Browne Jacobson appoints new lead for Exeter and South West education team
Browne Jacobson’s education team in South West England has a new lead following an internal promotion.
Victoria Hatton, who is based in the UK and Ireland law firm’s Exeter office, has stepped up from Senior Associate to Partner.
She was one of 15 partner and legal director promotions that came into effect this week across the firm’s seven offices.
Victoria, who has been practising law for 15 years, has been ranked as a “rising star” in the Legal 500 directory for the South-West since 2021. Her areas of expertise include academy projects, governance and student-related matters.
She said: “Since joining Browne Jacobson in 2013, I have taken great pleasure in becoming fully immersed within the education sector, working with school and academy trust clients in the South West and nationally to identify solutions to the various hurdles they face.
“In recent times, I have been proud to support trusts in addressing the growing issue of parental complaints and unacceptable parental behaviour by developing a support pack and training, and the diversity deficit in school governance in a collaborative project with the National Governance Association.
“As Partner and education lead in the South West, I look forward to continuing the firm’s great work in supporting schools, trusts and universities to overcome the broad range of challenges thrown their way and ensure they’re delivering the best education outcomes for students.”
Victoria specialises in supporting schools and trusts on the corporate and governance aspects of all types of academy projects, including academy conversions, mergers and transfers, significant change applications, and on changes to their governance arrangements. She also advises on a range of student-related matters, including admissions, exclusions, special educational needs, discrimination claims, complaints and other parent issues.
She has particular experience in supporting Church of England schools and trusts with diocesan requirements, having undertaken in-house secondments with two dioceses in the South West.
Her active interest in education extends to holding several volunteer governorship roles in maintained and academy schools, and in higher education. She currently serves as a member of the Diocese of Truro’s Board of Education and as Governor at Plymouth Marjon University, where she is an active member of its audit committee.
Nick MacKenzie, Head of Education at Browne Jacobson, said: “Victoria’s promotion to Partner is thoroughly well-deserved, reflecting the incredible contributions she has made both to our education practice and clients over a number of years.
“She has been particularly instrumental in co-ordinating the past two iterations of our EdCon annual online conference, which generates discussion and advice on trending topics for more than 1,400 school leaders and staff each year.
“Education is at the core of our firm’s ambition is to support clients at the forefront of society’s biggest issues and we strongly believe that investing in exciting young talent helps us to deliver on this mission.”
Nigel Lyons, Head of Browne Jacobson’s Exeter office, added: “Since launching in 2012, our Exeter office has become an established part of the South West business community and plays a key role in the firm’s strategy. Following a move to larger premises two years ago, we’re continuing to grow our full-service offering to clients across the region.
“We’re very excited about Victoria’s plans for further growth in the education practice, which is one of our key sectors alongside financial services and insurance, government, health, real estate, and employment.”
