Ten new appointments at Napthens Solicitors

Leading North West law firm Napthens has strengthened its core practice teams with the addition of ten new staff in the second quarter of 2021.

This includes the appointment of associate solicitor Laura Hartley-Williams, who joins the Business Recovery team from Knights plc. Laura works with a selection of insolvency practitioners both in the North West and further afield advising predominantly on contentious matters relating to realising assets and pursuing claims for the benefit of the insolvent estates and ultimately the creditors.

Originally hailing from North Wales, Laura has worked in law for over ten years and qualified as a solicitor in 2016. She has spent her career to date working in Manchester and Cheshire.

Almost half of the new additions were to the firms growing conveyancing team. Following a busy period for the sector Sara Barnes, Bethany McKay, Michelle Cunliffe and Gemma Calamela have been appointed, as the firm’s team received 4,800 instructions in FY21, in part due to the Help to Buy scheme and Stamp Duty holiday,

Elsewhere, James Stephenson joined Napthens’ commercial litigation team in Liverpool, bringing with him 10 years’ experience in handling high value and complex litigation. Experienced property solicitor and former head of residential property at Mullis & Peake Solicitors, Clare Sollitt, adds senior level experience to the to the specialist plot sales team. Jade Wilson has joined as a legal assistant in the Wills & Estates Planning team and Blake Sale has been appointed technical services manager, as part of the firm’s internal IT team.

The news follows a strong financial year for the firm, despite the challenges resulting from the pandemic, with revenues in-line with FY20’s total of £15m. The success was down to a strong performance across all service lines, with its employment and HR, litigation and residential conveyancing teams all seeing significant growth.

Nicola Mason, HR and operations director at Napthens, said: “It’s been another positive quarter for growth at Napthens, both financially and for our teams as  we have made new additions to a number of our departments.

“We are determined to provide the very best service possible for our clients and our success over the past financial year is another indicator that we’re doing things the right way. We’re delighted to have welcomed all of our new colleagues and look forward to seeing their careers develop and flourish with Napthens as they deliver the very best results for our clients.”