Wedlake Bell, is pleased to announce that Alison Hills (Pensions & Employee Benefits) and Jonathan Achampong (Residential Property) have been made up to Partners, effective from 1 April 2018, in recognition of their contribution to the firm. This brings the total number of Partners at Wedlake Bell to 59.
Alison has been with Wedlake Bell since she joined as a trainee in 2007 and has over 10 years’ experience advising her clients on a wide breadth of pensions law. She has been instructed on a range of pensions schemes from Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS) to multi-employer schemes with assets in excess of £300m. Alison is particularly experienced in addressing historic errors in scheme documentation and dealing with auto-enrolment issues. Alison’s broad client base consists of trustee boards, independent trustees and sponsoring employers, as well as individual scheme members. In Chambers UK 2018, Alison was listed as an “Associate to watch” and she is also an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute.
Residential property law specialist Jonathan Achampong joined Wedlake Bell in October 2013. Well-regarded in the industry, Jonathan’s practice is focused on a breadth of residential property transactions. A substantial number of his clients are high-net-worth individuals who buy or sell high-value freehold and leasehold properties within the £1m-£8m range in central London and the Home Counties. Jonathan also specialises in leasehold enfranchisement. Last year, Jonathan was awarded the “Rising Star of the Year Award” at the Modern Law Conveyancing Awards 2017 and was “Highly Commended” in the ‘Young Professional of the Year’ category at the Enfranchisement and Right to Manage Awards 2017. Jonathan is also a key member of the team that recently won the award for the “Property Team of the Year” at the Modern Law Awards 2018.
Wedlake Bell has a proud culture of rewarding merit, demonstrated by its strong gender diversity figures – nearly two-thirds (62%) of the firm is composed of female lawyers and nearly half (44%) of the firm’s equity partnership are made up of women.
Martin Arnold, Managing Partner, comments:
“I speak for the entire firm when I extend my congratulations to both Alison and Jonathan on their appointments as Partners. It is always rewarding to see our talented lawyers flourish and be recognised for their hard work. These promotions demonstrate Wedlake Bell’s commitment to organically growing internal talent as well as strategic external hires based on merit and achievements.”