Karen strengthens city lawyer’s team
Mar 12 2010 by Karen Wilson, The Journal
ONE of the top public -sector lawyers in the UK has joined law firm Ward Hadaway.
Karen Andrews was named as one of the top five specialist public sector lawyers by legal trade magazine The Lawyer in 2007 and has more than 20 years’ experience working at the highest level in the field.
She joins from law firm Trowers & Hamlins and has worked on more than £1bn worth of public/private partnership projects across the country.
In the North East, Karen has advised on projects in North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Teesside. Elsewhere, she has worked on major education and regeneration schemes in London and the South East, Wales, the Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
She has advised local authorities, development agencies and other public-sector bodies as well as companies in the private sector on a wide range of complex public/private partnerships.
Karen joins Ward Hadaway as a partner in the firm’s fast-growing public-sector team.
She said: “I’m really excited to be joining Ward Hadaway. The firm has an excellent reputation for its work in the public sector and has an extremely professional team doing some great work in the field.
“The practice offers a comprehensive service across the whole of the public sector, working with local authorities, healthcare providers and education bodies on a broad spectrum of partnerships and projects.”
Melanie Pears, partner and head of public sector at Ward Hadaway, added: “We are delighted that Karen has joined the team. Her reputation goes before her so it is a real coup for us to attract someone with such experience and high-level expertise to the firm.
“She will add invaluable knowledge and in-depth know-how to the team and ensure our clients receive an even better service.”
Ward Hadaway has secured a string of appointments to legal panels for local authorities and healthcare organisations over the past year. These include the legal panel of Partnership for Schools, the national organisation delivering the Government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
In December, the firm was appointed as a legal adviser to Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland Councils for the next three years following a fiercely-contested competitive tender.
Its appointment on the NE Law Framework Panel alongside four other firms means that the firm, which has offices in Newcastle and Leeds, now provides legal advice to all 12 local authorities in the North East.
In the healthcare sector, the firm has been appointed to legal panels to advise NHS organisations in the North East, the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside. Across the public sector as a whole, Ward Hadaway is advising on capital projects worth well in excess of £2bn.
