Press Release | South West hub expansion for international law firm Spencer West

7 February 2022

Four leading lawyers have joined the impressive South West team of international law firm Spencer West in the latest stage of the fee-sharing firm’s strategic expansion.

Spencer West now has 12 partners based in the South West with one of the most experienced corporate teams in the region, as well as specialists in family law, probate disputes and commercial property following the recruitment of four new partners.

Spencer West’s new partners include leading energy expert Sonya Bedford, who was awarded an MBE in recognition of her work in the renewable and community energy fields. Michael Miller, a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association, has also joined the firm. He specialises in agriculture, farms and estates. As well as bringing experience in green energy, Michael advises clients on rural property issues and succession planning.

Christian Wilson, a national expert in employee ownership has also joined Spencer West as a partner. Christian led the project to take the first law firm in the UK into employee ownership and in the last year alone has advised over 30 companies on employee ownership. 

Pam Dosanjh Phillips has joined Spencer West as an employment partner, advising employers on all aspects of employment law and HR. Pam is also passionate about equality and diversity and is the Chair of Trustees for Black Voices Cornwall, a charity set up to work with business and educators in Cornwall to improve equality and diversity.

“Our South West team is formidable, with some of the best legal minds in the region who combine commercial acumen, technical legal expertise and a deep understanding of local issues,” says Simeon Spencer, Senior Partner of Spencer West.

Explaining how Spencer West differs from traditional law firms, Simeon Spencer added: “We are a fee-sharing law firm, which means that we have broken free from many of the operating constraints of traditional law firms, like billing targets and work generation. This frees our lawyers up to work in a much more collaborative way with clients with transparent costs and aligned objectives, which in turn results in better results. The majority of partners in our South West hub are over 20 years‘ qualified, and have been partners or senior lawyers in major national and regional law firms, with notable experience in their specialist areas.”

Welcoming the new partners to Spencer West’s South West team, corporate partner Sonya Bassett, who is based in Cornwall said: “It is fantastic to welcome such talented lawyers to our South West hub. Many of us have worked on the same transactions over the years and have the utmost respect for each other.

“For business clients, our corporate and commercial experts can support all aspects of a transaction, as well as offering niche expertise in areas including energy and employee ownership. Partners in the South West hub work on major national and international deals, as well as offering continued support to businesses of all sizes across the South West.”

The four new Spencer West partners join corporate partners Sonya Bassett and Jo Probert, intellectual property and technology experts Jowanna Conboye and Edmund Probert, real estate and commercial property partners Stephen Harris and Matthew Scott-Tucker. Family law partner Anne-Marie Hamer, who is also a trustee of Surrogacy UK, and Tony Pearce an expert in disputes relating to wills, trusts, the financial abuse of the elderly and infirm and inheritance disputes complete the South West team.

The South West expansion is the latest positive development for Spencer West, which is the largest fee-sharing law firm in Europe and third largest in the UK with more than 100 partners. Last year alone, it opened offices in Spain and Brussels, developed associations in the Middle East and Hong Kong and continued to expand in the UK.

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PRESS RELEASE CONTACT

Donna Black

MD Communications

On behalf of Spencer West LLP [email protected]

 

See our coverage in Legal Brief here 

Simeon Spencer
Senior Partner – Co-Founder
Simeon Spencer is a Partner Solicitor at Spencer West. He specialises in commercial, corporate, employment (domestic and international), disputes and litigation.