Shoosmiths Edinburgh expands family team with appointment of John Fotheringham

Mr Fotheringham, who joins Shoosmiths from BTO, brings with him more than 30 years’ experience of advising individuals on all aspects of family law. Previous to BTO, he was the director of family law at Lindsays, a consultant at Fyfe and Ireland LLP, and a partner at Ross & Connel where he built his career for 23 years.

In addition to advising on core family law work, his speciality is in child support law. He is one just a handful of solicitors to hold the double accreditation of the Law Society of Scotland in child and family law and is vice-convenor of the society’s family law committee, in which capacity he has given evidence on family law reform to the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Fotheringham is also part of the child support committee of Resolution, lectures and tutors at Edinburgh University and has contributed to and co-authored several journals and books, respectively.

Marika Franceschi, Edinburgh family partner at Shoosmiths, said: “It is a delight to welcome John to Shoosmiths. The skills John has honed over his lengthy career complement our family offering. We are very pleased to be building our family team nationally and we welcome John at an exciting time for Shoosmiths as we grow our presence in Scotland.”

Mr Fotheringham added: “Shoosmiths is building an enviable reputation north of the border, one which I regard as a stand-out firm. I look forward to making my mark on Shoosmiths and growing the offering with the team, in Scotland and nationally.”

In addition to Mr Fotheringham’s hire, Neil Hobden – national head of family law at Shoosmiths - has hired associates Naheed Taj in Milton Keynes and Sushma Kotecha in Birmingham to grow the offering nationally.