Weightmans team shifts to Shoosmiths
The Manchester office of national law firm Shoosmiths has hired a team of five construction specialists, all of whom join from Weightmans.
Joining the Shoosmiths team are partner John Cleaveley, senior associate Stephanie MacPherson, associate Adam Stead and paralegal Katie O’Leary. Solicitor Gareth Noonan will also join the team in September.
Cleaveley was previously head of construction for Weightmans and has 25 years’ experience working in and with the construction industry. He has worked on a broad range of regional projects, including Salford MediaCityUK, Spinningfields and several large PFI schemes.
MacPherson, senior associate, is a construction dispute specialist but also advises clients on the non-contentious contractual aspects of construction projects. She has worked for several universities and on higher educational disputes.
Associate Adam Stead brings to the team substantial experience of negotiating standard forms of construction contracts and drafting bespoke consultant appointments, warranties and novations. His role also involves ongoing project advisory services to clients before, during and after the construction phase.
Specialist construction and engineering solicitor Gareth Noonan, has worked on a variety of contentious and non-contentious and has several years of commercial dispute and insolvency experience.
Cleaveley said: “Shoosmiths has carved out a leading reputation in the North West real estate sector and having a strong construction offering is key to maintaining that, complementing the very successful property and planning practices at the Manchester office. The team are very much looking forward to helping deliver specialist construction advice in line with the firm’s people-centric and client focused approach.”
Vaqas Farooq, head of the Manchester office commented: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to further strengthen Shoosmiths’ full service offering. We are confident the enhanced construction team will help grow our presence in the North West development market even further and make a significant impact on our ambition to be one of the leading UK real estate teams.”
