Five new partners have been appointed by Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon in a move it says will improve its gender balance in senior leadership roles.
The five, including three who trained at the firm, will increase the firm’s total number of partners to 99 when they take up their new roles on May 1. 
Burges Salmon said the promotions of Victoria Allsopp, Emily Scaife, Richard Binns, Emily Roberts and Chris Chesterman reflected its continued growth in a range of key sectors and specialisms including Intellectual Property (IP), healthcare, energy & infrastructure, public procurement, restructuring & insolvency, and defence.
Burges Salmon managing partner Roger Bull, pictured, said: “It is great to be able to announce our next cohort of high-quality partners at Burges Salmon.
“Through the commitment of our people, and by working together and supporting each other, we were determined to come through the pandemic stronger and more ambitious than ever to succeed.
“These appointments continue to build on our strategy for growth and reflect the resilience and ambition that we have shown as a firm during the challenges of the past 12 months.
“I am also delighted that this year’s appointments reflect the progress we are making in addressing the gender balance within the partnership. 
“Gender equality remains a priority for our leadership teams and we’re working hard to create an environment at Burges Salmon that is inclusive and diverse, and where everyone can thrive and achieve their potential.”
Victoria Allsopp specialises in project finance with a particular focus on energy (renewables, including wind, solar, gas and waste) and infrastructure projects. She advises clients from across the full spectrum of the energy and infrastructure sector that include sponsors, borrowers and lenders, including many of the leading banks and financial institutions in that market.
Emily Scaife has experience working on a wide range of banking and finance issues with a particular emphasis on complex restructuring and insolvency matters in the private and public sectors. She acts for key stakeholders including investors, companies, management teams, insolvency practitioners, regulators and pension trustees on both domestic and cross-border distressed matters.
Victoria and Emily’s promotions take the firm’s banking and finance team to eight partners in total, with a 50:50 partner gender balance.
Emily Roberts specialises in IP and advises clients from a wide range of industries on the protection and enforcement of their IP rights. Emily, who trained at the firm, has experience in a wide range of disputes relating to trade marks, passing off, copyright and designs, breach of confidence, domain name and company name disputes, social media and internet issues, licence disputes and advertising standards complaints.
Richard Binns, who also trained at Burges Salmon, advises private and public sector clients on commercial disputes and is experienced in all stages of litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He is also regularly engaged in dispute avoidance and complex contractual management issues for UK and international clients. Richard specialises in public procurement disputes and has a strong focus on commercial disputes in the healthcare sector.
Chris Chesterman, another former Burges Salmon trainee, advises public and private sector customers and contractors on complex commercial transactions and projects, with a focus on the defence, space and nuclear sectors. He advises clients through all stages of project lifecycles, and his expertise includes public procurement and regulated single source contracting, commercial and procurement strategies, project delivery models, development and negotiation of project contracts, change management, and exit and transition.
Burges Salmon employs more than 800 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices. The firm recently staged a month-long diversity and inclusion campaign to encourage staff to speaking about their experiences at work.
Called The Power of Inclusion, the campaign highlighted the firm’s commitment to developing an inclusive culture where people are encouraged and feel able to be themselves.
Pictured below, Burges Salmon’s new partners. From left: Victoria Allsopp, Emily Scaife, Richard Binns, Emily Roberts and Chris Chesterman
