Four Partner Promotions and two new Members at Irwin Mitchell

18th April 2012

Group Chief Executive Says Appointments Show Strength and Breadth of Talent At Firm Irwin Mitchell today announced that four lawyers are to be promoted to the Partnership and two Partners, including a non-lawyer, promoted to Membership status at the leading national firm from next month.

Four of the members of staff promoted are based in Sheffield, including Operations Director Gary Jackson, who adds to the non-lawyer contingent of Members at the firm. The news was hailed as a sign of the strength and breadth of talent at the firm by Group Chief Executive John Pickering, who said the appointment of candidates from across Irwin Mitchell's divisions reflected the top quality offering provided to personal, business and institutional clients In addition, Pickering also flagged the promotion of another non-lawyer to Membership status as further proof of Irwin Mitchell's commitment to developing people from all areas of the business and recognising their achievements in supporting the firm's strategic growth plans. The appointments, which come into effect on May 1, will take the number of Partners at Irwin Mitchell nationally to 174 and come on top of further high profile appointments in the past year at the firm, which continues its preparations to become an ABS and was one of the first to apply to the SRA for a license in January. Joining Irwin Mitchell's growing list of Partners in its Business Legal Services division is Sheffield-based property lawyer Tom Hall. In the Personal Legal Services division in Sheffield, Adam Draper steps up from Associate to Partner in the specialist Contentious Probate team, while Phil Tomkinson is promoted to Partner in the firm's Motor team. Personal injury Partner Jonathan Betts also becomes a Member while banking and finance litigation specialist Tom Seabrook is promoted to Partner. Both are based in Manchester. The news was welcomed by John Pickering, who said he was delighted with all the appointments, emphasising Irwin Mitchell's commitment to growing its private and commercial offerings throughout the country. He said: These appointments come at a pivotal time for Irwin Mitchell, as we prepare to become an ABS, and the fact that these promotions cover various areas of our business yet again demonstrates the breath and very high quality of the services we are able to offer private and commercial clients. It also underlines our commitment to developing people from all areas within IM, including again people from a non-legal background, and recognises their achievements and the contribution from every part of Irwin Mitchell in supporting our growth strategy. The legal sector is changing and we believe there will be a number of opportunities arising for us to continue to grow our business. But at the heart of that will have to be having the right people to enable us to continue to offer the best possible service to all of our clients. Irwin Mitchell is in a strong position to be at the forefront of the changing legal sector and our new Members and Partners will join with our existing partnership in making sure that we continue to offer a market-leading service to all of our clients. Earlier this year, Irwin Mitchell confirmed it had appointed Glyn Barker, former Vice Chairman of PwC UK, as its Chairman Designate and Mel Egglenton as a second Non-Executive Director, subject to approval from the SRA for the firm's ABS status. Other senior appointments in the past 12 months at Irwin Mitchell's Sheffield office include Denny Payton in the Motor team and Julie Morrissy in the Construction team. The firm has also appointed  Alex Barnes and Jayne Schnider in the Real Estate Tax team in Birmingham and London respectively and Ros Bever in the Family team in Manchester. Irwin Mitchell won an award for its innovative corporate strategy and was also named in the Industry Pioneers category at the annual 'FT Innovative Lawyers' awards in 2011 and was also recently noted for maintaining silver status in Business in the Community's Corporate Responsibly Index.