Freeths Strengthens Employment, Pensions and Immigration Team with Eight New Lawyers

As one of the UK’s fastest-growing law firms, the hires are spread across the business’s 13 offices including London, Oxford, Leicester, Leeds and Manchester.

The new starters join at an exciting time for the firm as it recently announced its financial results for 2022/3, revealing that its turnover is up by 14.9% to £129 million – an increase of £17 million from last year. This is reflected across all its main service lines, including the Employment, Pensions and Immigration team, which has seen a 34% increase in turnover in the last 4 years.

The Employment team has been bolstered by Nicola Wallbank (Partner) joining the Oxford office, Rob Smedley (Director) joining the Leeds office, Ella Sheppard (Senior Associate) joining the Leicester office, Phoebe Anand (Associate) joining the London office, Niamh Hogg (Associate) joining the Manchester office & Adele Coupland (Associate) joining the Sheffield office.  In addition, Max Ballad (Director) joins the Pensions team in Leeds and Irum Saleem (Associate) joins the Immigration team in Leeds.

Rena Magdani, Partner and National Head of Employment, Pensions and Immigration, said: 

“I’m delighted to welcome Nicola, Rob, Max, Ella, Phoebe, Niamh, Adele and Irum to the team. We have seen a significant increase in demand for our services and they join us at an exciting time as we continue our growth strategy. They bring a wealth of experience and will significantly contribute to our commitment to provide our clients with highly responsive, pragmatic, and commercial advice. We are actively looking to continue to recruit and develop talented lawyers across all our offices”.

Nicola Wallbank continued: “At Freeths, there is a strong culture of working together to be bold and smart for our clients. People really are at the heart of what I do as an employment lawyer.  Listening, collaborating, being responsive and approachable, and building strong relationships all contribute to achieving a good outcome. Working with a firm that embodies this approach is essential for both my personal, and client’s growth and needs.”

Rob Smedley said: “A firm with a fantastic reputation both regionally and nationally, Freeths has been the perfect choice to continue my career. I’m really happy to work amongst great people and some of the most highly regarded lawyers in their field.”

Ella Sheppard added: “I am delighted to join Freeths and proud to work alongside such forward thinking and talented individuals. Freeths has a clear focus on doing the right thing and going the extra mile to deliver excellent client service, which really resonates with me, and I am really looking forward to continuing to grow with the firm.”