header-logo header-logo

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

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

North west team expands with senior private client and property hires

Excello Law has strengthened its north west presence with the appointment of Heather Horsewood and Darren Barwick, who will work across the firm’s Liverpool, Manchester and Chester offices. Horsewood (pictured) joins as a specialist in wills, probate and estate administration, while Barwick brings experience across transactional property work, with a focus on residential and mixed-use development and secured lending.

Horsewood qualified as a solicitor in 1995 and brings around 30 years’ experience in private client work, including drafting wills, administering estates and advising on inheritance tax planning. She is well known for handling complex and sensitive matters, including high-net-worth estates and cases involving vulnerable clients. She said Excello offers ‘an exciting, modern, forward-thinking way to offer high-quality legal services’.

Barwick has more than 20 years’ experience advising developers and secured lenders on site acquisition, development funding, plot sales and bridging finance. He said Excello has ‘an exceptional reputation in the industry’, adding that the move gives him ‘the freedom to concentrate on delivering excellent client service’.

Julie Mogan, north west regional director at Excello, said the appointments reflect ‘the high calibre of lawyer who chooses Excello’, adding that the firm’s model ‘empowers senior practitioners to build their practice with true autonomy’. The hires come during a period of strong growth for Excello, which recently reported record turnover of £30.5m and continues to expand its UK and international footprint.

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