NEWS LEADING EMPLOYMENT LAWYER JOINS AVERTA
ranked in the “star” and “Band 1” category in both Legal 500 legal directory and Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession. Senior partner at Averta, Alan Jones said: “I’m very pleased that David is joining us. David will add further depth and capability to our team at Averta, bringing his many years’ experience in employment law to support senior executives in complex and high value cases.” Beswick commented: “I am delighted to have joined David and Alan and the highly rated team at Averta and look forward to advising senior executives, directors, and corporates on a wide range of employment issues.”
David Beswick, one of the Midlands best known and highly rated employment lawyers, has joined Solihull based Averta Employment Lawyers as a senior consultant. Before joining Averta, Beswick was a partner and head of employment in the Birmingham office of EvershedsSutherland, where he was also office managing partner. Beswick is an acknowledged market leading employment lawyer who for over 20 years has been consistently
Prior to joining Eversheds, Beswick was a partner at Hammonds, the predecessor to Squire Patton Boggs. Averta Employment Lawyers is an award winning, boutique employment law firm which was founded by ex DLA Piper partners, Alan Jones, and David Sykes. Averta specialises in giving advice to senior executives and professionals across both the private and public sectors. The firm have particular expertise in negotiating exit strategies for senior executives and also provides strategic employment law advice to companies across the UK.
THE HAPPIEST JOBS ARE IN THE LEGAL SECTOR Research conducted by Phoenix Health & Safety has revealed that jobs within the legal sector are the ‘happiest’ with the highest salaries, whilst jobs within sales and marketing are statistically the best for welfare and health and safety. According to findings, people who work in the legal sector are the happiest with the best pay, with 28% of employees loving their job as well as earning over 39% more than the average UK salary. Nick Higginson, CEO of Phoenix Health & Safety, further observes: “Legal is not only one of the happiest and highest paying jobs but also the safest. As primarily an office-based role, the number of non-fatal injuries per 100,000 people working in the industry resulted in an average of just 6.9 non-fatal injuries per year. As a total welfare score legal made it into third place which is really impressive and is a testament to the sector's ability to offer most a safe and healthy working environment."
IRWIN MITCHELL ANNOUNCES ANNUAL PROMOTIONS IN BIRMINGHAM The new associates are Katherine East, Laura Willis, Kathryn Salt, Jade Elliott-Archer, Lucy Macklin, Ryan Blake, Richard Sweetman and Stuart McDonald.
Across the firm nationally there have been 13 new partners, 28 senior associates and 56 associates. Overall the promotions represent the overall gender split at Irwin Mitchell with 65% of those promoted being female. Andrew Tucker, Group Chief Executive at Irwin Mitchell, said: “To announce these new partners, senior associates and associates makes me extremely proud and it is another clear sign of the continued emphasis we place on investing and developing in our people. Irwin Mitchell has announced three senior associates and eight new associates within its Birmingham office as part of this year’s promotion round. The newly promoted senior associates are Charlotte Avery, Alex Shorey and Matt Smith. 8
“These latest promotions show our strength and breadth across the group whilst also recognising the significant contribution our colleagues make to our business in terms of supporting our clients and creating the right culture for future success.”
In addition to the 13 new partners, Irwin Mitchell recruited 17 new partners during 2021/22 financial year across teams including commercial, public law and human rights, will disputes, real estate and employment law. Last year Irwin Mitchell reorganised into a Client Services Team and a Commercial Growth Team putting clients’ needs at the heart of its business. The two teams work closely together with one focusing on bringing in new clients and meeting more needs for existing clients, while the other focuses on ensuring the clients, whether business or personal, receive an excellent level of service that meets their evolving needs. Irwin Mitchell also recently announced two new offices in Cardiff and Liverpool and has continued with its Flexible by Choice ways of hybrid working empowering colleagues to make their own decisions about where and when they will work subject to client requirements. birminghamlawsociety.co.uk
