National law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has recruited another senior lawyer to its Taunton real estate team - cementing its position as the largest commercial property practice in the area.

Andrea Livingstone, an experienced commercial property solicitor, has joined the firm as a partner from DAC Beachcroft. Andrea specialises in advising corporate and retail occupiers, as well as handling acquisitions and disposals for investors and developers.

Her arrival takes the number of senior property lawyers at Clarke Willmott in Taunton to 20, with seven senior partners including:

• Peter Swinburn, CEO of Clarke Willmott, who specialises in development, investment, retail and property finance

• Caroline Waller, who specialises in all aspects of planning law including advice on delivery of complex mixed-use and housing-led developments and negotiation and preparation of planning and highways agreements

• Sarah Manley, who acts for a wide range of investors, portfolio managers and lenders in the full life cycle of their holdings, from acquisition through management and financing to disposals

• Adam Burrage, who acts for housebuilders in residential and mixed-use development transactions, as well as advising landowners, promoters and corporate occupiers on various property transactions

• Caroline Mortimer, who acts for housebuilders in all aspects of residential development as well as landowners in disposal of land for residential and mixed-use development

• Robert Hill, who advises landowners and developers on promotion and option agreements, and corporate occupiers and investors on acquisitions, development and disposals

• Amanda French, who acts for multi-national retail businesses in portfolio management and store development programmes and is also head of the retail and leisure sector at Clarke Willmott

“With a client base including several retail chains, an extensive mix of housebuilders (including national, regional and SME residential developers) and a wide range of commercial property developers, investors and managers, our commercial property practice was one of nine disciplines across our Taunton and Bristol offices to be listed in the Top Tier in the 2024 Legal 500 rankings,” says Peter Swinburn.

“With Robert and I acting on the commercial side, Sarah and Andrea on the occupier side - both landlord and tenant - and Adam and Caroline on the residential side, our offering is by some distance the largest in Taunton.

“We are synonymous with the area and that deep-rooted history in the marketplace puts us in a phenomenal position for further growth.”

Clarke Willmott LLP is one of the UK’s leading law firms with offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton. Clarke Willmott provides support on a broad range of legal services to individuals and businesses, with a focus on the most involved and complex matters. Having been established in Somerset the firm is this year celebrating its 135th anniversary.

For more information about Clarke Willmott visit www.clarkewillmott.com.