M&S PROFILE: Leanne Murray

DAC Beachcroft has recently appointed residential development expert Leanne Murray to its Manchester office.

What was your route into the profession?

I followed a fairly traditional route of studying Law at degree level at UWE, Bristol, followed by the LPC at Chester. The day after I finished my LPC, I started a paralegal role working for a firm in Liverpool handling remortgages at the time for Abbey National. This led onto the firm offering me a training contract and it was during this time I began my career in commercial property with a strong emphasis on residential development. Upon qualification, I was fortunate enough to secure an NQ role with a sister firm shadowing the head of residential development. Liverpool was tendering for City of Culture at the time, which meant a boom in development with overseas investment flooding into the city. Together with the partner, we handled a majority of the residential development transactions taking place in Liverpool at that time from acquisition to site assembly through to plot sales.

What has been your biggest career challenge so far?

My biggest career challenge also became one of the highlights of my career so far. I was involved as one of the property lawyers representing Barratt Homes in the case BDW Trading Ltd (t/a Barratt Homes) v Spooner (representing the Merton Green Action Group) and another [2011] EWHC B7 (QB).  For the best part of two years I didn't sleep while handling this matter. To know that your client could stand to lose millions of pounds in fees, lost sales revenues and acquisitions costs as a result of a decision going the wrong way is not something any property lawyer ever wants to face. Nor does one want to be involved in a case that could go against residential developers and the ability to be able to develop land! As it turned out, the steps taken through the acquisition process led to a leading case coming through on the use of s 241 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This is a case I have since referred to and relied upon when acquiring land from local authorities. 

Which person within the legal profession inspires you most? 

All lawyers are inspiring.  Honestly!  The sheer commitment to study to get where we are often gets overlooked. It is a very tough profession and anyone who survives it and climbs to the top is a genuine inspiration to me.

 If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?

This is a difficult question for me to answer because I've always wanted to be a lawyer. It is my chosen profession and one I love and there's nothing else I would want to do. Having said that…I could probably handle a role as the managing director of a national housebuilder!   

Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?

I could provide the obvious answer—Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. While I, in common with so many lawyers, have enormous admiration for Finch's qualities, I am a child of the 1990s and the era of LA Law so I will have to plump for Ally McBeal! She made her television debut in 1997 just as I was starting my A-levels. I had already decided by then that I wanted to be a lawyer and along came Ally. She was controversial, as was the show, for reasons both good and bad. Her character captured perfectly a moment in time when I had just started studying law.    

How do you relax?

I am a huge sports car and racing car fanatic. My husband and I are members of a supercar club, which gives us the chance to attend great car events in fantastic locations. We also participate in various races and shows. I also love to travel and often combine this with my love of food by attending some of the world's best restaurants.