DWF unveils 30 Liverpool promotions months after the Liverpool-founded law firm was acquired by private equity group Inflexion in a £342m deal. Tony McDonough reports

Law firm DWF has unveiled 30 promotions at its Liverpool office as it gets used to being under new ownership.

Founded in Liverpool, the now Manchester-headquarted firm was acquired by private equity group Inflexion in a £342m deal in October 2023. DWF has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2019.

This deal was first announced in the summer of 2023 after DWF revealed annual revenues for the 12 months to April 30 had risen 8.6% to £451.6m. However, they also showed pre-tax profits down 23% to £17.2m and net debt up 30% to £101.7m.

Founded as Davies Wallis in Liverpool in 1977, the practice merged with Dodds Ashcroft in 1989. In 1990 it merged with Foysters in Manchester and became Davies Wallis Foyster. This was abbreviated to DWF in 2007.

Despite now having offices across the UK and overseas, DWF retains a strong base at St Paul’s Square in Liverpool. 

In the latest round of promotions at the office commercial lawyer Rachael Burke and commercial litigator David Hulbert are both promoted to partner.

Daniel Holbrook in the credit hire team, commercial litigator Paul Maddock and commercial lawyer Christine Williams are all promoted to director. 

Across the group there are also 14 promotions for existing DWF partners moving to a higher career level within the partnership structure. They include existing partner and newly appointed managing partner of the Liverpool office, Julie Simms.

She said: “It is fantastic to be able to recognise the contributions made by each of the individuals during their time at DWF and I would like to congratulate each of them individually on their success.

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“Working with a group of such talented and dedicated colleagues is a pleasure and I look forward to working with them in their new roles.”

The full list of promotions are: 

• Julie Simms, partner
• Rachael Burke, partner
• David Hulbert, partner
• Daniel Holbrook, director
• Paul Maddock, director
• Christine Williams, director
• Peter Murray, specialist manager
• Nicola Garcia, operational delivery manager
• Craig Fisher, senior associate
• Robert Gavin, senior associate
• Samantha Pringle, senior associate
• Joseph White, senior associate
• Rebecca Alexander, associate
• Sophie Biedla, associate
• Adrian Davies, associate
• David Hathorn, associate
• Daniel Kinney, associate
• Joseph O’Gorman, associate
• Katie Ashton, senior paralegal
• Kes Earl, senior paralegal
• Galina Georgieva, senior paralegal
• Gareth Griffin, senior paralegal
• Keith Hollingsworth, senior paralegal
• Jay Percy, senior paralegal
• Olivia Taylor, senior paralegal
• Lucy Weir, senior paralegal
• Jessica Gallagher, lead paralegal
• Laura Howells, lead paralegal
• Alexandra Kelly, lead paralegal
• Daniel Kelly, paralegal