The first-tier family law team at national firm Clarke Willmott LLP has gone from strength to strength with a series of promotions and appointments.

The firm has announced that partner and divorce specialist Chris Longbottom has been made national Team Manager in addition to his client-facing role.

Taking over from Rayner Grice, who has been elected to the Management Board, Manchester-based Chris will take responsibility for reviewing the performance and workload of the national family team, maintaining the team’s compliance with policies, procedures and accreditations and ensuring that the team’s client care and conduct is to the highest level.

Chris said:

“I’m really excited to take on the Team Manager role and help support my family team colleagues. In recent years we have established ourselves as leading family lawyers across all of our regional offices and I will be looking to put systems in place to build on this reputation.”

Elsewhere in the team Alastair MacLeod has been promoted to partner in the Taunton office. Specialising in all aspects of divorce and separation work, including complex financial settlements and matters relating to children, Alastair is also Chairman of the Somerset Committee of Resolution.

Also promoted is Sarah Marchant who is now an Associate working across the Bristol, Cardiff, London and Southampton offices.

Sarah specialises in all areas of private family law including disputes arising from unmarried relationships, asset protection work including pre-nuptial, cohabitation and post-nuptial agreements and injunctive proceedings for non-molestation and occupation orders to secure living arrangements.

The team have also recently added partners Clare Webb, based in Bristol, who deals with all matters arising from separation, including complex financial and children issues; and Sarah Wood-Heath, based in Southampton who specialises in specialist parenting law, helping clients build and create their families.

Chris Longbottom added:

“We have strong specialist teams across the country and the latest re-organisation and promotions will serve to further position us as experts, particularly in complex or challenging cases.

“It is indicative of the longstanding placement of the firm in the market and our ambition to expand our offering.”

The Clarke Willmott family law team is highly regarded and recognised as leaders in the field in both Legal 500 and Chambers Guide.

Clarke Willmott is a national firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.

For more information visit www.clarkewillmott.com