ADDLESHAW Goddard is adding two new partners, further strengthening its banking and real estate expertise in what the firm considers to be significant appointments.
Neil Hogg joins the real estate team in Glasgow, bringing almost 30 years of experience, as well as a strong portfolio of clients and connections in the hotel, logistics, and office sub-sectors.
He joins Addleshaw Goddard after 18 years with Pinsent Masons, including 12 as a partner, and offers a wealth of expertise in the institutional investment market, having acted for the likes of Aviva Investors and CBRE Global Investors for many years.
Gaenor Cassell is the fifth partner to expand Addleshaw Goddard’s banking practice in Scotland and joins the Edinburgh team from Burness Paull, bringing more than 20 years’ experience advising lenders and borrowers on all aspects of funding, both domestic and international.
Gaenor’s practice blends borrower work for large corporates and private equity funds, specialist local counsel work (including cross border securitisations) and advising international investors on funding for UK investments as well as advice for banks operating in Scotland. She also works with non-bank lenders, recently advising OakNorth on its three last deals in Scotland.
Their announcements follow a flurry of partner appointments in Scotland in the last two years including in Aberdeen, David McEwing (corporate oil and gas) and Ross McKenzie (data protection) and in Edinburgh, Lorna Finlayson (financial regulation), and Peter Anderson (litigation).
Neil’s key focuses are property investment, asset management, and development work. However, in recent years, he has further developed particular specialisms in hotels and student accommodation and has been involved in various ground-breaking projects for local authority and other public sector clients.
Commenting on Neil’s addition, Miles Ede, partner and head of real estate for Addleshaw Goddard in Scotland, said: “With this appointment, our real estate team – which is at the heart of our growth plans – goes from strength to strength.
“He is undoubtedly a high-profile real estate lawyer in the Scottish market and will be a great addition.
“Throughout a very successful career stretching across almost three decades, he has honed a strong practical and technical legal ability, underlined by a focus on finding the right solutions for clients as quickly as possible.
“Neil has been successful in winning new business through submission of tenders and participation in interviews, but more so through securing repeat instructions from satisfied customers and capitalising on opportunities to act for existing clients. We expect that he will continue that success at Addleshaw Goddard.”
Qualifying in 1998, Gaenor spent eight years in Allen & Overy’s London banking team in and enjoyed a successful spell in-house at Lloyds Banking Group before returning to private practice.
Alan Shanks, partner and head of finance and projects for Addleshaw Goddard in Scotland, said: “Gaenor’s practice is an exciting addition to our existing practice and will unlock new opportunities. Our team goes from strength to strength and clients are acknowledging this in the scale and complexity of the transactions they trust us with.”
Gaenor’s appointment follows a strong year for Addleshaw Goddard’s banking team in Scotland. Highlights for the team, which has more than doubled in size in the last 18 months, including advising PNC Business Credit and Bank of Scotland on £80m facilities to Ian Macleod Distillers Limited (known for their Glengoyne Whiskey and Edinburgh Gin) (led by Euan Cluness).
