header-logo header-logo

15 January 2026
Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
printer mail-detail

DWF—Dean Gormley

Finance and restructuring team offering expands in Manchester with partner hire

DWF has appointed Dean Gormley to lead its finance and restructuring team in Manchester, further strengthening its banking and finance offering in the region. He joins the firm’s finance and restructuring practice with a focus on complex UK and cross-border transactions.

Gormley advises lenders, borrowers and investors across leveraged and acquisition finance, real estate finance, asset-based lending, corporate banking and debt restructurings. He will also work closely with the corporate team to support the firm’s venture capital and private equity clients.

He joins DWF from Clyde & Co, where he was a partner, having spent his career at national and international law firms. He is recognised as a leading individual for banking and finance by Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.

Gormley said: ‘I’m delighted to be joining DWF as it has a strong reputation in the banking and finance market.’ Stewart Anderson, global head of finance and restructuring at DWF, said Gormley brings ‘a strong track record across real estate finance, ABL and complex structured transactions’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
back-to-top-scroll