BCLP Continues Growth in UK with Addition of Two More Real Estate Sector Partners

International law firm BCLP continues to strengthen its market-leading position in the real estate sector with the arrival of partners Kristina Middleton and Jessica Parry, who both join the firm’s Manchester office.

Kristina joins BCLP’s Real Estate practice from CMS and focuses on leading large scale, multi-office and multi-practice teams to handle complex acquisitions, disposals, and project management. She is particularly experienced in working closely with clients to build and scale teams on all aspects of real estate asset management. Jessica joins BCLP’s Real Estate Disputes practice from Brabners and previously worked as an associate at BCLP. She is a skilled litigator with experience in high-stakes, high-value contentious property matters, including an emphasis on major corporate landlord and tenant disputes. In addition, Jessica’s practice also includes leading complex asset management and real estate litigation for clients with large portfolios.

These moves also reflect the strategic growth of BCLP’s Manchester office, which is now home to three real estate sector partners. Late last year, Taslima Salam joined from Eversheds as the first Real Estate Finance partner in the UK outside of London. Today, Taslima leads the Real Estate Finance regional team with lawyers,  professionals, and resources from the firm’s Manchester and Southampton offices.

Samant Narula, UK Head of Real Estate for BCLP said: “We are delighted to welcome Kristina and Jess, who represent the latest in our commitment to building the world’s leading legal real estate advisory business. They bring a proven track record of success and understand the advantages that the Manchester office brings to our integrated platform in handling large, complex real estate matters and disputes for our clients.”

Akhil Markanday, Head of Real Estate Disputes for BCLP said: “Jess is a top-flight real estate litigator and we’re excited to have her return to BCLP. She’s one of the industry’s go-to lawyers for high-profile property disputes, and she will be a major asset to our clients.”

Their arrival in Manchester is the latest significant move for BCLP in the UK, following the addition last week of David Rundle, regulatory enforcement and white collar partner from WilmerHale in London, and the recent addition of partners Luke Mines and Chris Beaumont-McQuillan to the firm’s growing Corporate Real Estate and Funds team in London. Luke joined from Morrison Foerster and Chris joined from Reed Smith, where he led the Corporate Real Estate team. Together, these moves continue BCLP’s emphasis on building around strategic hires who can take full advantage of the firm’s global platform with multi-office, multi-disciplinary practices to best serve its international client base.