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04 March 2026
Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
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DAC Beachcroft—seven appointments

Firm boosts professional risk practice with team hire in Manchester, led by partner Ben Parks

DAC Beachcroft has expanded its professional risk practice with the appointment of partner Ben Parks in Manchester. He joins from Clyde & Co alongside a team of five lawyers and a paralegal, strengthening the firm’s presence in the north west and adding to its national platform.

Parks, a partner at Clyde & Co since July 2022, previously spent a decade at BLM as a partner. He is well known in the professional liability market for advising on complex, high-value and often multi-party claims against professionals, including lawyers, accountants, auditors, independent financial advisers and surveyors. He has a particular interest in early dispute resolution.

Suzanne Wharton, partner and head of the national professional risk practice, said the hire was ‘a strategic appointment for us as we look to consolidate our presence in the North West and further strengthen our national platform’, adding that Parks brings ‘a strong market reputation’ and ‘excellent leadership and technical expertise’.

Parks said: ‘We're all very pleased to have joined DACB and to be part of a team that is so well regarded in the professional liability market,’ adding that the firm’s ‘strong client relationships and collaborative culture really stood out to us.’

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
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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
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