Sean joined Bermans in September 2023 as a Trainee and having qualified in March 2025 is now a Solicitor working in our ABL team.
He works with a broad range of lenders assisting them with general corporate finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending matters.
He has a First-Class Honours Law Degree, as well as a distinction in The Legal Practice course. He also received the Liverpool Law Society Rupert Bremner Prize in recognition of his LPC grades.
Sean is a former national swimmer; however, he now just swims recreationally. He also enjoys playing football, as well as watching his team, Everton.
Alex joined Bermans in March 2024 and is a paralegal in our ABL team in Manchester.
He assists in asset finance and invoice finance work for a broad range of lenders and has prior experience in both pro-bono work and the inquest sector of the Law.
Alex studied Law at Liverpool John Moores University where he obtained a 2:1 Classification in 2023. He also intends to begin his SQE studies by the close of 2024.
In his spare time, Alex enjoys a variety of activities. As well as being an avid golfer, Alex is also passionate about both playing and watching football. Alex also enjoys travelling, whether it be a beach holiday or exploring new cities abroad.
We are looking for a full time legal secretary based in our Liverpool office, who will be responsible for the completion of various dictations and secretarial tasks.
Jason McKnight is a partner and director of RECOM Solutions, a construction and project management business based in Salford Quays which operates across the north west and beyond.
With the new Consumer Duty coming into force it was something of a surprise to many (including us) that the FCA’s revised rules appeared to in effect extend beyond the usual definition of a “retail customer” as “an individual who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or profession,” so that for the Consumer Duty regulation by the FCA will also now extend to any customer in a regulated activity, in other words encompassing sole traders and partnerships of 2 or 3 who are business customers in a CCA regulated agreement.
In the recent High Court case of Praetura Asset Finance Ltd v S Line Rentals [2023] EWHC 889 (Comm) the court considered the nature and extent of a Lessor’s common law obligation to mitigate its loss when claiming in relation to a repossessed asset.
Lease Agreements will normally always contain express provisions for Lessors to recover costs incurred against the Lessee in a wide variety of circumstances, and a recent case in the Commercial Court gave rise to a novel argument by a Lessor seeking to invoke the right to claim costs under a contractual provision in a situation where the court had exercised its discretion to disallow some of the costs it had incurred and to award some of the Lessee’s costs against it.
A recent case in the Commercial Court has provided a welcome and rare illustration of a court ruling in favour of the reasonableness of a Lessor’s exclusion clause in a Hire Purchase Agreement.
Bermans, a leading North West law firm, have announced two Partner promotions, which will see Senior Associates, Melanie Morris and Alissa Marsh, become Partners.
Laura McMorland (pictured below), joined Bermans in March 2023 and is a Senior Associate in our Corporate team. We spoke to her to learn more about her and her work.
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Paralegal
