George Town, Cayman Islands — Priestleys, a leading boutique Cayman Islands law firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Leanne Murray as Counsel within the firm’s highly regarded Real Estate and Local Practice Department.
With over 21 years of post-qualification experience, Murray brings extensive expertise across real estate law, property finance, construction, and planning law. Before joining Priestleys, she served as a senior partner at Gateley PLC, one of the UK’s largest specialist residential development firms. She has also held partnership and head of department roles at DAC Beachcroft and Brabners, both prominent firms in the real estate and finance sectors.
Murray’s background includes valuable inhouse experience as General Counsel and the only female director of a major development and construction company in South Wales, where she oversaw corporate governance, legal risk management, and strategic operations.
Throughout her career, Murray has advised many of the UK’s leading housebuilders and property developers, supporting projects from initial site acquisition through to asset realisation, including unit disposals, bulk sales to investors, and transactions within the PRS/Build to Rent market. Notably, she was a lead adviser during the acquisition of Abbey National plc by Banco Santander S.A. in 2004, after which she established and managed the legal panel responsible for mortgage and remortgage transactions for Santander UK.
“It has always been my dream to work in Cayman as a real estate lawyer, but opportunities are limited,” said Murray. “When the chance to join Priestleys arose, I immediately said yes. Joining a well established boutique firm with an exceptional team of specialist lawyers and an outstanding client base is truly a dream come true. As a keen angler, the opportunity to live and work in one of the fishing capitals of the world made the decision even easier.”
At Priestleys, Murray will continue to specialise in real estate and property finance, including advising on corporate structures for real estate acquisitions and Cayman’s Permanent Residency framework and tokenization structures for real estate with the use of crytpo currency for real estate acquisition. She is known for her practical, solution focused approach and commitment to delivering strong results for clients.
Priestleys founder, Daniel Priestley said: “We are proud to welcome Leanne to the real estate and local practice team. Her depth of experience in real estate and development law is exceptional, and we are already seeing the positive impact she brings to our clients and our practice. Leanne’s appointment further strengthens our position as one of the Cayman Islands’ leading boutique law firms specializing in real estate.”
About Priestleys
Priestleys is a full service Cayman Islands law firm providing legal and fiduciary services to both local and international clients. Established in 2007, the firm is recognised as one of the leading boutique law firms in the Cayman Islands.
Its respected real estate practice advises on all aspects of Cayman property law, including:
• Infrastructure projects and public private partnerships
• Residential and commercial property transactions
• Construction and redevelopment
• Landlord and tenant matters
• Strata law
• Property financing
Priestleys is ranked for real estate in both The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and has advised on numerous major infrastructure initiatives and the establishment of enterprise zones across the Cayman Islands.
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