South: Law firm Pitmans announces new managing partner

Leading law firm Pitmans LLP has announced that Christopher Avery, celebrating 25 years as managing partner, is to step down from the role.

With the firm – described as a ‘regional heavyweight’ by The Legal 500 – now a 36-partner business with major offices in Reading, Southampton and London, Avery is handing over the reins at Pitmans to John Hutchinson.

Hutchinson, former head of the firm’s corporate department, becomes managing partner at a time of rapid growth for the firm. Expansion into London and Southampton has created new regional and sector opportunities for Pitmans.

In 2014 Pitmans acquired Lamport Bassitt, a leading Hampshire practice, to become one of the most significant regional firms in the south, with a footprint stretching from London to the Isle of Wight.

Hutchinson praised Christopher Avery’s long tenure as managing partner: “Christopher took over as managing partner in 1990 and has presided over the firm’s substantial growth since then. The firm has won numerous awards and now stands in 2015 as a tremendous success story, not just for the region, but in terms of the legal sector generally.”

Avery remains a partner at the firm and continues his relationships with both his new and longstanding clients of the firm.

Hutchinson said: “My aim is to build on the firm’s great progress over the last 25 years and continue to offer the best services to our private, commercial and professional clients.”

• Pitmans has been described by Chambers legal guide as ‘dominant across the Thames Valley’. It has offices in Reading, London and Southampton and employs 220 staff.