Southampton: Talent recognised through raft of promotions at law firm

Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has confirmed a number of senior promotions across its UK offices, including two new legal directors and three associates in the firm's Southampton office.

Carly Holt and Stephen Baker have both been promoted to the role of legal director. Holt works in the corporate team and advises clients on corporate finance transactions. Baker is part of the developers and investors team acting on behalf of a broad range of clients on real estate requirements.

The new associates include Elisha Langridge, in the dispute resolution team; and Naomi Spencer and Elizabeth Cooke-Smith, in the real estate team.

The good news in Southampton is part of a wider raft of promotions across WBD's offices in the UK with 31 promotions which include seven partners, four legal directors and 20 associates.

Jonathan Blair (above), UK managing partner at WBD, commented: "Congratulations to all of our new partners, legal directors and associates, who have all made fantastic contributions to our business. Their hard work, commitment to the firm and first-rate legal expertise deserves to be recognised and celebrated. The career development opportunities of our people continues to be a high priority and these promotions signify an important investment in the future of our firm."

The promotions bring the total number of UK partners at WBD to 132 and follow a number of senior hires across the firm with new partners Jessica Tresham (construction, Southampton and London), Deborah Ramshaw (public sector, Newcastle), Kathryn Wood (real estate, Leeds), James Radcliffe (private client, Bristol), Will Ford (private client, London) and Paul Mason (real estate, Edinburgh) joining the firm in the past few months.

WBD is amongst the largest law firms in the South East and was highly ranked in this year's legal directory Chambers & Partners, the firm was ranked as a top tier firm in the south for its expertise in seven key practice areas including corporate/M&A, banking & finance, employment, information technology, litigation, professional negligence and real estate. 20 Southampton-based lawyers were also ranked.

Similarly, in the latest edition of The Legal 500, WBD was ranked in Southampton as a Tier 1 firm in professional negligence, IT and telecoms, employment, corporate and commercial, commercial property, commercial litigation and banking and finance with a number of practitioners listed as 'Leading Individuals' and in the 'Hall of Fame'.

Ranking in the UK's top 20 law firms, WBD provides legal expertise on a range of sectors including financial institutions, insurance, public and government services, energy and natural resources, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, retail and consumer, transport, logistics and infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life sciences, technology and private client. The firm has 27 offices across the UK and US.