Expansion and new hires at Vardags this Autumn

Autumn has brought a season of change to Vardags as several key new hires have expanded the offering of the now, full-service firm.

Senior Associate Lucy Winter began the flurry of new hires in August, joining Rob Conway in Criminal Defence.

Hot on her heels were Rhian Radia and Natalie Wellock who joined Vardags in September to launch Vardags’ Employment Department. Rhian who has a City background and over 18 years of experience of practising employment law, is “excited” be at the helm of the new department:

I am delighted to join Vardags at an exciting time of growth for the firm to build out an employment team that can act for both individuals and employers. It is also an interesting time for employment law and my team at Vardags is committed to achieving the best outcomes for our clients whilst providing a high quality service.

In October, Vardags was joined by Alex McCready, heading up Vardags%27 newest department - Reputation and Privacy. After long having boasted media management capabilities bolstered by years of high profile family law cases, Vardag’s Reputation and Privacy department can now offer expert representation with all issues relating to defamation, libel and personal privacy – an area of law, which Alex explains, is more pertinent than ever:

“I am thrilled to be joining Vardags at such an exciting time in the firm’s growth. In today’s environment, threats to reputation and privacy come from multiple sources, be they family disputes, unwanted media attention, high-profile litigation or attacks emanating online. Unfortunately, you can no longer divorce the personal from the professional and so these threats require tailor-made solutions. I’m excited to be working at a firm comprised of industry experts, who together can help clients defend and protect their reputation wherever the threat comes from.”

These exciting Autumn developments follow a major expansion to the family department which took place earlier in the year. In May we were joined by Louisa Ghevaert, the UK’s preeminent fertility and parenting law expert, to launch the Fertility and Surrogacy department. Her department secures and protect modern families and those created through assisted conception, fertility treatment, donor conception and surrogacy.

Louisa explained that whatever your personal situation and whether you are single, married or in a civil partnership, cohabiting in a same-sex or heterosexual relationship, intended parent, parent or step-parent, co-parent, donor, surrogate, fertility patient or a family member, her department can advise and represent.

Explaining the need for a dedicated apartment for this emerging area of law, Louisa pointed out that the world of online and on-demand fertility and family building services makes it quicker and easier than ever before to have a baby, but the legal ramifications are not straight-forward.

“The Law is complex and often it doesn’t meet people’s expectations and needs. Added to this, the UK is among the highest rates of family breakdown in Europe. Families need legal clarity and protection. Specialist fertility, parenting and family law advice helps people make informed decisions and take ownership of their private and family lives. “

Since Louisa Ghevaert joined in May this year to head up the Fertility and Surrogacy Law department, she and Ayesha Vardag have already achieved life-changing results in the realm of fertility law. In a widely-publicised Court of Protection case in July, Vardags successfully obtained the first ever order to secure the extraction of a man’s sperm after he had suffered a brain injury giving his widow hope for a much-wanted child.

These new developments are a testament to Vardags’ commitment to keeping at the forefront of developments in the law. Rhian, Alex and Louisa are bringing the firm closer to its mission of being a one-shop-stop to its high net worth clients, their families and their businesses.