Gateley opens in Leeds

10th January 2012

National law firm, Gateley has opened an office in Leeds. The move further strengthens the firm's position in the north following the opening of its Manchester operation 18 months ago. Gateley now has a network of eight offices throughout the UK as well as an operation in Dubai.

The Leeds office, located in the heart of the city's commercial district at Toronto Square, will be headed by William Ballmann and supported by Rob Payne, business restructuring and finance litigation partners respectively. They join the top 50 firm from the Leeds office of Cobbetts and will be assisted by a team of support staff.

William Ballmann is one of the leading restructuring lawyers in the UK and was a partner in the Leeds office of Cobbetts from 2003. He has a track record spanning nearly 30 years with front to back experience of all aspects of business restructurings, re-financing, rescues and turnaround. William has acted on high profile restructurings and insolvencies for most of the major UK lenders including assignments such as the ground-breaking Parkside Industries Group, CardWorld, Furness Withy Shipping, Morris Properties, Fox Hayes Solicitors, Barretts & Stylo Shoes, Powerfuel Mining and provides external advice to the Technical Section of the UK Insolvency Service.

Rob Payne specialises in litigation and dispute resolution, acting for banks, building societies, life companies and other financial institutions. He adds contentious expertise to issues arising in the context of business restructuring, banking and financial regulation and holds a higher right of audience in the civil courts as a Solicitor Advocate.

The opening of an office in Leeds comes on the back of a successful 12 months for Gateley. The firm recently broke through the £2 billion barrier for aggregate value of corporate deal transactions. In 2011 Gateley posted a record increase in turnover, entered the top 50 UK law firms by revenue for the first time and rose from a position of 20 to 8 in the Experian Corpfin national league table of corporate deals. The firm was recently named 'Best Legal Adviser' in the Legal Week Intelligence 2011 Client Satisfaction Report, which assesses client satisfaction levels within 75 law firms by surveying more than 1,000 senior in-house lawyers.

Michael Ward is the firm's senior partner, he commented: "This is an important phase in our development and follows a busy and successful year. Like many we have found market conditions challenging but we have continued to maximise opportunities for growth. This is demonstrated by our entrance into the Manchester market and now through the opening of a Leeds office.

"Establishing a presence in Leeds supports our strategy to build on our position as a national law firm, but with a focus on local service delivery. We know our people are our best asset and we have always invested in high calibre recruits to ensure we can drive the business forward. We're delighted that William, Rob and the team have joined us and we're looking forward to working with them to grow the office in Leeds."

William Ballmann will head up the firm's Leeds office, he added: "It's an exciting time to join. We have been impressed with the success the firm has achieved in recent times and there's a real drive and determination at board level to cement Gateley's position as a national brand.

"With Gateley's track record and reputation we have a solid platform on which to build a strong commercial offering in the North East. It's a great opportunity to be involved in this next phase of the firm's development."