Hugh James has announced a series of promotions across its business and individual services divisions, with 25 lawyer advancements in this latest round.
Four new Partners have been named, bringing the total number of Partners at the Cardiff-headquartered firm to 70. Nine Solicitors have been promoted to Senior Associate and 12 to Associate positions.
Hugh James, a full-service firm, operates across the UK from award-winning headquarters in Cardiff and offices in London, Southampton and Plymouth.
Commenting on the latest promotions, Alun Jones, Managing Partner at Hugh James, said today:
“It brings me great pleasure to announce such a strong number of promotions again this year. Our progression pathway plays a vital role in nurturing the talent we have here at Hugh James. We place an important focus on supporting all our colleagues in their professional development and being able to recognise our brilliant team with these latest advancements is fantastic. They are a credit to the firm and the promotions are a well-deserved result of their hard work and dedication.”
Meet the Partners
Commercial Property specialist, Rachel Arentsen, advises public and private sector clients on commercial real estate transactions. During her legal career, Rachel has worked as an in-house corporate and property lawyer, at Gwent Police. She has developed a specialist expertise in supporting the public sector, including housing associations, universities, local authorities and health boards and Police Authorities on a wide range of matters.
Speaking of her promotion, Rachel said:
“I am delighted with the appointment to Partner in the Commercial Property Department at Hugh James. The team continues to go from strength to strength and I am very much looking forward to building on this success both in terms of the quality service we provide for our existing clients and focussing on new opportunities to grow our real estate offering across the public sector.”
Abigail Flanagan becomes a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team. She joined Hugh James in 2005 and specialises in professional negligence claims, general commercial litigation matters and pensions litigation. Since qualifying, Abigail has worked on a number of high-profile cases, including successfully acting for the current directors of the not-for-profit business, Ceredigion Recycling and Furniture Team (CRAFT) against the former directors for breach of fiduciary duties at both the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Commenting on her promotion to Partner, Abigail said:
“I am thrilled to have been advanced to Partner. I came to Hugh James 16 years ago as a newly qualified solicitor and throughout that time the firm has encouraged and supported my progression through its advancement and training programmes. During my time at Hugh James it has been a pleasure to work with dedicated and talented colleagues in a supportive and dynamic team.
“I am delighted to be part of the firm’s exciting future as we continue to deliver first class commercially pragmatic advice to businesses, individuals, public sector and third sector organisations both nationally and internationally.”
Rebecca Rees heads up the Hugh James Property Dispute Resolution team and has built up a reputation as a leading expert in the area. She has extensive experience of landlord and tenant matters, both commercial and residential, and of property disputes such as boundary issues, restrictive covenants, easements and other property rights, public and private rights of way. Rebecca has particular expertise working with the Social Housing sector in housing management matters and has been advising Housing Associations and Local Authorities for many years.
Speaking of her promotion, Rebecca said:
“I’m delighted with my promotion to Partner at Hugh James. I love working at firm which is why I’ve spent 25 years of my career working here. I’m looking forward to continuing to support our clients and building on our achievements, particularly within the social housing sector.”
Lynda Reynolds is Head of the Hugh James Inquest Team, which forms part of the Clinical Negligence Department in the firm’s London office. She has considerable experience in helping families with inquests that relate to deaths in hospital or care homes, where medical negligence is expected. In addition to her role in the Inquest team, Lynda, who was previously an intensive care nurse. has a caseload of complex clinical negligence matters which include cerebral palsy, brain injuries, spinal injuries and cauda equina claims.
Commenting on her promotion to Partner, Lynda said:
“I am very pleased to have been promoted to Partner at Hugh James. I have worked at the firm since I qualified in 2014 and during that time have developed my knowledge and skills. When I started the London office was very small, it was very friendly and a great opportunity to get out and about and make my mark. The office is now much bigger and I’m really enjoying developing the more junior members of the team and welcoming lateral hires. It’s a really exciting team to be a part of and in the future I am hoping to be a part of the continued growth of the clinical negligence team with a particular focus on expanding the Inquest team.”
To find out more about career options at Hugh James, as well as the latest vacancies, visit our dedicated pages.
