What can I do for you?
I am a solicitor in the interesting and, for my clients, life absorbing area of family law. My work involves advising on financial settlements on divorce and range from cases involving the family home to multimillion-pound assets outside the jurisdiction, companies and classic cars! My work also involves securing contact with children, not just for parents, but also for other family members, as well as supporting my clients in their applications for residence. I also have experience of cohabitation disputes and pre and post-marital agreements, which are becoming more important in my area of practice.
Supporting my clients’ aims and objectives
I take pleasure from being an integral part of a team working on a case and seeing it through to conclusion. I bring a great deal of energy and momentum to my work and always aim to bring proceedings to a swift conclusion. This, however, is never at the expense of ensuring that what is being agreed is fair and in my clients’ best interests. I prefer negotiating settlements outside of the court room but support my clients through litigated proceedings whenever this approach is necessary.
What do others say?
We are very proud of our family team at Mills & Reeve and were delighted when this was recognised at the Legal Business Awards, where we won Private Client Team of the Year 2009. We aim to provide excellent clear advice tailored to the individual needs of our clients. Chambers UK describes us as maintaining “an excellent reputation for cost-effective, high quality family work. As part of a nationwide network of offices, the team has the expertise to handle any and all family-related matters”.
I enjoy having a close working relationship with my clients and assisting them throughout their case. A client recently commented that I “adopted an entirely appropriate manner of support which enabled me to get through the proceedings in better shape than I would have done otherwise. He displayed knowledge of the background to the case indicating that he had read, understood and retained pertinent facts”.
What else should you know?
I have been a member of Resolution, formerly the Family Law Association, since qualification and abide by their code of practice. I believe that a solicitor’s conduct of a case has a direct impact on the presence or absence of animosity between parties and the likelihood of reaching a settlement without judicial intervention. I currently sit on the Manchester Young Resolution committee and am also a mentor for students involved in the BPP Law School pro bono legal clinic and their access to practice scheme. For more information on divorce and separation, please visit the website run by our team, www.divorce.co.uk.