Corporate & Commercial: Team

Tel 01908 311300 Email Email this team member Dean Dunham (Managing Partner) Dean is the senior partner of the firm and is the joint head of the Corporate and Commercial Department. Dean specialises in corporate transactional work and as such regularly advises on company acquisitions, disposals and mergers. Dean is also qualified in the US and therefore has a particular expertise in US related transactions. In this respect he is regularly instructed by US law firms to act as English counsel on US transactions that have an English element. Before starting the firm Dean worked at national firm Shoosmiths and previous to that he worked in the city.

Tel 01908 311300 Email Email this team member Gary Smith (Partner) Gary Smith is an equity partner at Dunham Law and is Head of the Corporate and Commercial Department.  Gary trained in the City of London at the firm now known as Mayer Brown and shortly after qualification in 1999 joined the corporate department of Macfarlanes. On leaving the City in 2003, Gary moved to the corporate department of Shoosmiths Solicitors in Milton Keynes where he met up with his fellow partners, Dean Dunham and Keith Lewington.  Gary joined Dunham Law in early 2006 to assist his former colleague, Dean Dunham, with the growth of Dunham Law into what is now widely considered to be a leading corporate/commercial practice within the region. Outside of work Gary spends most of his time with his wife and two children, Benedict and Sotirios.  Gary enjoys rugby (watching not playing at his age!), cricket and cycling.  Gary also enjoys adding to (and subtracting from) his wine cellar.

Tel Email Email this team member Douglas Iles (Partner) Douglas is a Partner in Dunham Law and is based at, and heads up our Northampton office.   He was previously the head of Corporate law at Tollers LLP before he joined Dunham Law in 2008. Douglas’s career actually started in the area of sales and marketing and so he brings a wealth of practical business knowledge and experience to the businesses for whom he acts. Douglas specialises in advising business owners in relation to all aspects of company and commercial law including the sale and purchase of companies and businesses and the preparation and interpretation of commercial contracts. Douglas is married to Caroline and has two children, George and Rebecca. He enjoys golf, cricket and hill walking in his spare time and sits on the board of Northants Cricket. Douglas is proud to be a Northamptonshire Ambassador.

Tel 01908 311300 Email Email this team member Keith Lewington (Partner) Keith joined Dunham Law as a Partner in 2006 after spending most of his working life as a partner with a major national firm.   Keith specialises in commercial contract work, advising clients on terms of trading, the set up of agency and distributorship arrangements and a wide range of IT-related contracts from basic software licences and support and maintenance agreements to outsourcing and Software-as-a Service arrangements.  Keith has also worked for many years in the field of corporate finance and corporate mergers and acquisitions, handling deals with values ranging from below £1m up to £75m. Keith lectures extensively on company and commercial law, undertaking a lot of required continuing professional development training for solicitors. Outside the office, Keith is married with two grown-up sons.  His hobbies include golf, more golf, rugby, football and cookery.

Tel Email Email this team member Duncan Crowther (Solicitor) Prior to entering the legal profession, Duncan worked in the Aerospace industry and became a Chartered Engineer in 1989. After a period in commercial and financial management for both UK and US based companies, Duncan co-founded a successful business licensing Intellectual Property to the embedded systems and semiconductor industries. Duncan is therefore ideally placed to provide specific advice to clients operating in the Intellectual Property and Information Technology sectors. Duncan is also experienced in the sale and purchase of companies and businesses, general business affairs and in the preparation and negotiation of commercial contracts. Outside work Duncan acts as a trustee for a local countryside organisation and enjoys most outdoor activities including tennis, cycling and hill walking.

Tel Email Email this team member Sandra Hill Sandra has over 26 years of experience working in a legal office. She headed the support team for her previous employer and has worked extensively in the Corporate and Commercial Departments. Sandra is married to Martin and they have two grown up children, Rebecca who works in the television industry having graduated from Aberystwyth University and Robert who is currently studying Product Design at Loughborough University. Her outside interests include cooking, reading and the theatre.