End of an Era for JMW
After almost 20 years Bill Jones has made the decision to stand down as Managing Partner of JMW Solicitors LLP as from 30th April 2014. Commercial Property Partner Paul Walker will take over as Managing Partner and he will be supported by Joy Kingsley in her role as Senior Partner.
Commenting on his decision Bill Jones said:
“I made the decision that I would be standing down two years ago. It has been a privilege and an honour for me to lead JMW over such a long period of time and to work with such a fantastic group of people. My decision has been made easier by the fact that I will be standing down at a time when JMW is in fantastic shape and in such excellent hands. With the present Board and incredible talent we now have in the firm I have no doubt JMW will continue to prosper. JMW has always been such an important part of my life and it will continue to be in the future. Having reached the age of 65 the time is right to hand over the reins. It will also be good to be able to spend more time with my family and enjoy the occasional game of golf.”
Bill will remain at JMW in the capacity of Chairman and will continue to run the firm’s separately branded training company ML Solutions4U. He will also continue his role as Chairman of Manchester’s Spinningfields Business Group.
Paul Walker has been with JMW for over 25 years as a Partner in the Commercial Property team. He has been involved in various major commercial property transactions over the years. Paul sits on the firm’s equity board and has been financial director since 2009.
Commenting on his appointment JMW, Paul Walker said:
“I am proud to be taking over as Managing Partner of JMW but I am fully aware that Bill will be a hard act to follow. His work over the years at JMW has been immense and we are very grateful to him for his leadership which has led to JMW being such a successful firm. I am very much looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and working closely with our Senior Partner Joy Kingsley and the rest of the Equity Board.”
Bill founded Jones Maidment Wilson (now JMW) in 1978 and over the past 35 years has been instrumental in developing the firm. In 2006 he led the firm’s expansion into its own high-spec 30,000sq.ft office on the site of its former car park in Spinningfields.
In 2011 Bill’s achievements and commitment to the legal and business community were acknowledged when he won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Manchester Legal Awards. In the same year he was also voted Best Legal Adviser at the North West Business Masters Awards.
JMW has had an exceptional few years with fee income doubling from £8m to £16m from 2008 to 2014. Headcount has also grown significantly to 235 people including 40 partners. The firm has this year been named as one of only four law firms in the Top 300 SMEs in the North West produced by North West Insider Magazine, whilst also moving up 15 places in The Lawyer Top 200 Law Firms table. In the last two years JMW has won the Medium Law Firm of the Year Award at the annual Manchester legal awards and this year it has also won the Employer of the Year award at the City of Manchester Business Awards.
To help with the continued growth JMW has made 20 internal promotions from 1 May. Commercial Litigation Partner Marc Yaffe and Head of Lawshare Stuart Cartwright both become Fixed Equity Partners and Jean Warde, Personal Injury and Michael Purvis, Residential Conveyancing are both promoted from Senior Associate to Partner.
Elsewhere in the firm there have been six promotions to Senior Associate for Nina Latham (Corporate) , Angharad Hughes (Clinical Negligence), Tasnim Khalid (Private Client), Lee McGovern (Head of New Business Unit ) and Angela Hince (Personal Injury) and Vicky Burgess (Corporate Recovery and Insolvency).
A further nine promotions from Solicitor to Associate comprise of Kelly Hindle (Communications Manager) and Katie Nolan both from Clinical Negligence, Daniel Harrison and Jane Faulkner (Private Client), David Bondt and Richard Glover (Commercial Litigation), Hannah Wightman (Corporate Recovery and Insolvency), Sam McElroy (Personal Injury) and Caroline McCarron (Lawshare).
Joy Kingsley, Senior Partner at JMW commented:
“It has been a pleasure to work alongside Bill as Managing Partner over the past 4 years and I look forward to working with Paul as he takes on the role. I have great admiration for all Bill has achieved at JMW and I know that Paul will bring similar commercial acumen and the same commitment while putting his own stamp on the role.”
“We have enjoyed considerable success in Manchester over the last few years, not only doubling Revenue and Profit but investing in many new recruits both at senior and junior level. The firm today stands at 235 people as against 170 in 2008 at the start of the recession. “
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