Top Disputes Lawyer Joins Foot Anstey

Foot Anstey has attracted another senior lawyer from London to its new Bristol office as part of its strategy of securing top talent to deliver specialist advice to its national client base.

The firm, which recently collected the 'Regional Law Firm of the Year' accolade at the British Legal Awards, has recruited dispute resolution expert Anna Bateman as a partner to head up dispute resolution in the firm's Bristol office and to join its nationally recognised media team. She joins Foot Anstey from international law firm Herbert Smith LLP's London office where she trained as a solicitor and subsequently qualified in 1999.

Anna brings a wealth of experience which has seen her advising on high profile cases which include Primark's recent successful complaint against the BBC regarding Panorama footage, acting for Virgin Radio and broadcaster STV in the contractual claim brought by presenter Chris Evans concerning his departure from the radio station and representing a major football club in a libel claim regarding statements about its financial position.

She is a litigation specialist who has extensive experience of all aspects of litigation and has also participated in many successful mediations. Her sector focus is on the media and entertainment industry in which she has advised on a wide range of disputes and regulatory complaints.

Anna's practice includes advising on contractual, defamation, privacy, confidential information, shareholder, director, restrictive covenant and tortious (professional negligence and economic tort) issues and disputes.

She joins the firm's nationally recognised media team which acts for three of the four largest regional newspaper publishers in the UK – Northcliffe Media Ltd, Johnston Press PLC and Trinity Mirror PLC as well as media organisations such as Which? Magazine, Odeon/UCI, UBM plc, Progressive Digital Media Group plc and Silvergate Media.

Commenting on her arrival, Anna said: "I am delighted to join a firm which has one of the best media teams in the country. Foot Anstey is clearly going places which is what attracted me here. I look forward to playing a real part in the development of the new Bristol office and the media team and advising both regional and national clients on resolving complex dispute issues."

John Westwell, Managing Partner, said; "We are delighted to have attracted an ambitious lawyer of Anna's calibre to the firm - she will undoubtedly add further strength to both our media team and the Bristol office. Anna's arrival will ensure that we continue to provide our discerning clients with the specialist skills that they expect."

Anna is one of eleven new specialist partners recruited by Foot Anstey from national and international firms in the past year as part of the firm's continued talent acquisition strategy.