Wollens

Private Client Department

Partner in the Private Client department

Chris grew up in the local area attending school in Torquay before reading Law at Kingston University and completing my Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at Plymouth University. He completed his training contract with a High Street firm in Wiltshire before returning to Devon in January 2010 upon qualification as a solicitor and joined what was then Hooper & Wollen.

He became a partner in October 2015 and is part of the Private Client department and more specifically the Estate Administration team.

Chris is relentlessly client-focused, working regionally & globally in the administration of complex estates, taxation and succession issues. He consistently seeks to adopt a holistic approach by collaborating with other professionals to achieve desired client outcomes ensuring all of a clients financial affairs align – recognising the issues that arise and the best-placed professional to resolve them.

Chris is passionate about working in the law and helping others achieve their goals through mentoring junior and aspiring lawyers and supervise trainee solicitors – encouraging interests in a career in the law.

In 2020 he was honoured to be one of two solicitors nationally to be Highly Commended by the judges in The Law Society’s Excellence Awards 2020 for Solicitor of the Year – Private Practice.  He was also a Finalist in the global Trusted Advisor of the Year category at the STEP Private Client Awards 2020 and shortlisted in the Solicitor of the Year category in the Devon and Somerset Law Society Awards 2020. Chris was part of the Wollens team that was awarded The Law Society’s Excellence Award in Private Client Practice in 2017.

Chris is a Full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

He is a trustee for the Torbay Medical Research Fund which funds research into local medical projects. He is vice-chair of Trustees of Torquay Boys Grammar School Multi-Academy Trust and also vice-chair of governors at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School and am currently the Hon. Sec. of the Torquay Old Grammarians Society.

In his spare time he enjoys time with his young family in and around the beautiful county of Devon, classical music, musical theatre, raising money for local charities and watching sports, particularly cricket and American Football.