A senior lawyer says she feels “back where I belong” after re-joining Midlands firm Wright Hassall.
Claire Halle-Smith has returned to the commercial team of Leamington-based Wright Hassall after initially leaving last summer to join Penningtons in Oxford.
She brings with her more than a decade of experience in both private practice and in-house, and will work across Wright Hassall’s commercial law team.
Claire’s key area of expertise is data privacy, where she provides high level and detailed advice to organisations on their GDPR obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018, alongside general commercial work.
“I am really pleased to be back at Wright Hassall,” said Claire.
“When I came back into the office for my first day, I just immediately felt I was back where I should be and where I belong.
“It’s a great team of people here and that was certainly a big reason for wanting to return. I also feel valued which is important to me.
“It's an exciting time to join Wright Hassall – not only with Phil Wilding's appointment as managing partner providing a new direction for the company – but also with a great diversity of work coming into the team at the moment.”
Pete Maguire, partner and head of commercial, added: “We’re delighted to see Claire back with us to help us with our growth ambitions and our fantastic client base.
“We are actively looking to add to the team by bringing in further people at all levels of experience, but the most important thing for me is that whoever joins us is a great team player – Claire embodies that.”
Wright Hassall’s employment team has also welcomed new staff members to meet increased demand.
Solicitor Kashmir Dosanjh has joined from Askews Legal and will work across all aspects of employment law, especially advising and supporting clients in their day-to-day employment and HR queries.
He also advises and represents both employers and employees in Employment Tribunal proceedings which cover employment matters including unfair dismissal, discrimination and wrongful dismissal; and works in negotiating beneficial settlements and advising on the terms of settlements.
Ellis Burns has joined as a paralegal, providing daily support to the team as she works towards taking her legal practice course to qualify as a solicitor.
Gemma Clark has also qualified into the employment team and will work on day-to-day employment enquiries in addition to advising and representing employers and employees in employment tribunal proceedings.
The employment team has expanded its staffing numbers to nine in the past 12 months, having also welcomed Solicitor Sophia Wahba and seen Georgia Wood become a newly CIDP-qualified advisor.
Tina Chander, partner and head of employment law, said: “It’s great to have our new starters on board.
“The team has grown with three new solicitors, a paralegal and a CIPD qualified adviser and a HR Trainee Paralegal over the last 12 months due to increased demand, with more and more clients opting for our annual retainer service, YEAR, and an increase in tribunal claims.
“Demand means we are still looking to expand and we are currently looking for a senior associate or legal director.”
Captions: Claire Halle-Smith has re-joined Wright Hassall