Law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has strengthened its offering in Edinburgh with two new hires in its banking and real estate teams.

Chris McLauchlan was appointed as a legal director to lead WBD’s banking team in Scotland. Joining from Eversheds Sutherland, Chris is a senior banking lawyer with over 15 years of experience advising on Scottish, English and cross-border transactions. He acts for lenders and borrowers including banks, investment funds, insurance companies, distressed debt funds and corporates. His experience includes corporate finance, acquisition finance, real estate and development finance, asset-based finance, securitisation, loan note issues and restructuring transactions.

Ewelina Kurek joined as an associate in the real estate team. Previously at Shepherd and Wedderburn, Ewelina has over seven years’ experience advising national and international clients operating in a variety of markets including office, industrial, retail and investment. Ewelina advises on a wide range of commercial real estate transactions; including leasing, acquisitions and disposals, developments and portfolio management, lending, and refinancing. She also has notable experience in the renewable energy sector and has acted for landowners and developers in the negotiation of onshore wind farm projects in Scotland.

WBD celebrated last year its move to larger offices in Edinburgh following a period of significant growth as well as a series of senior hires including financial services partner and UK head Jonny Williams, legal director Caroline Stevenson (financial services), and managing associates Lisa Dromgoole (construction) and Natasha Brownlee (financial services).

John Ralph, partner and head of WBD’s Edinburgh office, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Chris and Ewelina to the firm, continuing the growth of our fast-growing Edinburgh office and broadening the range of services available to our clients here in Scotland.”

WBD’s Edinburgh office focuses on delivering legal services to clients in its key sectors, and in particular, real estate, financial institutions and energy and power renewables.