Expansion follows accolades for both departments in Legal 500 and Chambers rankings
Greater Manchester-based full-service law firm Slater Heelis is continuing to grow its prowess in services for businesses with four new appointments.
The calibre of Slater Heelis’ Corporate & Commercial team was highlighted recently in two of the legal industry’s most prestigious honours, with the department achieving Band 2 classification in the 2022 Chambers Awards for the third consecutive year and rising the ranks in this year’s Legal 500 to Tier 3 status.
The first of four new recruits, Beth Sutcliffe has joined the firm as a Solicitor in the Corporate and Commercial team after being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors this September at the age of only 25.
As well as an LLB in Law and Psychology and a Masters in Legal Practice, Beth has experience in drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts including terms and conditions and software as service, marketing and framework agreements.
Additionally, Sophie Fleetwood, Trainee Solicitor, will be qualifying into the Corporate Commercial team on completion of her training contract having previously worked within the department and proving to be a great fit for the team.
Partner Simon Wallwork, who heads up the Corporate and Commercial department and was recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers rankings as a “Leading Individual” and Band 2 practitioner for the third and sixth consecutive year respectively, comments on the growth:
“The Corporate & Commercial team has gone from strength to strength in recent times, as can be seen by our promotion in the Legal 500 rankings this year. I’m confident that the expertise these new recruits will bring to our services for business will help us continue to flourish and enable us to build on this positive momentum.”
The Real Estate team at Slater Heelis has also been recognised in the 2022 Chambers & Partners rankings for the 11th consecutive year.
Joining the Commercial Property department as a Paralegal is Rachael Wilding, who has gained varied experience across the practice area after making the switch from a five-year career in the insurance sector.
Over the years, Rachael has acted on acquisitions and disposals of commercial properties for national retailers, SMEs and local authorities, conducted large scale lease assignment projects and lease reviews, and covered all aspects of Land Registry, HMRC and Companies House post-completion work.
Partner Will Henson, who heads up the Commercial Property team, comments on the new appointments:
“It is great to see the commercial property sector thriving beyond the pandemic. The past year has been challenging for our department, but the addition of our new recruits demonstrate that we have overcome them and are going from strength to strength.”
Finally, Caitlin Cavanagh is the newest member of the Slater Heelis Residential Development team after working in the property world for 10 years across a range of roles – from estate agency to legal practice. Caitlin takes up a Secretary position within the Plot Sales team.
The expansion brings the total of new recruits focused on legal services for businesses to 10 since the start of 2021. This is in addition to substantial growth across the rest of the firm.
