A law firm is extending its corporate arm with the appointment of a new consultant solicitor.
Rachel Clarke has joined De Marco Solicitors as a company and commercial solicitor to meet an increasing demand for business law services from clients within Coventry and Warwickshire and beyond.
Rachel is the third consultant solicitor to be recently appointed by the Legal 500 firm as it builds upon its specialities of employment and business law.
She is experienced both in private practice having been in the corporate department at Wragge & Co in Birmingham for five years and in-house having most recently spent almost six years as Legal Counsel for a multinational company based in Warwick.
Rachel came to the Midlands to study European Law at the University of Warwick, and lived and worked in Birmingham before moving to Stratford-upon-Avon.
The keen runner recently completed for the fourth time the Shakespeare Half Marathon held in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Rachel said: “I was at Law School at Birmingham University with Helen Hughes, who joined De Marco as a consultant employment solicitor a few months ago and introduced me to the firm.
“De Marco gave me the opportunity to develop my own client base with the support and back-up of a well-established firm and at the same time I can help to build upon its existing company and commercial work.
“The invaluable experience that I have gained actually working in business means that I can offer clients an efficient and cost-effective service.”
Rachel will be focusing on supporting SMEs and, in particular, providing legal advice to firms wanting to expand their operations.
Sandra Garlick, Principal of De Marco Solicitors, said: “We are recognised in the region as a leading employment law firm and have now successfully branched into corporate law.
“Rachel will be a great asset in supporting the expansion of that fast-growing side of the business with her breadth of experience in commercial matters such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, IT and outsourcing agreements.
“We are keen to attract consultant solicitors as we look to expand beyond Coventry and Warwickshire. We already have a presence in Oxfordshire and have invested in the latest cloud-based technology to enable our solicitors to work from any location.
“We also recognise the flexibility that working on a consultancy basis offers to solicitors who want to operate their own business and build their own client base without the financial obligations and heavy compliance associated with running a legal practice.”