Boutique planning law firm Walton & Co has welcomed new equity partners to join the original founder. The firm plans to built on its existing growth platform and invest in its long term future. Walton & Co was established in 2004 and will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.
David Walton, founder of the firm, has been joined by Alec Cropper and James Cook as new equity partners.
Alec has over 15 years’ of legal experience, having previously worked at firms including Walker Morris and DWF. Alec joined Walton & Co in 2019, and specialises in planning appeals, application advice, high court proceedings, and negotiation of planning agreements.
James, who previously worked at Walton & Co from 2007 to 2019, returns to the firm from Blacks Solicitors. At Blacks, James held the position of head of planning after establishing a new planning law team within the firm in 2019. James brings with him over 20 years’ of experience in both the public and private sectors in all areas of planning and highways law.
Commenting on his return to Walton & Co, James Cook said:
“I originally joined Walton & Co back in 2007 which gave me a strong base from which to grow my practice and expertise. Although I’ve had a fantastic four years at Blacks Solicitors as head of planning law, I felt that the time was right to return to a specialist planning law firm and Walton & Co is a firm I know extremely well. Partnering with Alec and David will give us the opportunity to expand our client base into new industry sectors and grow our expert team to ensure we can continue effectively responding to market and political changes across the planning system.”
David Walton, director at Walton & Co, added:
“After almost 20 years of driving Walton & Co forward, the time was right to bring a fresh perspective to the next stage in the firm’s growth. Having worked with Alec and James previously, I knew I could trust their judgement and ambition when it comes to the future of the business. Continuing to provide our current clients with an exceptional level of service will always be a key priority for us, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the partnership with James and Alec shapes Walton & Co over the next few years.”
Image: Alec Cropper, David Walton and James Cook, Walton & Co.
