Shakespeare Martineau announce 13 promotions including eight in the West Midlands

Law firm Shakespeare Martineau, is celebrating a raft of internal promotions in its Shakespeare Martineau, Lime Solicitors, and Marrons Planning teams, as part of its ambitious growth strategy.

Birmingham-based property litigation expert Justine Ball has been promoted to partner after nearly 10 years with Shakespeare Martineau. Justine specialises in telecoms and advising landowners on the termination and renewal of leases.

Further promotions in the Birmingham office include Hannah Pickering and Lucy Haynes who join the ranks of legal director, working in the corporate and residential development teams at Shakespeare Martineau, respectively. Hannah works with long term institutional lenders, short term lenders and borrowers on a wide variety of property finance transactions. Lucy works with commercial, residential and mixed-use developers and promoters, advising on large scale acquisitions.

Shakespeare Martineau has also awarded six promotions to associate level: Laura Taylor and Samantha Vaughan of the firm’s Birmingham office and Aller Dawlat in Nottingham, sitting within the commercial property and development team; Monica Ghai and Nicola Lediard in Birmingham, supporting the wealth and litigation and restructuring teams, respectively. The final associate promotion is Sarah Parker in Solihull, who sits within the residential development team.

Contentious trust and probate expert Debra Burton who works as part of the inheritance disputes team at Lime Solicitors, has also been promoted to partner at the firm’s Leicester office. Debra represents people and their families as well as trusts and charities in rectifications claims and professional negligence.

David Pendle and Jenny Keen, who work as part of Marrons Planning, have been promoted to planning director in Nottingham. Both are experienced in project managing large and complex schemes including mixed-use developments, strategic planning and land promotion.

Also in Nottingham, family law expert Nikki Aston who specialises in children, divorce and complex financial settlements has been promoted to legal director for Shakespeare Martineau.

The promotions follow a number of updates including launching in Lincoln and the firm’s announcement to move to a ‘house of brands’ group structure, where Shakespeare Martineau, Lime and Marrons Planning will become separate entities unified by an overarching umbrella brand, with full details due to be announced later this year.

Sarah Walker-Smith CEO of Shakespeare Martineau said: “Unlocking the potential of our people is fundamental to our growth. It’s our people who make our business – and it’s our clients who benefit from our investments in our people. Everyone promoted has shown outstanding commitment to our values and working collaboratively across our regions to take our business forward in its next phase of growth.”

Jo Deffley, West Midlands regional head at Shakespeare Martineau said: “Really pleased to see so many promotions across our West Midlands offices and over such a range of services areas. This year has certainly had its ups and downs for the Midlands, but I think there is a lot of promise for the future. The West Midlands is supported by a diverse range of industries and has seen great innovation, keeping businesses afloat in testing times. As things open up, I look forward to what the future holds for our business and the region.”

Shakespeare Martineau is proactively seeking mergers, acquisitions, team recruitment and lateral hires.