Birmingham and Solihull law firm The Wilkes Partnership has announced the appointment of a new assistant solicitor, Leenamari Aantaa-Collier, to its planning and regulatory team.

Ms Aantaa-Collier has extensive legal experience in planning and law and litigation, formerly working for Stratford-on-Avon District Council, The Law Society and in private practice as a litigator.

John Hughes, head of the planning and regulatory team at The Wilkes Partnership, said: "We welcome Leenamari to the team.

"She will add an important resource to the planning and regulatory side of The Wilkes Partnership’s offer, with her considerable experience in town and country planning and other areas of regulatory law.

"She has dealt with many planning enforcement cases, where she will be of particular help to clients faced with this situation. 

"As an extension of Leenamari's background as a senior solicitor in local government, she will be continuing to work on a number of enforcement cases for her former employer.

"We hope to expand our work in the public sector with the help of Leenamari's extensive knowledge in these specialist areas."

Ms Aantaa-Collier said: "Building on my previous work in planning, I'm looking forward to developing new client relationships as part of this high-quality team and helping to grow the planning department at Wilkes."