Latest Hire Set To Provide Major Boost To Firm’s Business Offering

IRWIN MITCHELL has recruited high profile corporate lawyer, Chris Rawstron, to head up its business legal services team in Birmingham. The appointment is part of the firm’s strategic drive to grow its commercial practice across the West Midlands region and is expected to be followed by further investment across its corporate, litigation and real estate teams over the next 12 months.

Chris, who joins Irwin Mitchell as a Partner, was Managing Partner at DLA Piper in Birmingham between 1999 and 2010. In addition, Chris sat on the organisation’s global board in 2005-06. He left DLA’s partnership in 2010, but remained with the firm as a consultant for 12 months.

In his new role at Irwin Mitchell in Birmingham, Chris will be responsible for growing its current eight-Partner business team, with a particular focus on establishing the firm in Birmingham as a leading provider of corporate and real estate advisory services.

Niall Baker, Partner and Chief Executive of Irwin Mitchell’s Business Legal Services division, said: “This is another major appointment for the firm and a clear signal of what Irwin Mitchell wants to achieve in the West Midlands.

“Chris has a wealth of corporate experience, is extremely well connected and understands the market well. We are confident that he is the right person to lead the business team forward in Birmingham and I look forward to working closely with him during what will be an exciting period of investment and expansion.”

This latest announcement follows a line of high profile appointments at Irwin Mitchell. Since the summer, the firm has added 12 new partners to its business legal services team across the UK. These appointments include banking and finance specialists, Andrew Watson and Dean Gormley. It has added Andrea Cropley, Matt Ainsworth and Jon Close to its corporate team across the North of England and boosted its construction and engineering offering with the arrival of Julie Morrissy and Steven Bate. Most recently it appointed a 14 strong real estate team, including four partners, into its Manchester office from DLA Piper.

In Birmingham, Chris’ appointment follows the recent launch of a new banking and finance team. Headed up by former Squire Sanders’ Partner, Jon Bew, the team has a wealth of experience acting for both borrowers and lenders on a wide range of domestic and cross-border financing arrangements, with a particular specialism in asset based lending.

Commenting on his appointment and his new role, Chris Rawstron said: “Irwin Mitchell is very well-known across the city and it has worked hard to develop strong expertise in a number of business areas. In addition to its large employment and pensions group which has grown under the guidance of Fergal Dowling, it boasts an impressive range of legal services in the areas of commercial litigation, planning, real estate tax, environment, health & safety law and outsourcing.

“To be recognised as a full service commercial legal team, it is crucial that we add to our corporate offering and bolster the real estate team considerably. Although it won’t happen overnight, I am convinced that we can achieve this and look forward to playing my part in this exciting journey.”

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