Joanne Berry
Pannone, Manchester
As a rising star in one of the country’s most highly-regarded personal injury
teams, Joanne Berry is proof that young lawyers don’t always have to follow
the bright lights in order to enjoy success. An associate at Pannone in
Manchester, Berry still lives in Bolton, where she grew up, making the
half-hour commute to the firm’s offices each morning. Berry became
interested in personal injury law during several work experience placements
that she undertook while still at school; she studied law at Liverpool
University and joined Pannone as a trainee in 2000. The 29-year old, who has
just completed the San Francisco marathon, has spent the last few months
working as part of a team on a multi-million pound settlement for a teenage
girl who sustained a catastrophic brain injury as a result of a road
accident.
Angela Boughton
Wragge & Co, Birmingham
Angela Boughton’s path to the brink of partnership in the Birmingham office of
Wragge & Co represents an impressive comeback. Afflicted by illness
while at the University of Reading, Boughton did not attain the benchmark
2.1 grade that many firms require from graduates. But rather than panic, she
looked around outside the big name firms and managed to secure a training
contract in the Milton Keynes office of regional commercial outfit Howes
Percival. In five years with the firm, she impressed sufficiently to draw
the attention of Wragge & Co, and joined their banking and finance team
in 2005. Two years on, the 30-year-old has demonstrated on a number of
deals, including a £23.5 million refinancing of a data cable manufacturing
company by HSBC, as one to watch. She is currently acting for Lloyds TSB on
two big money financing transactions.
Vaqas Farooq
Shoosmiths, Birmingham
A partner in the commercial property department at Shoosmith’s Birmingham
office at the eyebrow-raising age of 29, Vaqas Farooq has come a long way
from his days helping out in his parents’ chain of grocery stores as a
teenager. But the experience remains firmly with him. The son of Pakistani
immigrants — educated at Birmingham University, trained at Eversheds — says
those early days behind the cash register fostered the commercial awareness
and entrepreneurial skills that have led to his rapid rise. He built his
reputation after leading on a deal involving the acquisition of 500 pubs for
Marston that saw the brewery transfer the bulk of its work to Shoosmiths.
Now regularly leading on deals, he is also an active fundraiser for the
NSPCC, the children’s charity.
Al Goodwin
Burges Salmon, Bristol
Burnt out City associates may look with envy on Al Goodwin. The 30-year old
Burges Salmon projects associate has turned heads assisting the Ministry of
Defence on a number complex strategic partnership arrangements, but also
leads a busy social life. Weekends are spent on the rugby fields of Bristol
rather than in the office. Goodwin trained with Freshfields after studying
law and French at Oxford, but left for the projects team at DLA Piper’s
Birmingham office. Looking to find a quieter place to bring up children —
his first is due this month — Goodwin moved to Burges Salmon in Bristol
three years ago. Since then, Goodwin has played a lead role in advising the
Ministry of Defence on a number of major procurements, including its recent,
high-profile £1.1 billion Tornado aircraft support contract.
Rob McNabb
Eversheds, Cardiff
Things weren’t looking great for Rob McNabb when he finished the LPC in 1997
without having managed to secure a training contract. While his friends
started lucrative graduate schemes, McNabb took a job as a lowly legal
assistant at Eversheds in his home town of Cardiff. Seven years later, the
32-year old is a highly rated associate pushing for partnership. An astute
construction lawyer specialising in both contentious and advisory work, the
Cardiff University graduate has recently advised the Welsh Development
Authority on a multi-million pound arbitration relating to defects in a
factory. McNabb, who plays rugby for Llanishen in the Welsh second division
in his spare time, is currently working on a project involving the
construction of an offshore wind farm worth over £1 billion.
Chloe McSwaine
Dickinson Dees, Newcastle
After four years in the project finance department at Denton Wilde Sapte in
London, Chloe McSwaine decided to bid farewell to the Tube, prohibitively
high house prices and traffic-clogged streets, and headed back up north to
her hometown, Newcastle. “Although London was a great place to train, I
don’t miss it,” says the Leeds University law graduate. “The work is just as
good up here, my commute is ten minutes rather than an hour. Everything
feels a bit more human.” The 31-year old Geordie has advised on several
major public-private partnership deals; highlights include assisting
Newcastle City Council on its £180 million scheme for the re-provision of
eight local schools and advising two NHS trusts on a redevelopment of Hope
Hospital in Salford.
Pegah Sharghy
One Crown Office Row, Brighton
Pegah Sharghy is already on her way to becoming one of the finest family law
barristers on the South Coast. Sharghy, who moved to the UK with her family
from Iran when she was 11, specialises in ancillary relief and has appeared
in several big money High Court disputes, including a recent case with the
prominent silk David Balcombe, QC. After a degree in business and marketing
from Queen Mary University in London, Sharghy worked as a commodities broker
in the City for 18 months before being enticed by the lure of the Bar. She
converted to law at Sussex University and joined One Crown Office Row as a
pupil in 1998. The 33-year says she copes with the stress of her frantic
schedule with regular Vajrasati yoga sessions and the sea air.
Martine Snowdon
Exchange Chambers, Liverpool
Martine Snowdon, 30, manages to combine being a mother of three with daily
appearances in criminal trials and training for the World Triathlon
Championships in Vancouver next year, where she will represent Britain.
After attending her local comprehensive in Liverpool, Snowden studied law at
the University of Liverpool, then received a full scholarship from Lincoln’s
Inn to attend Bar School in London. Returning to Merseyside to undertake
pupillage at Exchange Chambers in 2000, Snowdon quickly gained the trust of
clerks, leading her to be instructed on a variety of important cases. A
veteran of several rape trials, she is currently acting as part of a team
involved in prosecuting a group of defendants for conspiracy to defraud
Revenue & Customs.
Stephen Stewart
Addleshaw Goddard, Leeds
While studying law at Queens University in Belfast, music fanatic Stephen
Stewart signed up for the optional intellectual property module in order to
find out about copyright issues that could affect his rock band. “I found
that I really enjoyed IP and decided that it was the area that I wanted to
specialise in,” he says. Several years later, Stewart, now 30, is
increasingly calling the tune as an associate in the IP department at
Addleshaw Goddard’s Leeds office. And he’s still in a band: he plays guitar
for The Revelator Band, regulars on the Leeds pub circuit. Praised by
colleagues for a creative approach to problem solving, Stewart once defended
a client accused of patent infringement by uncovering old footage of a Royal
Ballet performance proving that the object in question — a method of
lighting — was used several years before it was registered as a patent.
Stewart has now turned his attention to assisting Asda with an online
hosting and fulfilment transaction.
Eleanor Temple
Kings Chambers, Leeds
Eleanor Temple’s combination of an easygoing personality with a steely
professional determination and sharp intellect has seen the 30-year old
chancery specialist nicknamed the “smiling assassin” by fellow barristers on
the northern circuit. Educated at Ilkley Grammar School and Durham
University, where she gained a first in law, Temple joined the Leeds branch
of northern commercial heavyweights Kings Chambers in 2000. She “took off
like a train and has had growing numbers of solicitors beating a path to her
door ever since,” says her senior clerk, Colin Griffin. Often instructed on
cases that would typically go to more senior barristers, Temple recently
obtained an injunction preventing 12 customers from presenting winding up
petitions against the Bank of Scotland. Last month, she acted for Leeds
United in proceedings against a former director. She is also passionate
about horses and combines her insolvency and corporate recovery practice
with a sideline in veterinary negligence cases.
