header-logo header-logo

04 February 2026
Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
printer mail-detail

Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst

Firm strengthens corporate, real estate and insolvency teams with partner trio

National law firm Blake Morgan has begun the year with the appointment of three new partners across its corporate, real estate and insolvency teams. Scott Hilton and Joan Yu (pictured) join the firm’s London office, while Melia Hirst returns to Blake Morgan’s Southampton office, taking the total number of new London partners hired in the past year to seven.

Hilton bolsters the real estate team, bringing more than 15 years’ experience advising developers, landowners, investors and occupiers, with a focus on the Central London prime office and retail markets. Yu joins the corporate team with over 20 years’ experience spanning mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, venture capital and equity capital markets, with a particular emphasis on natural resources and early stage technology businesses, often on cross-border matters.

In Southampton, Hirst joins the insolvency team, bringing nearly 20 years’ experience in insolvency and a strong reputation for non-contentious corporate insolvency work. She previously worked at Blake Morgan between 2007 and 2015 and has been recognised in Chambers and Partners for 12 consecutive years, as well as in Legal 500.

Helen Bunker, chair at Blake Morgan, said the firm was setting the tone for the year ‘with three fantastic new partners’ and highlighted the focus on ‘balancing growth across our corporate, real estate, and insolvency teams’, adding that the appointments would ‘deepen the excellent service’ clients expect from the firm.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Haynes Boone—Jeremy Cross

Haynes Boone—Jeremy Cross

Firm strengthens global fund finance practice with London partner hire.

DWF—Stephen Webb

DWF—Stephen Webb

Partner and head of national planning team appointed

mfg Solicitors—Nick Little

mfg Solicitors—Nick Little

Corporate team expands in Birmingham with partner hire

NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
back-to-top-scroll