Freeths expands Real Estate team following pivotal senior hire

National law firm Freeths has appointed Real Estate Partner Paul Lloyd, to bolster the service line’s capabilities. He joins from Gowling WLG, where he trained and then spent almost 11 years working with some of their most significant clients.

Paul’s extensive experience allows him to advise clients on a wide range of commercial property investment and development matters. He specialises in high volume and high value sales, acquisitions and developments across a diverse scope of sectors, including logistics, offices and student accommodation.

Recent highlights include: acting on the sale of two of the UK’s best-known industrial estates, which totalled approximately 7m sq. ft. of industrial assets; advising on the real estate aspects of a serviced office merger that created a company with more than 3m sq. ft. of office space; working with a UK real estate investment trust on their acquisition of land for a 1m sq. ft. data centre development; and advising a US private equity business on its acquisition of a student accommodation portfolio, which was, at the time, the largest-ever private property deal in the UK.

Commenting on Paul’s appointment, Partner and National Head of Real Estate, Darren Williamson, said: “Paul joins the Real Estate team at a particularly exciting time. Our recent commendation for Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer awards highlights the depth and strength of our sector knowledge, which will continue to grow as Paul joins the team, providing an invaluable service for our clients.”

Paul added: “I’m excited to be joining one of the fastest growing law firms in the UK, and I’m genuinely looking forward to contributing to the firm’s future growth. The quality of clients, all-round capabilities as a full-service law firm, and the dedication to colleagues and culture is what attracted me to Freeths. This is evidenced by their B Corp rating and recent nominations, commendations and wins, both nationally and regionally.”