Following an increase in client demand for its wealth management expertise, law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has grown its private wealth team with a number of new appointments across the firm's UK offices. Five new lawyers and wealth professionals have joined the team in the past couple of months.

In Newcastle, the firm recently welcomed senior adviser Alison Bragg and planner Hannah Fawcett.

Alison is a highly experienced private client lawyer with wide-ranging expertise in tax and estate planning. She advises business owners, farmers and landowners, high net worth individuals and trustees. She is also the former Chair of the North East and Cumbria branch of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), which is the global professional association for practitioners specialising in family inheritance and succession planning.

Hannah has over ten years' experience working in financial services and holds a diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. She joins WBD as a wealth planner assisting clients on financial and lifestyle planning and wealth protection.

Up in Edinburgh, the firm appointed solicitor Nadine Todd, a Scots qualified lawyer specialising in tax, estate and succession planning for high-net worth families, landed estates and family trusts. Nadine also advises on all aspects of wills, powers of attorney, trusts and personal tax planning.

After completing their training contracts at the firm, Harry Harper and Steph Antrobus are also both joining the team as newly qualified solicitors in Newcastle and Leeds respectively. They will both work on a mix of estate planning and contentious private client work.

The growth of the team in 2021 follows a number of senior hires and promotions in 2020 with new partners Will Ford and James Radcliffe joining in London and Bristol respectively. Meanwhile, Richard Pike, in Edinburgh, was promoted to partner last December and the firm also welcomed back Fiona McLaughlin from maternity leave who was promoted to managing associate during her time off. The team's trust litigation offering was also bolstered by the recent appointment of Rosie Taylor as an Associate Member of the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists, following her successful completion of the ACTAPS Diploma course

David Dale, head of private wealth at WBD, comments: 

"WBD's private wealth practice has been advising families and their businesses for over 200 years, combining legal expertise, commercial advice and local knowledge. We've helped clients across generations navigate difficult times caused by wars and financial crises and have been supporting our clients through the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our firm boasts one of the largest private client practice in the country with teams based in our London, Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol and Edinburgh. We're thrilled by our raft of recent hires, promotions and professional qualifications, which are indicative of the increasing demand we are seeing for private client services and the high quality work our the team is doing."

WBD is highly ranked in the 2021 Chambers and Partners High Net Worth (HNW) guide. Published annually, the guide focuses specifically on the international private wealth market and covers private wealth management work and related specialisms in key jurisdictions around the world, featuring leading lawyers and law firms of choice for individuals and families.

The Chambers and Partners HNW guide now ranks WBD's private client lawyers in London, Bristol, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. This is the first time the team is ranked for its private client capabilities outside of England, following the growth of the team in Edinburgh. Eleven of the firm's lawyers are also ranked by the guide as leading individuals.

WBD regularly features in leading industry awards, with recent examples being:

• A commendation for the team at the 2021 eprivateclient awards
• Partner Neil Long, who leads the practice in London, featuring in the 2020 Citywealth TOP 100 Trust Litigators List
• Fellow partner Alexander Dickinson being named as one of the 2021 eprivateclient 50 Most Influential practitioners.