Hudgell Solicitors’ Chief Executive Rachel Di Clemente says she is delighted to announce the promotion of two current members of staff who will join the firm’s management team.
Corporate Services Solicitor John Cuss becomes the Head of Corporate Services and Strategic Partnerships, while Lauren Dale an Associate Solicitor in Clinical Negligence is promoted to Head of Risk & Compliance.
Ms Di Clemente said: “Both Lauren and John have shown incredible commitment to the business over the last year. They both share a desire to continuously improve the services we provide to our clients and the support we provide to our colleagues.
“Any business is only as strong as its people and the team leading it; I am a firm believer that you need to create opportunities to let talented colleagues grow and contribute to how the business evolves.
“John and Lauren’s drive and expertise will help reinforce our position as a modern, agile law firm, focused on assessing our success through one overriding measure – client satisfaction.”
These promotions and opportunities will enhance our evolution as an expanding law firm that continues to be included in The Times Best 200 Law Firms
John Cuss joined Hudgells in November 2020 in the role of Corporate Services Solicitor and has worked closely with CEO Ms Di Clemente and the senior management team to support and deliver strategic input and insights on a range of work streams.
He is also the Solicitors Regulation Authority Training Principal for the firm, oversees the training of the firm’s trainee solicitors, and leads on the firm-wide Training and Supervision Committee at Hudgells.
John is Vice Chair of the Law Society’s national Civil Litigation Section Committee, helping to promote best practice and procedure for the estimated 15,000 solicitors working in civil litigation and dispute resolution.
In this role, he has chaired many live events for the Law Society on such topics as Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the ‘Whiplash Reforms’ and soft skills for litigators.
John said, “In the dynamic, ever-changing arena of civil litigation, I am a firm believer that knowledge and insight is key to keep pace with developments inside or outside of the industry that impact our areas of practice and that strategic advantage is obtained from scanning the horizon.
“I look forward to utilising such insights to shape and steer key work streams and relationships to help the firm achieve our strategic objectives.”
As part of his role, John will manage a range of key corporate and qualitative work streams that are central to the firm’s strategic objectives and will lead on developing and managing successful relationships with a range of strategic partners.
Lauren Dale joined Hudgell Solicitors in 2010, and in 2021 became an Associate in the firm’s clinical negligence team specialising in hospital negligence, delayed diagnosis of cancer, surgical errors and birth negligence.
In addition to her medical negligence work, Lauren is also Deputy Compliance Officer for Legal Practice. She assists the CEO with various regulatory matters and she also undertakes the role of Data Protection Officer.
Lauren said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for me. We all share a fundamental commitment to client care and recognise that law firms need to continuously evolve and adapt to continue to meet the needs of those using our services.
“The firm has been successful in evolving and adapting to changes in the market and my role will be to ensure that all change is managed in a way that presents minimal risk.”
