header-logo header-logo

Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford

02 February 2026
Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
printer mail-detail

Consultant and solicitor join commercial real estate team

Seddons GSC has announced the expansion of its commercial real estate team with the arrival of consultant David Seal and solicitor Emma Clifford, strengthening its real estate offering across commercial and residential matters.

Both join from Lawrence Stephens, bringing more than 45 years of combined experience. Seal (pictured) advises high-net-worth individuals, landlords, developers and property traders on a broad range of property matters. He qualified in 1982 and was previously a partner at Kosky Seal and Co before merging his practice with Lawrence Stephens, where he worked as a consultant until 2026.

Clifford specialises in commercial real estate and real estate finance, advising on secured lending, acquisitions, disposals and leasing. She works across residential, commercial and mixed-use property, as well as land acquisitions and development projects, and qualified as a solicitor in 2023.

Commenting on his appointment, Seal said he was ‘pleased to be joining a team with such a clear and client-focused approach’. Clifford added that the team’s ‘openness and collaborative culture’ and its ‘real momentum’ were key attractions. Co-heads of commercial real estate Peter Belcher and Sangeeta Somchand said the hires are ‘key additions to the firm’ as it continues to deliver on its growth strategy.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—Ed Williams

DWF—Ed Williams

Public sector disputes capability bolstered by partner hire in Leeds

Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst

Blake Morgan—Scott Hilton, Joan Yu & Melia Hirst

Firm strengthens corporate, real estate and insolvency teams with partner trio

Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford

Seddons GSC—David Seal & Emma Clifford

Consultant and solicitor join commercial real estate team

NEWS
Judging is ‘more intellectually demanding than any other role in public life’—and far messier than outsiders imagine. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC reflects on decades spent wrestling with unclear legislation, fragile precedent and human fallibility
The long-predicted death of the billable hour may finally be here—and this time, it’s armed with a scythe. In a sweeping critique of time-based billing, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, argues in this week's NLJ that artificial intelligence has made hourly charging ‘intellectually, commercially and ethically indefensible’
From fake authorities to rent reform, the civil courts have had a busy start to 2026. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold surveys a procedural landscape where guidance, discretion and discipline are all under strain
Fact-finding hearings remain a fault line in private family law. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors analyse recent appeals exposing the dangers of rushed or fragmented findings
As the Winter Olympics open in Milan and Cortina, legal disputes are once again being resolved almost as fast as the athletes compete. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Ian Blackshaw of Valloni Attorneys examines the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS's) ad hoc divisions, which can decide cases within 24 hours
back-to-top-scroll