North East law firm Hay & Kilner has strengthened its senior team by appointing Jan Rzedzian and Richard Marshall as partners.
Both Richard and Jan have spent their entire legal careers with the Newcastle-headquartered firm, joining ten and eleven years ago respectively, and have worked their way up the ranks to earn their new roles.
Having studied ancient history at Newcastle University, Richard changed tack to start a legal career and now forms part of Hay & Kilner’s highly-regarded private client team.
He works with private individuals, business owners and trustees on a wide range of issues, including wills, estate administration, inheritance tax, trusts and lasting powers of attorney, and has particular expertise and knowledge of working with rural and agricultural clients.
He is also the North East committee secretary for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a guest lecturer at Durham and Northumbria Universities.
Jan originally joined Hay & Kilner as a paralegal before securing a training contract and now heads up the firm’s specialist construction and engineering team, working on a wide range of projects in the built environment for clients across the UK, as well as in mainland Europe and North America.
He is also involved with recruitment for the practice as a whole and acts as a mentor to its two legal apprentices who are currently working towards becoming professionally qualified through a six-year training programme.
Both Jan and Richard are recommended in their respective sectors in the latest edition of legal industry bible The Legal 500.
Jan Rzedzian says: “Becoming a partner underpins my role in leading the construction team and is a demonstration to our clients of the resources that the firm has available to them.
“We remained busy over the last six months, with many of our developer clients working to move projects forward, and we’re expecting to see activity levels staying pretty constant through the rest of the year and beyond.”
Richard Marshall adds: “When I joined Hay & Kilner as a trainee, I was always struck by its reputation for offering a breath of legal expertise to an impressive client list, whilst still providing a personal service.
“It is exciting to now be joining the Partnership and to have the opportunity to continue to grow and enhance these core values of the firm.
“Our private client team is recognised as one of the leaders in its field and being made a partner is testament to the quality and impact of the work that we do.”
Established in 1946, Hay & Kilner is one of North East England’s leading independent law firms and provides a full range of legal services to businesses and individuals from both within and outside the region.
Jonathan Waters, managing partner at Hay & Kilner Law Firm, says: “Both Jan and Richard are extremely impressive practitioners and fully deserve their promotions.
“Many of our partners have followed the same career route up through the ranks as their two new compatriots and we’re confident Jan and Richard will continue to make a significant contribution to the firm’s success.”