Mayo Wynne Baxter and Marrons.

Effective May 2026, the group has promoted four people to partner – Shakespeare Martineau’s Afreen Cole, Hannah Pickering and Katrina Gibson, as well as Corclaim’s Michael Brooks.

• Afreen works across commercial and residential property finance, advising lenders on due diligence, title reporting and the drafting of facility documentation. She has particular expertise in Islamic finance, including advising on and drafting commodity Murabaha, diminishing Musharaka agreements and other complex secured lending and real estate finance transactions.
• Hannah specialises in real estate finance, advising lenders and borrowers on a wide range of property finance transactions including development lending, portfolio refinancing and Islamic finance.
• Katrina has operational responsibility across contracts within the debt and asset recovery team, including onboarding, performance tracking and service levels. Katrina and her team work closely with clients to tailor services in line with the values of their organisation.
• Michael specialises in litigation arising from road traffic accidents, property damage and damage to highways. He has particular expertise in acting for businesses to recover losses, including claims pursued by way of direct action against insurers and claims against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau involving uninsured or untraced drivers.

At Shakespeare Martineau, employment solicitor Lubna Laheria has been promoted to legal director. Lubna advises employers on HR issues and employment tribunal litigation, including unfair dismissal and discrimination claims. Lubna also specialises in corporate support work.

New senior associates at Shakespeare Martineau are residential conveyancer Raza Ali; real estate finance specialist Ian Cole; real estate disputes lawyer Selica Khan; legal planner Josh Morley; and family lawyer Deanna Phillips-Mills.

• Raza specialises in residential conveyancing, advising individuals and companies on the sale, purchase and refinancing of freehold and leasehold property. He has also started to specialise in Islamic finance and Building Safety Act matters.
• With more than a decade of experience in property law, Ian plays a central role in supporting key client relationships and leading major process innovation and transformation initiatives.
• Selica specialises in property litigation, advising on complex land and landlord and tenant disputes, including restrictive covenants, lease renewals and Building Safety Act matters.
• Josh specialises in planning law, advising clients on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters including planning obligations, appeals and judicial review.
• Deanna specialises in family law, advising clients on divorce, complex financial settlements and children matters. She also advises on pre- and post-nuptial agreements as part of clients’ overall wealth protection.

At Corclaim, Oliver Burke has been promoted to senior associate. Oliver handles a mix of high-value property and motor ULR claims, and has experience managing complex litigation, including involvement in multi-track trials.

Also stepping into the senior associate role is medical negligence lawyer Fernanda Simionato-Ayling, of Lime Solicitors. Fernanda specialises in obstetric and gynaecological cases, misdiagnoses, orthopaedic injuries, cosmetic surgery, surgical errors and A&E claims.

Within the Shakespeare Martineau brand, there have been eight promotions to associate level – commercial real estate specialists Sukhpal Bhamrah and Jacob Hanson; William Corbett in the managed legal services team; tax expert Stefanos Giailidis; real estate disputes expert Ishtar Golant; banking expert Lauren Green; Ryan McNally in the debt and asset recovery team; and commercial litigator Katherine Richards.

At Lime Solicitors, serious injury specialist Georgie Beckers, serious injury and medical negligence specialist Neelam Chauhan, trust and estates disputes expert Meg Edmunds, and medical negligence specialist Kate Harrison have been promoted to associate, as well as Matt Watson within the Corclaim brand.

At Mayo Wynne Baxter, private client specialist Sadvi Baichoo has been promoted to associate chartered legal executive.

Multi-disciplinary development consultancy Marrons has promoted planners Jake Horton, Sam Muir and Megan Simpson to associate.

Jack Barnes and Kai Blackmore, also in the planning team, have been promoted to senior planners, while Brixie Payne has been promoted to senior heritage planner, and Rhys Vaughan Prosser has been promoted to senior graphic designer and illustrator.

In the socio economics team, Isabelle Woodville-Hill has been promoted to senior planner. In the masterplanning and urban design team, Max Chen has been promoted to associate urban designer.

Sarah Walker-Smith, CEO of Ampa Group, said: “There is a real sense of pride in seeing our people progress and step into new opportunities across the group. Moments like this speak to the kind of business continue to build – one that brings together diverse expertise, encourages meaningful collaboration and creates opportunities for people to thrive.

“These promotions reflect both individual achievement and the collective strength and momentum within Ampa Group. As we continue to evolve, it is this shared ambition and depth of capability that will shape our future and the value we deliver to clients. Congratulations to everyone on this well-deserved milestone.”