Katie Hilsdon, a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Commercial team at CooperBurnett LLP, has been recognised as a ‘key lawyer’ in the latest rankings from The Legal 500. She joins Partners Victoria Sampson and Russell Brinkhurst in being highlighted by the organisation.
This accolade comes as Katie returns to work after the birth of her second child.
“I was really delighted and surprised to hear about my inclusion in The Legal 500,” says Katie. “We’ve got a fantastic team here – who I’m looking forward to continuing to work with – and really great clients.”
The Legal 500 rankings are based on a series of criteria, but it highlights the practice area teams who are providing the most ‘cutting edge and innovative advice’ to corporate counsel. The Legal 500’s research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market.
“Katie has been a fantastic member of our department at TeamCB for eight years now and I am not at all surprised that The Legal 500 has recognised her input,” says Victoria Sampson, Partner and Head of Corporate and Commercial. “She is a dedicated lawyer and her hard work and friendly approach is always appreciated by our clients.”
Since Katie has been on maternity leave, the Corporate and Commercial team has welcomed experienced lawyer Russell Brinkhurst as a Partner, Natalie Lai as an Associate Solicitor (Hong Kong qualified) and Paralegals Joshua Hayes and Iola Palmer-Stirling.
“We’ve got an excellent team here that is continuing to grow and I’m really looking forward to working with them all” says Katie. “We offer both Corporate and Commercial law at CooperBurnett – which means we provide a wide range of support to our clients on a day-to-day basis. I enjoy getting to know them well and helping them achieve their goals and secure the right outcome for their business.”
Katie graduated from Oxford University in 2009 with a degree in French and Portuguese and then embarked on a career in law, spending two years at BPP Law School in London.
Like so many members of the TeamCB team, Katie has been with us a long time and she says that the firm’s ‘culture of support’ is behind that.
“I also really appreciate all the support CooperBurnett offers to charity and how the firm gets involved with our local community,” she adds.
Katie is fresh from helping James Pavlou to organise the Walk Tonbridge Marathon (part of the Walk Tonbridge Festival) for the third year running. An amazing 125 people took part in this latest one, raising money for the Tonbridge community food and fuel bank, Sustain.
“This year the event was absolutely phenomenal,” she says. “A lot of the credit must go to James (the Founder of the Walk Tonbridge Festival) – he gives us so much of his own time to make the whole Festival a success and he is just so modest. The Walk Tonbridge Marathon is in aid of such a good cause and it’s great to give something back. This year, not only were all the walkers fantastic, but volunteers on the check points were incredible too. Their input made such a huge difference to the atmosphere on the day. Next year we’d love to get even more walkers and corporate teams involved.”
Katie herself is an accomplished marathon runner and has been getting back into training around two small children. She is always ready to step-up for one of our charity challenges. She was part of the CooperBurnett team that completed the Three Peaks Challenge for ellenor; and also part of the team that cycled from London to Paris in 24 hours, raising money for Brain Tumour Research in memory of her cousin, Oli Hilsdon.
In terms of work, she says: “I am enjoying getting back into the swing of things and there are definitely goals I want to achieve but, initially, I am focusing on reconnecting with clients and contacts and, of course, colleagues.”