Blacks Solicitors is marking another successful year for its litigation services with the appointment of three new hires, taking the total number of team members to 19.
James Martin has joined the team as an Associate Solicitor, with Aaron Johnson qualifying as a Solicitor after completing his two years as a Trainee at the firm. Aaron will officially qualify in October 2021.
James brings with him over 10 years of experience in commercial chancery and contractual disputes, specialising in complex professional negligence, contractual and construction disputes. He will provide support not only to the Commercial Dispute Resolution team, but also to the commercial and corporate client base across the firm.
Aaron is an example of Blacks’ ethos of investing in the talent of the future. He has completed three years in insolvency litigation as a paralegal, alongside his two years as a trainee in the Corporate, Employment, and Property teams. As a newly qualified Solicitor, Aaron will specialise in insolvency and work alongside two senior lawyers in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team.
Luke Patel, Head of Litigation, commented: “The demand for specialist litigation services has grown over the last 15 months. The combination of the pandemic, Brexit and the unstable economic climate have all been contributing factors requiring specialist legal support. The demand for these services was anticipated at the start of the pandemic and has expedited as we ease out of the lockdown restrictions, leading to us strengthening the litigation teams with new hires.
Alongside the appointments of James and Aaron to the Commercial Dispute Resolution team, Blacks Solicitors has also invested in its Property Litigation service with the appointment of Luke Maidens as Partner.
Luke’s skill set spans all areas of complex property litigation with particular expertise in the telecoms sector and also acting for property investor and developer clients. Luke’s personality, wealth of experience and no-nonsense approach make him a perfect fit with the litigation team, and has enabled the firm to expand its offering with a view to onboarding new clients in the telecoms, investment and development retail sectors.
Luke Patel, added: “The strengthening of the litigation team and its specialist offering will ensure the continued delivery of our exceptional offering to meet demand and service our client base. I am confident that this expansion and integration of new talent will strengthen our teams to support our clients who are faced with continuing new challenges and “distresses”, fitting squarely with our vision. I wish all the new hires the best for the future and I am committed to providing the support they require to ensure their successful career development and progression at Blacks”.
