Shoosmiths Accelerates Growth with Senior Appointment
November, 2018 - Milton Keynes, England
National law firm Shoosmiths has appointed Gemma Napper, head of legal UK & Sweden at Opel Vauxhall Finance, to partner in its national financial services team.
This strategic appointment will bolster Shoosmiths’ market-leading financial services capability, further building on the firm’s national growth ambition in this area.
Gemma completed her training contract at Shoosmiths in 2004, qualifying into a corporate role, later specialising as a financial services lawyer. In 2009 she joined Arthur Cox in the firm’s banking team, before leaving to work in-house at Opel Vauxhall Finance. For the past three years Gemma has been the head of legal for the UK, Swedish and Irish operations. In her new role as partner in Shoosmiths’ financial services team, Gemma will be based at the firm’s Milton Keynes office.
Shoosmiths’ head of financial services at Shoosmiths, Stephen Dawson, said: “This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to recruit a senior lawyer of Gemma’s calibre, reputation and profile in the automotive, finance and broader financial services sectors and we are very pleased that Gemma has chosen to return to Shoosmiths.
“With Shoosmiths being one of the leading providers to the financial services sector, her appointment complements our overall offering for our clients as we seek to further enhance their experience with us and as we further expand our unique offering. Her role in Milton Keynes will let us target new opportunities and build on existing relationships.”
Gemma said: “This is an exceptional time to be joining Shoosmiths. The firm has an excellent reputation for client experience across the board, which, having worked in house for many years, is something in house legal teams really look for and something I have experienced first-hand.
“I have been very pleased to see how proud the team is of its loyal client base. The team is already recognised for the quality of work that it delivers and the calibre of its client base. I am also very excited to be joining a national team, with a market leading diversity – this is important if we are to appeal equally to all of our clients.”
