header-logo header-logo

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

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Freeths has strengthened its national real estate team with the appointment of partner Ruth Clare in Manchester. She joins the firm from Shoosmiths, bringing more than 20 years’ experience advising retail occupier and corporate clients.

Clare trained at Mayer Brown in London before spending a decade at Eversheds following her move to Manchester. She specialises in the expansion, disposal and management of property portfolios, and is known for building close, long-term client relationships and working as an extension of her clients’ businesses.

With a strong market reputation and deep sector knowledge, Clare brings a number of household-name clients to Freeths. She will work with colleagues in Manchester and across the firm’s national platform to enhance its offering to corporate occupiers entering and operating in the UK market.

Darren Williamson, partner and national head of real estate, said Clare is ‘a highly respected lawyer with an exceptional track record’, adding that her ‘experience, commercial insight and collaborative approach’ make her ‘an outstanding addition’. Clare said joining Freeths felt ‘like the next natural step’, citing the firm’s ‘strong national platform’ and ‘culture of fostering collaboration’.

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