Member Article

This week's North West appointments

Harrison Drury lands litigation duo

North West commercial law firm Harrison Drury has strengthened its litigation offering with the appointment of experienced litigators Sean Gibbs and Nick Booth.

Both Sean and Nick join Harrison Drury from Napthens where they have spent the last four years as a team specialising in the resolution of boardroom wrangles, including shareholder and partnership disputes.

They have extensive experience dealing with professional negligence cases, contractual disputes, and issues arising out of the infringement of intellectual property rights, as well as dealing with claims arising from the publication of defamatory statements.

The pair were instrumental in Vet Plus Limited’s recent High Court success in defending a claim brought by Norbrook Laboratories in 2013 in relation to the publication of allegedly libelous and maliciously false statements, securing a substantial adverse costs award against Norbrook in the process.

Sean, who joins Harrison Drury as a director to head up its corporate and commercial litigation offering, has almost 25 years of litigation experience. He was a partner at Napthens and a former partner at DWF working at its Preston and Manchester offices. Nick was part of the commercial litigation team at Keoghs before working at Napthens and he joins Harrison Drury as an associate.

The appointments take the number of directors in Harrison Drury’s litigation team to three and the size of the overall team to eight.

John Chesworth, managing director of Harrison Drury, said: “While we strive to help our clients avoid disputes, inevitably there are always going to be times where we need to resort to litigation on their behalf. Sean and Nick’s experience will be invaluable as we encounter ever more complex disputes as our client base grows.”

Sean said: “John and his team have made Harrison Drury a modern law firm that puts clients and employees at the heart of its business. I’m looking forward to playing a role in the ongoing development of the firm which now has one of the largest litigation teams in Lancashire.”

Nick added: “I’ve long admired Harrison Drury’s fresh approach and the way it has challenged the established way of doing things in the legal industry. It’s great to be on board.”

Senior promotions at Altium

International investment bank Altium has strengthened its UK team following the promotion of four senior staff.

Chris Hopwood is based in Altium’s Manchester office and has been promoted to director. He joined Altium in 2009 from HBOS and has worked on a number of deals including the MBO of Icelolly.com by Palatine Private Equity and the acquisition of Air Products’ home operations by Duke Street.

Both Adam Sivner and Dominic Orsini have been promoted to assistant directors in Manchester. Sivner has been with the firm for more than five years since graduating from Cambridge University and in 2013 advised on the reverse takeover of Ultimate Finance Group by Renovo Group and sale of oilandgasjobsearch.com to US based CareerBuilder.

Orsini, who joined Altium from KPMG in September 2012, has been involved in a number of transactions, including the £60.5m sale of software and IT services provider Ascribe Group to clinical software supplier EMIS Group along with the buyout of Buoyant Upholstery, backed by NVM Private Equity.

Katie Hobbs has been promoted to director in the London office. She joined the firm in 2008 from Goldman Sachs and has worked on a number of transactions including the sale of Mentor to VINCI Energies and the sale of ActivInstinct to JD Sports.

Phil Adams, group chief executive at Altium, said: “2013 has been an extremely busy year following the completion of 38 transactions worth £1.78 billion. I’m delighted to announce the latest promotions and they’re testament to the hard work of the staff within the firm.

“They have each made significant contributions to Altium over the years and continue to be instrumental in driving deal activity across a number of our core sectors including energy, technology, consumer and ecommerce. This is a very exciting period for Altium. We have won a huge amount of new business in the last six months and look forward to 2014 with great confidence.”

Altium is headquartered in Manchester, with offices in London, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and Madrid.

WHN strengthens specialist commercial team

Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall has expanded one of its specialist departments after one of its trainees qualified as solicitor.

Oliver, who is 27 and originally from Leeds, has been retained by the firm’s commercial law department and will be based at its Haslingden office.

Following an undergraduate honours degree in Ancient History and an MA in Politics, Oliver decided that a career in law would be a positive and rewarding challenge. He completed a Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the University of Law in Manchester, passing both courses with distinction and obtaining a first-class Law degree in the process.

Oliver gained experience in the legal department of the General Medical Council before commencing a training contract with Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall. He completed eighteen months’ training in the firm’s corporate and commercial departments and will now help clients with company restructuring and management buyouts, commercial contracts and commercial leases.

Outside of work, Oliver is a keen sportsman, having run his first marathon last year, and plays a number of musical instruments, including the guitar and ukulele.

With 2014 being reported as the year of recovery and the economy gaining strength, demand for specialist advice without having to go to city firms has increased.

Oliver commented: “This is a fast-paced area of law but delivering robust commercial agreements and discouraging commercial disputes is helping local business owners prime themselves for future growth.

“I enjoy the challenge of meeting clients’ needs, but I’m also really pleased to have gained a full time position at a firm committed to providing specialist legal services.”

Commercial Partner at Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall, Gary Jones, said: “Oliver has demonstrated that he has a sharp, commercial mindset and understands the importance of achieving the best possible outcome for clients.

“Employing quality, passionate trainees is important to us and helps build on our extensive experience.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .