Two Internal Promotions at Historic Plymouth Law Firm
Plymouth headquartered law firm, GA Solicitors, has made two internal promotions as it celebrates the end of a record financial year. These promotions support the firm’s plans to grow and expand through training and supporting its existing staff, as well as securing growth through the recruitment of new individuals.
Mark Mears, a solicitor in the firm’s busy family department has been promoted to partner after rejoining the firm in December 2023. Mark is an experienced solicitor within the child care team, working predominantly on cases involving the local authority. He previously taught Child Care Law at the University of Plymouth and is well regarded by both GA’s family team and the wider legal community.
Katy McKenna, marketing and communications director at GA Solicitors, has been voted onto the firm’s operations board which is the decision-making group which meets to agree and discuss the day-to-day operations of the firm. Katy joined GA Solicitors in 2012 and has risen through the ranks from marketing executive to marketing manager and now marketing and communications director.
Speaking of the two promotions, David Wallis, managing partner of GA Solicitors, commented: “In February we reported that we had expanded our team and had been joined by nine new recruits. Gaining new team members is of course important to us, however supporting our existing team members and helping them to obtain qualifications and reach their potential is even more important to us as a firm.
“Mark and Katy each play very important roles within GA Solicitors and have demonstrated hard work, dedication and loyalty at all times. I and the other partners are delighted to have offered Mark this promotion, and to also invite Katy to join our operations board.
“Over the last 12 months, we have worked hard to clearly define the culture of GA as a firm and, as part of this, have invested into both the development of our staff and our client offering. As we move into Spring, we are nearing 100 staff members. This is more than a 20% increase in headcount in just five years and we expect further growth over this year. This is an exciting time, and we are delighted to have Mark and Katy continuing this journey with us.”
GA Solicitors has been established in Plymouth for more than 200 years and opened a second Bath office in 2019. Following its latest run of recruits, the firm now employs 99 members of staff across its two offices and is actively recruiting for five more positions.
ENDS
15/04/25
Note to Editors
GA Solicitors can trace its roots back more than 200 years and has been advising the people and businesses in the South West for its duration. Originally based in Devonport, the firm gets its initials from Thomas Husband Gill, who joined the practice in 1875 and later went into partnership with Albert E. Akaster.
Now one of the region’s leading law firms, the 99-strong team at the Lexcel-accredited LLP has offices in both Plymouth and Bath. It is ranked in The Legal 500, Chambers UK and Chambers High Net Worth and is structured around eight practice areas, each comprising its own specialist department:
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