Key partner hire for Forsters with the appointment of Jo Keddie
Highly ranked and market recognised Partner Jo Keddie joins the firm from Winckworth Sherwood to strengthen Forsters’ full service Employment and Partnerships practice, which will continue to deliver leading edge employment advice to a diverse client base.
Forsters, the leading London firm, announces today that Jo Keddie is to join the firm on 2 April 2024. Jo joins from Winckworth Sherwood LLP, where she headed its Employment and Partnerships team. She also led the firm as Senior Partner from 2021 to 2023, having originally joined the partnership in 2010. In addition to Jo, colleagues Danielle Crawford and Daniel Parker will be joining the team at Forsters as Counsel and Senior Associate respectively.
Jo’s practice is a close strategic fit to that of Forsters. She represents a broad suite of clients in contentious and non-contentious matters, including corporates, senior executives and charities and has a wealth of experience in investigatory work involving regulatory bodies, corporate clients, and individuals.
Jo has top tier rankings in both the Legal 500 and Chambers directories for her expertise in acting in partnership and senior executive cases and has recently featured in The Lawyer’s prestigious Hot 100 listing for the second time.
Over the past year, Jo has acted in a number of high-profile litigation matters and investigations delivering her hallmark of pragmatic, commercial and strategic advice. Jo’s recent experience includes acting for several FTSE 100 C-Suite clients and Fund Managers in respect of their high value (regularly seven figures) and often complex departure terms. She has also advised a number of financial institutions, corporates and charities in successfully investigating and defending claims for unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, race and religious discrimination, sex discrimination/harassment and age discrimination.
The appointment of Jo is a significant boost to Forsters’ Employment and Partnerships team. Jo, who will head the practice, will join employment partner Joe Beeston and his team, adding further strength, depth and experience to the firm’s offering. The addition of three senior lawyers to Forsters’ full-service employment practice will bolster and scale up Forsters’ market presence, including in the financial and professional services, partnerships, private equity, sciences, technology, real estate and healthcare sectors among others.
Jo Keddie said: ‘This is such an exciting time to be joining Forsters following its move into amazing new premises at Baker Street. The opportunity to play a lead role in the firm’s strategic investment in employment and partnerships was compelling for me personally and we now have a fantastic platform to grow our team dynamically, as well as enhance the range of services we offer to our clients.
‘Culturally we are completely aligned in as much as we are focused on delivering successful strategies and outcomes for a diverse range of clients. Danielle, Dan and I greatly look forward to working closely with Joe and all our new colleagues to deliver a client-led strategy at Forsters. It is a perfect fit for us and our clients at every level.’
Natasha Rees, Senior Partner of Forsters, commented: ‘We are thrilled to have Jo Keddie and her team join us at Forsters. They will be a fantastic addition to the Employment and Partnerships team and the wider firm. Our clients have just seen us move to superb new premises at Baker Street, which are designed to help us deliver best-in-class advice. Our decision to appoint Jo was completely driven by what our clients need from us. We are really excited to have Jo joining the Forsters partnership and we are delighted that three such talented lawyers will be enhancing our team.’