Two new partners and series of senior promotions at Willans

Gloucestershire law firm Willans LLP has appointed two new partners and made a series of senior promotions.

Residential property partner, Simon Hodges, re-joins Willans after five years at Hughes Paddison, where he was a director in the firm’s conveyancing department. Adam Hale becomes a partner after three years as senior associate in the firm’s agriculture & estates team. Wills, trusts & probate specialists Miranda Hawkes and Tom O’Riordan become associates, along with residential property lawyer Mary Young.

Agricultural law specialist Adam Hale’s promotion to partner brings the firm’s partner count to 14. Adam advises rural businesses, farmers and private landowners on a wide range of issues relating to rural land management and the disposal of development land and has extensive experience in dealing with complex land transactions.

In the firm’s  residential property team, chartered legal executive Mary Young has been promoted to associate. Mary has practised property law in Cheltenham for more than 15 years, and prior to joining Willans in 2019, Mary headed up the residential property team at another well-known local firm.

In the firm’s wills, trusts & probate division, chartered legal executive Miranda Hawkes and solicitor Tom O’Riordan have both been promoted to associate level.

Miranda returned to Willans in 2020 after working as a senior private client lawyer in a Malvern-based firm. She is a full member of STEP and has more than 12 years’ experience in private client law. She helps clients who are elderly and vulnerable, particularly those who are unable to make important decisions for themselves. She’s also a keen equine enthusiast and provides inheritance tax and estate planning advice to clients with agricultural and equestrian assets.

Tom re-joined Willans in August 2020, having worked in the firm’s wills, trusts & probate team for many years prior to a year and a half at another leading regional private client firm. While he has wide experience, he mainly helps clients with the creation of trusts and the administration of trusts and estates (to assist with tax planning, asset protection or to provide for disabled or vulnerable beneficiaries).

Bridget Redmond, managing partner, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Simon back to Willans and am really proud of Adam, Mary, Miranda and Tom; I look forward to seeing them thrive as partner and associates, respectively.

“Each has shown clear commitment to providing clients with first-class legal advice in a responsive, approachable way. That is very much the Willans ethos and it is why we have earned the trust of generations of clients.”