Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution expert joins Hay & Kilner

Full service law firm Hay & Kilner has appointed Leigh Ferguson as a Partner in their growing commercial litigation and dispute resolution team. Based at The Lumen in Newcastle’s Helix, Leigh will focus on growing the firm’s intellectual property and fraud offering along with insolvency and restructuring as these services often interlink.

Leigh has a broad range of experience across all aspects of commercial litigation and dispute resolution as well as insolvency claims.

With one of the largest teams in the North East and a wealth of experience across a wide range of disputes and sectors, Leigh and the team get involved at the onset to help resolve matters at an early stage saving clients valuable time and money, helping them mitigate risk to reputation and maintaining valuable relationships. The team works with all sizes of business from start-ups to SMEs across all business sectors ranging from manufacturing to hospitality.

Leigh joins Hay & Kilner from the Newcastle office of a national legal firm. She’s spent her career working in the North East for both Newcastle and Teesside firms and has strong links across the region.

Leigh is passionate about sharing knowledge and working in the local community with startups and entrepreneurs. She is an expert in residence of the Business and IP Centre North East offering businesses legal assistance on topics ranging from intellectual property, brand protection and more importantly avoiding disputes.

Leigh also volunteers time to support Spark Tees Valley who specialise in supporting schools to deliver an engaging curriculum that develops cultural capital effectively and enhances knowledge of how school learning relates to the world of work.

Leigh is a survivor of a life changing spinal cord injury, which happened in 2020. Leigh recently completed the WheelPower National Spinal Cord Injury games at Stoke Mandeville, spreading positivity that disability is not a barrier or a limitation to achieving your own personal goals and aspirations. Leigh regularly speaks about resilience and adapting to new challenges both at home and in the workplace.

Jonathan Waters, Managing Partner at Hay & Kilner said:

‘’I’m delighted to welcome someone of Leigh’s calibre to Hay & Kilner - her experience and network will be a great asset as we look to grow our team.

‘’Leigh is a great advocate for accessibility, resilience and the importance of looking after your mental health. Leigh is a positive role model supporting the next generation through her volunteering at Spark Tees Valley and raising awareness and positivity about the full life you can lead following an injury.’’

Leigh Ferguson, Partner at Hay & Kilner said:

‘’I was attracted to Hay & Kilner given the firm’s independence coupled with being one of the longest established North East firms. The values of the firm align with my core values: the firm has strong ambitions for growth but at the centre of its growth is its people and clients. Working collaboratively with a no-nonsense approach offering pragmatic commercial advice, I am excited to be part of the Dispute Resolution team.’’