AT a time when many law firms are succumbing to the effects of the economic downturn and laying staff off, one North-East legal practice is continuing to expand.

Sintons, based in Newcastle, has added to its expanding commercial group by employing Matt Collen, formerly a partner with rival city law firm Muckle.

His move to Sintons has been described as one of a number of “significant”

appointments the law firm will be making.

Mr Collen has more than 15 years’ experience in the corporate and commercial legal sector, with an acknowledged expertise in banking and corporate finance work, where he has been described in national publications as “excellent”

and “able and clever”.

Having been shortlisted as the regional Corporate Finance Lawyer of the Year last year, Mr Collen has played a lead role in a number of the region’s major corporate transactions in recent years, the most recent of which has been the acquisition of 118 stores previously forming part of the Officers Club.

Mr Collen has expertise in buying and selling businesses which are approaching, or in, insolvency situations, and also works in advising institutional and other lenders on their finance arrangements, including the provision of multi-million-pound funding lines and the raising of both debt and private equity finance.

Christopher Welch, joint head of the company and commercial department at Sintons, said the appointment is another significant step in the positioning of the firm as one of the leading law firms within the region.

“With his substantial experience in both corporate finance and banking, Matt has the ability to complement and broaden our existing expertise,” he said.

“He has been well known to many of us at Sintons for some time and we have always admired, not only his technical expertise, but his approach to transactions.

“Matt is a great strategic fit with our growth plans and we anticipate that his appointment forms part of several significant appointments that the firm will be making. This continued recruitment reflects the growth of the firm’s commercial group and the increasing share that it enjoys of the legal market across the North-East.”

Mr Collen said: “Sintons has continued to enjoy substantial growth, both in terms of the value and the volume of the commercial transactions that they deal with.

“I am looking forward to working with the already strong team of lawyers at Sintons and contributing to further growth.”