Press Release

Shepherd and Wedderburn has promoted six solicitors to Associate in its latest round of internal promotions, four of whom joined the firm as trainees.

Leigh Herd (contentious construction), Emma Guthrie (property and infrastructure), Katy Fitzpatrick (banking and finance), Nathaniel Buckingham (contentious construction), Andrew Winton (commercial disputes and regulation) and James Bulpitt (banking and finance) will assume their new roles on 1 October.

Leigh, who joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee, went on to specialise in contentious construction. Her experience spans construction, engineering and major projects disputes. Leigh’s practice includes utilities and disputes in the energy sector, north and south of the border, and she has extensive experience in adjudication, arbitration, expert determination and mediation.

Emma joined the firm as a trainee and after qualifying joined the Property and Infrastructure Division, specialising in commercial property. Emma represents landlords in a variety of asset management transactions spanning large retail parks, industrial estates and other types of commercial property for some of the firm’s largest commercial landlord clients. In addition, she routinely advises on complex property transactions, including large acquisitions and sales, and assists on property refinancing’s and cross-border and cross-sector transactions.

Katy joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee and qualified into the banking team. She is dual-qualified in Scottish and English law and her UK-wide practice focuses on real estate finance, project finance and corporate and commercial banking. She also frequently advises on the finance and security aspects of corporate finance and pensions matters. In addition, Katy provides legal advice to start-ups on the EIT Climate-KIC innovation programme at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, based at the University of Edinburgh.

Nathaniel joined the firm as a trainee having previously worked for a major international consultancy before moving into the law. A chartered civil engineer, Nathaniel specialises in contentious construction and resolving construction-related disputes. This UK-wide work involves a range of disputes in the fields of construction, engineering and major projects, with a particular focus on private finance projects.

Andrew, who joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a solicitor, is a commercial litigator advising clients in the resolution of commercial disputes and on a broad range of personal injury claims. He also has a particular focus on finance and insolvency claims.

James, who also joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a solicitor, is a member of the banking and finance team, specialising in funds finance, securitisation and structured finance, asset-based lending and receivables, and legal technology. Prior to retraining in law in 2008, James worked in the automotive sector for a decade, primarily with Renault.

Andrew Blain, Shepherd and Wedderburn’s Managing Partner, said: “Congratulations to Leigh, Emma, Katy, Nathaniel, James and Andrew on their well-deserved promotions, which recognise their legal expertise and their delivery of client services to the highest standard. It is particularly pleasing to see the achievements of so many former Shepherd and Wedderburn trainees recognised in our latest round of promotions. I wish them every success as they embark on the next stage of their careers at Shepherd and Wedderburn and continue to build the relationships of trust with clients that we value so highly.”