As part of its continuing growth, leading defence law firm Cartwright King have expanded their operations to Newcastle.

The firm, which already has offices in Nottingham, Birmingham, Derby, Leicester and Sheffield has recruited additional staff and opened a larger office in Tyneside in response to the growing demand for its services in the North of England.

Initially focusing on business defence and professional discipline, the office will be headed up by Ben Haigh. Ben qualified with distinction in 2003, completed his criminal defence training with Beecham Peacock in Newcastle before joining the national firm of Russell Jones & Walker in 2007 to specialise in professional defence cases.

Ben joined Cartwright King in 2010 to develop a northern practice as part of the team led by partner Mandip Kumar. He has now been joined in the Newcastle office by solicitor Matthew Savage who also specialises in professional discipline work.

Michael Thurston, managing director of Cartwright King said "The firm has grown substantially over the past few years and we feel this is the right time to establish a permanent presence in the North East. I have every confidence that our team will lay the foundations for establishing Cartwright King as one of the foremost business defence and professional discipline practices in the area, and grow the office over the coming months."