A Southampton law firm has expanded its team with the appointment of a "highly experienced" commercial litigator. 

Paula Swain, who was until recently the head of Shoosmiths’ Solent office, will be supporting the growth of the national debt and asset recovery team at Shakespeare Martineau.

With more than 24 years’ post-qualification experience, including more than five years leading Shoosmiths’ UK-wide commercial recoveries department, Paula regularly advises creditor companies on their finance and business disputes. 

She is being joined by team supervisor Ray Welsby, also from Shoosmiths, who will be a supervisor in the debt and asset recovery team.

Paula, who studied at the University of Southampton, was elected a director of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership in 2018 and has been a director of the Solent Freeport since 2021.

She said: “The calibre of Shakespeare Martineau’s debt and asset recovery team was already very well known to me.

"The firm’s attitude to career development and responsible business made it an obvious choice for me."