Two Liverpool law firms Brabners and Provenio have both hired legal sector big hitters to add to their growing teams. Tony McDonough reports

Two Liverpool law firms Brabners and Provenio Litigation have both announced new senior hires.

Commercial property partner Abdul Salam joins Brabners from JMW, adding significant commercial property expertise to the firm’s 106-strong property practice. With 17 years’ industry experience, Mr Salam specialises in advising on a broad range of commercial property matters.

His clients include high net worth individuals, leisure and hospitality operators, and commercial property developers. He recently advised the Pervaiz Naviede Family Trust on its acquisition of Altrincham’s historic Stamford House for more than £6m.

Operating across Brabners’ Liverpool, Manchester and Preston offices, Mr Salam is the latest senior hire for the firm’s property team this year. Previous appointments of include Roy Barry, Jennie Jones, and Andrew Waugh as Brabners’ property sector lead.

Brabners managing partner Nik White said: “Abdul is widely recognised for his expertise and for building longstanding relationships with clients. He’s an excellent addition to the team and we know he will fit in well here.

“I’m delighted that we are finishing the year as we started it – bringing senior talent on board in what has been another year of strong and active recruitment.”

Mr Salam added: “I’ve been impressed by Brabners’ growth and clear sense of ambition and direction in recent years and I can see this momentum is building. The firm is home to some fantastic people and has a reputation for its culture, ambition and top-quality service.”

Provenio Litigation is one of Liverpool’s newest law firms. The litigation practice specialises in high value business dispute and investigations and was set up in 2019 by former DLP Piper senior lawyer, Mark Goodwin, with other DLA colleagues.

Now another former DLA partner, David Gray, is joining its team. Mr Gray was formerly head of litigation and regulatory at DLA and was to Manchester office managing partner for four years. He retired from the firm in 2017 and will now be a consultant to Provenio’s investment committee.

He will assess the suitability of cases for Provenio’s £50m litigation fund with Therium. Mark Goodwin said: “David is an outstanding lawyer who brings wide-ranging legal expertise, sound judgement derived from his vast experience working at the highest level in the UK legal services market.

The portfolio litigation funding agreement with Therium takes our business to a new level.  We can offer clients a fully contingent fee arrangement backed by funding that takes the cash flow burden and financial risk out of the case but maintains a significant return for the client on a successful outcome.”

Mr Gray added: “I worked with Mark for many years at DLA Piper and was always impressed by his entrepreneurial spirit. It came as no surprise when he told me about his exciting new venture and we remained in close contact during the formation and launch of Provenio.”