News

Legal and professional services group Ampa has announced 36 promotions across its house of brands including Shakespeare Martineau, Mayo Wynne Baxter, Lime Solicitors, Marrons and Coadax.

Effective May 2024, the group has promoted nine people to partner – Shakespeare Martineau’s Aller Dawlat, Holly Lockley, Stewart Freeman, Ben Darlow, John Buckley, Claire Burrows and Victoria Taylor, as well as Lime Solicitors’ Michael Young and John Tunnard.

• Aller is a key member of the real estate and energy teams, specialising in high-volume energy transactions, investment and development projects.

• Holly specialises in the acquisition and disposal of development land, helping clients maximise potential while navigating potential challenges.

• Stewart deals with a high volume of sale transactions exclusively for housing association clients and has worked in the social housing sector for more than 13 years.

• Ben’s focus is acting for landowners in high-value and complex sales. He also specialises in insolvency-based and charity-related property matters.

• John has a broad range of general commercial property experience, including landlord and tenant and residential and commercial real estate development, with a focus on energy development.

• Claire is a litigator who leads the interventions, investigations and inquiries offering within Shakespeare Martineau’s managed legal services business unit.

• Victoria specialises in helping individuals plan for the future through wills, lasting powers of attorney and estate planning.

• Michael, a highly-regarded professional negligence expert, has more than 15 years of experience handling high-value, complex cases, particularly in property and finance.

• John specialises in high-stakes cases in the High Court, County Court and Court of Protection, focusing on the validity and interpretation of wills, trusts, and Inheritance Act claims.

Four partners have also been promoted into the membership of Ampa. These are Shakespeare Martineau intellectual property lawyer Kerry Russell; serious injury solicitor Vicky Blodwell, of Lime Solicitors; and Mayo Wynne Baxter’s private client lawyer Matt Parr and residential property specialist Sacha Bolourchi.

A further six people have been promoted within the membership, becoming larger equity stakeholders in Ampa. From Shakespeare Martineau, these are corporate lawyer Jody Webb, and commercial litigator and defamation expert Daniel Jennings; town planning consultant Gary Stephens, of Marrons; contentious probate solicitor Debra Burton from Lime Solicitors; and Mayo Wynne Baxter’s Grant Parker, head of family, and Helen Bell, head of litigation.

New legal directors at Shakespeare Martineau include: immigration law expert Calum Hanrahan; commercial property and development lawyer Matthew Jones; dispute resolution specialist Nicola Lediard; and Natalie Spink and Kieran Pearson, who work within the firm’s managed legal services business unit.

Within the Shakespeare Martineau brand, there have been three promotions to associate level, including Harpreet Sandhu in the debt and asset recovery team; construction specialist Dominic Suffolk; and corporate lawyer Joshua Dyal. At Lime Solicitors, medical negligence expert Harkiran Takhar has been promoted to associate.

At Mayo Wynne Baxter, there have been two promotions to associate level – property lawyer Angela Payne and private client solicitor Ganesh Kent.

Planning, design and development consultancy Marrons has promoted Jack Barnes and Sarah MacPherson to planner and principal planner, respectively, while Jared McQueen-Pullen and Davide Respini have both been promoted to principal urban designer. Tom Linington has been promoted to principal heritage planner.

Midlands-based M&A advisory firm Coadax has promoted Marcus Chan to senior executive.

Sarah Walker-Smith, CEO of Ampa, said: “We are in it for the long-term, and committed to sustainable growth and a culture where excellence is recognised and rewarded. This round of promotions is a testament to the incredible talent within our group, spanning multiple brands and levels, reflecting our ambition to be bigger, better and braver.

“We believe that by empowering our people, we create lasting value for our clients and shape a future of innovation and opportunity. Congratulations to all those who have achieved this well-deserved recognition.”