Corporate commercial duo join Browne Jacobson to bolster health team

Browne Jacobson has expanded its health practice with two new hires – Christian Dingwall and Rebecca Hainsworth.  They will be based in Manchester, growing the team there to 27 lawyers, and work for clients nationally.

With over 30 years’ experience in the healthcare sector, Christian Dingwall joins the firm as a partner. Christian specialises in corporate commercial law, NHS governance, regulation and compliance, with a particular focus on advising NHS bodies on organisational and service transformation.

Christian is recognised nationally as a top legal expert for NHS transactions, advising on mergers, acquisitions and integrated care joint ventures across the UK. His previous work includes advising on the establishment of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust as a result of the merger of the former Central Manchester and South Manchester trusts.

Christian joins from Hempsons, where he headed up the NHS Corporate Commercial Department.

Also joining the team is corporate and competition lawyer, Rebecca Hainsworth. Previously a solicitor at Hempsons, and an in-house lawyer at NHS regulatory body NHS Improvement, Rebecca has a breadth of experience advising NHS bodies, and public and private sector organisations, on a range of competition and merger control matters. She has advised on a series of mergers, including the establishment of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust as a result of the merger of the former Colchester and Ipswich trusts.

The appointments follow a record year for the Manchester health team, after delivering 600 per cent growth in fee income since its launch in 2013. Led by partner Amanda Callaghan, the specialist team advises on a broad range of clinical negligence, regulatory, criminal and inquest matters for the private and public sectors.

The team’s strong reputation for advising health and social care providers, commissioners and regulators has contributed to its significant growth. The team now acts for NHS England, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust; Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Bolton NHS Foundation Trust; The Priory and Care UK, amongst others.

Amanda Callaghan, health partner and head of the firm’s Manchester office, said: “Our health team continues to grow at an exceptional rate, and the addition of Christian and Rebecca, who have both been at the helm of major UK-wide NHS transactions, further signals our commitment to building our North West practice.

“Healthcare continues to be a core focus of the firm, and it is an area in which we thrive. Having a strong health practice alongside an equally impressive social care practice is a real strength, giving us a distinct advantage in advising clients delivering integrated care projects. We are seeing a consistently high demand for our services from NHS bodies, local authorities and major independent sector providers, so will continue to grow our offering to match.”

Oliver Prichard, head of the firm’s Commercial Health Team, said: “Both Christian and Rebecca are highly-skilled practitioners, and add considerable firepower to our health team.

“In his previous role Christian steered a large number of complex projects across the UK. We are confident that his and Rebecca’s expertise will allow us to secure further big ticket mandates in the health sector.”

Christian Dingwall said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Browne Jacobson’s health team. The team is already at the centre of landmark projects across the North West, such as the development of an integrated healthcare model in Manchester, and nationally. I look forward to further developing its reach at a time when healthcare models are undergoing major shifts, creating many windows of opportunity.”

Browne Jacobson’s UK-wide health team consists of over 130 lawyers and is nationally recognised as one of the leading in the country by independent experts Chambers and Legal 500. It now acts for over 100 NHS bodies including NHS England, over 150 local authorities and major independent sector providers.