Two West of England lawyers have been named in the ‘Hot 100’ – the industry’s annual listing of the best in the business.
John Westwell, managing partner of regional law firm Foot Anstey, and Bristol-based Osborne Clarke partner Catherine Wolfenden, appear in the list compiled by leading industry title The Lawyer.
The Hot 100 list gathers together the UK lawyers who have made a difference to the legal world over the past year from in-house, private practice and the bar. 
Since John Westwell, pictured, became Foot Anstey’s managing partner in 2008, he has overseen a period of growth and change at the firm, which has offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Taunton and Truro.
Offices, headcount and turnover have all grown while he has been at the helm. Revenues rose 16% in 2014/15 and are on track for similar growth this year. Compound growth has been 65% in the seven years since he became managing partner.
Growth has also been boosted by a spate of lateral hires and recent clients such as TNT and the Ministry of Sound.
Foot Anstey has also been in the vanguard of innovations in the legal sector with a flexible-working pilot scheme in Bristol designed to improve work-life balance as well as cut inflexible fixed costs.
The firm has also brought in external expertise with two high-profile non-executives on its board.
John Westwell joined Foot Anstey in 1993 following eight years as an assistant solicitor at national firm Mills & Reeve. 
Catherine Wolfenden, pictured - already a leading procurement and regulatory lawyer in the UK – took on an extra role last year as international firm Osborne Clarke’s training principal.
Top of her agenda is the engagement of senior associates who will use their role as trainee supervisors to enhance their skills on the way to partnership.
Another issue close to her heart is encouraging women to put themselves forward for promotion – she is not only Osborne Clarke’s regulatory head but founder of the Women in Regulatory Law network.
Her notable cases last year include representing Bluewater Industries in its successful challenge against the Department for Transport as well as EE in its multimillion-pound contract win from the Home Office for the emergency services’ Airwave network.
Catherine qualified as a lawyer in 2001 at Freshfields, qualified as a solicitor advocate in 2004 and has been a partner at Osborne Clarke since 2011.
Also named among the Hot 100 is Martin Bowen general counsel and company secretary at Wiltshire-based innovative tech and household appliance group Dyson. Mr Bowen trained with Osborne Clarke’s Bristol office, where he qualified in 1993. He moved to rival firm Eversheds in 1996 before joining Dyson as counsel two years later.
The Hot 100 includes 49 female lawyers, 10 barristers, and two recently-elected managing partners alongside top-class lawyers in litigation, finance, energy, real estate, life sciences, and regulation.
