People and places

4 Nov 2003News

By Jean-Yves Gilg

Find out who is moving where and when...

Vince Housecroft has joined the employment law team at the Liverpool office of North West law firm, Mace & Jones.

Housecroft brings with him over 40-years' experience and joins as HR consultant from Dalkia plc, where he was director of human resources.

Housecroft will work alongside Gordon Capper and Alison Wood providing HR consultancy services to existing Mace & Jones clients. Head of the employment team at Liverpool, Martin Edwards, said: 'Vince brings with him an invaluable level of HR experience having worked in large organisations, some of which employ over 2,800 staff. He will make a valuable contribution to the firm's HR consultancy department.'
South Coast firm Trethowans has appointed Colin Passam as head of its commercial litigation department. Colin joined the firm on 1 October following 16 years working for City firms, most recently London firm Thomas Eggar where he specialised in advising clients in the financial-services sector, as well as general commercial and property-litigation work.
Manchester firm Berg & Co has made two appointments to address growing areas of dispute and protection. Damian Carter joins as an associate specialising in corporate litigation, while biochemist Dr Brian Whitehead becomes a member of the intellectual property team headed up by director of IP, Ian Morris.

Carter said: 'There's no doubt corporate litigation is a growing area of activity for Berg & Co, and there is a growth trend across commerce as a whole as business and society becomes ever-more intolerant of negligence, poor standards or unreasonable attitude to dispute.'
Personal injury firm, Donns Solicitors, has promoted Adrienne de Vos to head of its specialist catastrophic injury department following the departure of former head and managing partner, Hilary Meredith.

Vos joined Donns in June 2002 and has been responsible for extending the range of services within the firm's specialist catastrophic department. The promotion of Vos follows the departure of Hilary Meredith who has left to specialise in spinal and brain- injury work.

Senior partner Raymond Donn said: 'We have a first-class team of personal-injury law specialists at Donns and although Hilary's departure is a personal loss, I am confident that Adrienne and her team will continue to provide our clients with the service and dedication that they have come to expect.'

Hilary Meredith said: 'My move from Donns is entirely amicable. I've enjoyed my time at Donns immensely and feel proud and privileged to have contributed to the firm's success. I have received nothing but encouragement throughout my time with the firm and will leave behind good friends and very fond memories. I am sure that Donns will continue to go from strength to strength but on a personal note I am looking forward to a fresh challenge.'
Haarmann Hemmelrath partner Dr. Rainer Roniger has been appointed president of the Competition Commission of the International Lawyers' Association UIA (Union Internationale des Avocats).

Members of over 200 bar associations and professional organisations are engaged in examining developing areas of the relevant subject matter of law in the different commissions of the UIA. Of these, the competition commission now faces three challenges: the reorganisation of the execution of European competition law by Council Regulation No 1/2003, the comprehensive reform of European merger control law and finally the implications of the EU enlargement on the competition law practice.
Mills and Reeve has expanded its private-client group with the appointment of Matthew Hansell as partner. Hansell will be based at the firm's Birmingham office, although a start date has yet to be confirmed.

Hansell joins from Martineau Johnson where he was partner and head of tax and trusts and specialised in estate planning and tax and trusts work. He is recognised in both the Legal 500 and Chambers UK for his agriculture and estates work.
Guy Hinchley, Mills & Reeve's Birmingham managing partner, said: 'Matthew is well known and highly regarded. His additional experience of dealing with complex issues of international tax law will be an excellent asset both to our private-client group and to the breadth of expertise and services we are developing for our clients in the Birmingham office."

Legal News desk contact: editorial@solicitorsjournal.com