Irwin Mitchell

PartnerHas a special interest in asbestos-related disease cases, particularly mesothelioma, and has written and lectured widely on the subject of asbestos disease and personal injury litigation. Represented June Hancock in the Armley environmental asbestos case and also achieved what was, at the time, the highest award for an industrial disease/fatal injury case, of £4.37m.

Partner

Paralegal in the Sheffield Wills, Trusts and Estates team.

I am a paralegal in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes team in our Sheffield office. I have been with Irwin Mitchell since July 2018, during which time I have developed a specialism in: Will validity challenges Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 Executor and trustee disputes Proprietary Estoppel and claims under the Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA).

Associate Amy specialises in resolving IP disputes relating to trade marks, copyright, design rights and she assists Alex Newman in relation to patent and breach of confidence disputes. Amy acts for household names such as Mizuno and she works closely with leading UK businesses such as Gravity Fitness Limited, BetterYou Limited and Whitby Seafoods Limited. [Amy has worked on a number of high-profile reported cases such as L’Oreal SA and L’Oreal (UK) Limited v RN Ventures [2018] EWCH 391 Ch and [2018] EWCH 173 (Pat) and [2020] EWHC 3450 (IPEC)]

Senior Associate

I'm an associate in the Public Law team. I specialise in various aspects of health and social care law, in particular Court of Protection health and welfare law. In the majority of my cases, I represent vulnerable adults in cases where life changing decisions are being made by the court. Such decisions include where a person should live, the care they should receive, and their contact with other people. More often than not, this involves deprivation of liberty.

PartnerAndrew helps injured Service personnel and their families on a variety of issues. This includes assisting severely injured service personnel with compensation claims (On and Off Duty), Boards of Inquiry and Coroners Inquests. I have represented a number of soldiers with brain and spinal injuries, including Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson. I supported Ben and his family in their fight for fairer compensation for injured soldiers. I represented and provided support to a family affected by the SAS Brecon Beacons accident, where they were able to successfully recover compensation from the MOD following a fatal accident claim.

Group chief executive of Irwin Mitchell, having taken over from John Pickering in April 2014. As group chief executive, Andrew sits on the main board of the holding company, Irwin Mitchell Holdings Ltd, and the executive board of Irwin Mitchell LLP. His role makes him ultimately responsible for the management of the group. Andrew brings strong strategic vision to the chief executive role and a commitment to operational efficiency, execution and excellence. Prior to his appointment as group chief executive, Andrew was the chief executive of the firm’s personal legal services (PLS) division with responsibility for the delivery of a range of legal services, including personal injury, family, public law, court of protection, wills, trusts and probate, contentious probate, conveyancing and retail lending. Andrew took the reins of the PLS in 2011 and led the division through a period of impressive growth, reporting improved performance year-on-year. During Andrew’s tenure, the PLS division also expanded its geographic reach, with new offices opening in Bristol and Southampton, as well as a consulting office in Leicester, and also completed the acquisition of well-respected personal injury firm MPH Solicitors in November 2013. Prior to 2011, Andrew headed up Irwin Mitchell’s industry-leading personal injury department and has also worked on many high-profile and groundbreaking cases, including the Kegworth air crash, CJD and the coal miners’ vibration white finger and chest illness cases. He joined Irwin Mitchell in 1985 and became a partner in 1988. Outside Irwin Mitchell, Andrew spent nine years as a Law Society Council member for Yorkshire. He also has many varied interests outside of the law.

I qualified as a solicitor in 2018. I have over 20 years of experience handling a variety of cases, including maternal injuries, spinal cases and amputations. I specialise in birth and neonatal catastrophic brain injuries. I take a special interest in improving the client journey.

Associate solicitor

I am a Solicitor in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes. Day to day I deal with a wide variety of claims involving contested Wills, including: Challenging or defending the validity of Wills for lack of capacity, undue influence or fraud Disputes in respect of the conduct of Executors and Trustees Claims for financial provision from estates on behalf of a variety of applicants including children, spouses, cohabitees and dependents

I am a Solicitor in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes Team at Irwin Mitchell. I specialise in estate and trust litigation and have expertise in both bringing and defending: Will Validity challenges on the grounds of forgery, formalities, lack of testamentary capacity, lack of knowledge and approval, undue influence and fraudulent calumny Disputes between executors/ trustees and beneficiaries or executors/ trustees themselves regarding the administration of an estate/ trust Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from an Estate by children, widows/ widowers, cohabitees and dependants Proprietary Estoppel Claims including disputes relating to family farming businesses Financial abuse claims Attorney/ Deputy Disputes.

Personal Injury Partner, Leeds

Catherine is a solicitor specialising in claims for people who have had all manner of serious injuries, especially brain and spinal cord injuries.

Associate solicitor

Chris specialises in the preparation of Wills, obtaining Grants of Probate and full estate administration. He also manages the Estate Administration Team in Sheffield.  

Senior associate

Partner

Senior Associate Clare has considerable experience in all real estate transactions acting for a mix of investors, lenders and occupiers, but has a particular focus on landlord and tenant and real estate finance transactions. Clare also has experience of acting on significant investment acquisitions and disposals. She also assists the corporate team with the property aspects of transactions and has considerable experience in dealing with transactions in the healthcare sector and insolvency practitioners.

Associate Daniel deals with the full range of real estate transactions, but has a particular emphasis on charity and third sector transactions and projects. Daniel also assists the corporate and banking teams with the property aspects of transactions. Highlights include: Acting for a hotel operator on an intra group property restructure and an agreement for lease conditional on development. Supporting the banking team with the property elements of the financing and development of The Savill Court Hotel & Spa (141 bedrooms). Advising on the title aspects on the acquisition of various retail units in Portsmouth for the property’s development into a £80m retail and student accommodation complex. Advising on the title aspects on the acquisition of land in Birmingham for the property’s development into a £120m student accommodation complex. Advising on the title aspects for the acquisition of land adjoining the Belvoir Shopping Centre, Coalville required for ongoing development of the Centre. Advising on the property aspects of the re-finance of a retirement living development and associated matters. Assisting with the property elements of the £54m refinance and development of a student accommodation and retail scheme (860 beds) Advising a charity on the terms of a new lease (including a sub-lease of a floor to an existing tenant) for its proposed office relocation and connected company acquisition. Advising on the property aspects of the phase 2 development finance (including rights to light matters) for a student, retail and office development. Acting on new leases, renewal leases, surrenders, assignments and other matters in relation to a portfolio of garden and retail centres. Acting on various transactional and general matters for a national charity, in relation to their property portfolio in excess of 200 properties including disposals, estate management, lettings and overage.

I’m a solicitor in the wills, trusts & estates team in our Leeds office. I specialise in private client disputes and litigation, including: Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 Disputes surrounding the ownership of assets under the Trust of Land, Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 and constructive trust cases Executor and trustee disputes Financial abuse matters. Proprietary estoppel cases Will validity challenges I act for private individuals all over the country in both advancing and defending these claims.

Partner and Joint Head of National Real Estates Disputes team

Darren is a Senior Associate within the serious injury Team in Sheffield. He has been at Irwin Mitchell since 1997 with over 22 years of experience dealing with cases involving serious and life changing injury, as well as complex causation cases and emerging areas of law. Darren deals with a variety of injury types but primarily those involving serious orthopaedic injury, psychological and pain type cases, often with difficult causal factors and/or where capacity is an issue. Darren places great emphasis upon rehabilitation to maximise recovery, working with industry professionals to deliver comprehensive care plans, ideally using the Serious Injury Guide or the Rehabilitation Code, but unilaterally where necessary.  Darren has been commended for his friendly and approachable yet professional demeanour. Darren is an accredited APIL Senior Litigator and regularly delivers talks and in-house training. Darren is the MASS (Motor Accident Solicitors’ Society) regional coordinator for the Central East region. 

Senior associateSpecialisms:   Industrial Deafness Respiratory Claims RSI Claims VWF Claims Cancer - Occupational (non British Coal) Tinitus Dermatitus Caused at Work

Partner

David joined Irwin Mitchell’s Neurotrauma team in 2013 and became an Associate in 2018. David has over 10 years of experience in PI and, for the last 7 years, has specialised in complex brain and spinal cord injuries, dealing with claims of maximum severity. In his relatively short career in this field, he has obtained damages well in excess of £50m and is highly regarded as having particular strength in complex liability cases. Equally adept in relation to quantum, David drafts his own Schedules of Loss in cases with values up to 8-figures, attracting descriptions such as ‘exceptional’ and ‘superb’ by Leading Counsel.

Partner

Partner

Partner

Liz is a Senior Associate Team Leader within the serious injury team in Sheffield.  She has over 25 years’ experience of acting for Claimants who have sustained injuries following Road Traffic Accidents.   Liz has a specialist interest in dealing with polytrauma claims, including chronic pain cases.  She is passionate about client service and helping clients through the stressful journey of litigation.  She is tenacious in her approach to obtaining the best rehabilitation for her clients.  Liz is an accredited APIL Senior Litigator.

Legal Executive

Associate solicitor

Emma advises both individuals and companies in relation to a range of regulatory matters on contentious and non-contentious bases. Emma specialises in ‘white collar’ crime and regulatory work. Whilst she has experience of general crime matters, she has worked almost exclusively in the field of financial crime and regulatory law for the past 12 years.

Senior associate solicitor Areas of expertise: Wills Administration of estates Tax planning Trust advice & deeds Deeds of Variation Powers of Attorney and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Senior Associate Solicitor

Emma independently handles complex divorce, finance and children matters. Emma is seen as the team’s “children law” guru due to her wealth of experience and expertise in private children work. Emma is also the lead in Sheffield for our modern families work in surrogacy cases. Emma’s diverse skill set complements the offering across the team. Emma’s complex work in the past year includes a parental alienation case, findings of facts in children cases, internal relocation applications and Parental Orders following surrogacy.

Associate solicitor specialising in community care and health and welfare matters in both judicial review and Court of Protection cases.

Partner

Senior associate

Partner

Partner

Senior associate legal executive

Senior Associate Guy has considerable experience in all real estate transactions, but has a particular focus on landlord and tenant and insolvency support work and along with Jennifer Ayris is IM’s go to retail expert. He also assists the banking and corporate teams with the property aspects of transactions and has considerable experience in dealing with transactions for charities and insolvency practitioners. He has acted on behalf of many of the country’s largest institutional landlords and now acts for a number of retail tenants. Guy also has experience of acting on significant investment acquisitions and disposals.

Partner

Helen has a wealth of experience in family matters having been at Irwin Mitchell in the family team since 1995. Helen deals with all aspect of Family Law, including; Divorce Cohabitation issues Financial matters arising from separation Children disputes, including acting for parents and grandparents Pre- and post-marital agreements Living together agreements Separation agreements Civil partnership disputes.  

Helen is a Associate Solicitor specialising in medical negligence cases. She is also a Solicitor-Advocate, which means she can represent clients in the higher courts in England and Wales and provide advocacy services. Helen's work involves securing financial compensation for clients who have suffered injury due to medical negligence.   Helen has experience in: Surgical procedures Misdiagnosis and delays in treatment Failures in GP and community care Mismanagement of mothers and babies at birth.  

I'm an Associate Solicitor on the Tax, Trusts & Estates team in Sheffield. I specialise in preparing Wills, Declarations of Trust, Powers of Attorney and Deeds of Variation. I also advise clients on Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trusts within Wills. I deal with complex estate matters and I particularly enjoy compiling estate accounts.   I qualified as a solicitor in 2006.

I am a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Serious Injury team. I proactively manage a varied caseload of complex, high value cases to settlement. I am client focused and use my interpersonal skills to build effective working relationships with clients, colleagues and other professionals.   My main objective is to ensure that my clients have the best treatment and rehabilitation available to them in order to improve their chances of returning to a fulfilling life. I achieve this by looking at various issues including care, therapies, treatment, equipment, housing, transport and employment and ensure that all of my client’s needs are considered in respect of each of these issues.   The biggest case I have settled is for £17 million. In every case I endeavour to maximise my client's rehabilitation potential in order to ensure they get the best quality of life.

Hollie specialises in advising family business clients on tax and succession planning issues including the creation of UK tax reports, trusts and complex Wills. Hollie deals with complex Court of Protection applications with a particular focus on statutory Will and gifting applications. Hollie advises on all legal aspects of work affecting vulnerable, elderly and mentally incapable individuals. Hollie has a particular focus on the administration of complex estates with business interests and where there is a contentious element running alongside the administration.

Senior associate

Ian Toft is Head of the Asbestos Disease Team in Leeds and became a Partner in May 2017. He was named as Partner of the Year at the Yorkshire Legal Awards 2018. At the Eclipse Proclaim Personal Injury Awards Ian’s work in securing client’s access to future treatment was recognised and he was presented with the Outstanding Case of the Year award 2018. He is recognized by APIL as a Senior Litigator and an Asbestos Accredited Specialist.                                                                             

Solicitor James is a solicitor specialising in Family Law. This includes matters arising from a separation, such as divorce, child arrangements, and property disputes. He also helps people protect their interests when taking the next step with a new partner, for instance advising on pre- and post-marital agreements (‘pre-nups’) and cohabitation agreements.

Partner

I am a Partner in both the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes team and also the Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. In the Will, Trust and Estate arena, I have built up years of experience on cases involving challenges to the validity of wills. These challenges may be based on a range of reasons, including lack of capacity, irregularities, undue influence and fraud, challenges to the conduct of trustees, executors, attorneys and deputies, claims for financial provision from estates by children, widows and widowers, cohabitees and dependents and disputes relating to family farming businesses. In the commercial litigation arena, I am frequently instructed on disputes concerning business to business contracts, shareholder disputes and claims against directors, professional negligence claims and disputes relating to restrictive covenants. I also have experience in intellectual property claims, property disputes and fraud cases.

I'm a Solicitor in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes team in Sheffield. I started my training contract at Irwin Mitchell in 2016 and qualified as a Solicitor in 2018. I have experience with different types of disputes including validity of wills, claims for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act, and disputes between beneficiaries and executors. I provide clear, practical and logical legal advice to help people resolve their disputes as quickly as possible.

Senior associate

I have worked at Irwin Mitchell for over 22 years and have been a Partner for 13 years. I have worked in Manchester since 2010 having previously worked at the firms Newcastle and Sheffield offices. I have specialised in claims relating to negligent medical treatment since qualifying in April 2001. For over 13 years I have been a member of both the Law Society Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme and an accredited Senior Litigator with the Association of Personal Injuries Lawyers (APIL). During my career I have recovered millions of pounds in compensation for clients often dealing with multi million pound cases. I have been involved in high profile cases such as the indexation cases. I have a particular interest in cases relating to child and adult brain injury, spinal injuries and delayed diagnosis of cancer cases.

Senior associate

Partner

Partner

Specialises in Court of Protection matters, often dealing with the family or legal advisors of the client who has lost the mental capacity to manage their property and affairs. Joanne’s clients have often but not always been awarded a substantial personal injury compensation award, and she then assists in the management of those damages in the best interests of the client. Joanne’s work involves dealing with deputyship applications, offering a professional deputyship service, and applications including gifts and statutory wills. She also deals with lasting power of attorneys, personal injury trusts and trusts for infants. Joanne is a specialist in litigation support services and expert witness statements.

I specialise in inheritance disputes that arise following death and in lifetime, including: Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 Will validity challenges including claims involving testamentary capacity, undue influence, want of knowledge and approval, fraudulent calumny and forgery Executor/trustee disputes including claims for removal Proprietary estoppel cases Financial abuse and attorney disputes (lifetime and on death) Disputes surrounding the ownership of assets (i.e. Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 and constructive trust cases). I have acted for clients who are claimants and defendants in these types of cases and therefore have experience of both angles.

John has extensive experience in all types of investigations and prosecutions brought by a multitude of agencies with the Crown Prosecution Service, HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority being just three examples.He has a solid grounding in general crime but has built his experience in financial crime, fraud, regulatory and disciplinary matters over the years, working on some ‘heavyweight’ cases in that time. 

Medical Negligence Partner, Sheffield

Associate director of special damages unit. Karen leads the special damages unit, a resource which is unique to Irwin Mitchell. They are a team of dedicated personnel who deal with the quantification of financial losses. The special damages unit has been developed in-house since 1990 and boasts 20 members with a broad array of accountancy qualifications and work experience. It has prepared schedules of loss for a number of high-profile and boundary-breaking cases, including the claimants Warren and Annable in Heil v Rankin, the Hancock case, the Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease litigation, the Hatfield and Selby cases, the Ladbroke Grove Rail Disaster and the Cadbury’s cases. The unit produces schedules of loss, which are prepared on the basis of in-house procedures accounting for the latest case law and statistics. The team is continually updating its procedures and schedule templates to ensure that any changes in case law and statistics are reflected in all the schedules produced. In addition to this, Karen’s team provides quantum advice to case handlers and in case conferences, and also delivers firm-wide training to ensure full understanding in relation to quantum and to maximise recovery of damages for clients to enhance their quality of life. Karen is also heavily involved in the firms charity and CSR work and works closely with Business in the Community to co-ordinate a number of initiatives between the firm and a local secondary school. Activities which have been delivered include maths workshops (with members of Karen’s team), a reading partners initiative, careers aspiration presentations and CV/interview workshops, as well as assisting in the delivery of a Dragon’s Den style review of business ideas in a national competition.

Partner

PartnerKevin has over 30 years’ experience of mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate finance. He has project managed many complex deals for private and listed companies including cross-border acquisitions and management buy-outs and regularly provides strategic advice at board level.

PartnerSpecialisms include: landlord, tenant leases and contracts. Kevin has particular expertise in development projects providing advice and guidance on all legal aspects of acquisition and site assembly, investment and/or development finance and legal structures (usually tax driven and development layout specific). Kevin also has a high level of expertise in providing advice and guidance to clients in connection with all aspects of large and complex portfolio/estate management.

Partner

Senior Associate

Partner

Senior associate She has substantial experience of dealing with complex landlord and tenant matters including lease renewal and termination proceedings, dilapidations claims and rent and service charge disputes & recovery. In addition to landlord and tenant matters, Lisa also acts for investors and developers and in an advisory and risk management capacity. Lisa is regularly instructed in complex matters on behalf of banks, Law of Property Act Receivers and insolvency practitioners to deal with a wide range of property related insolvency matters. Lisa is also instructed in general property litigation matters such as those concerning easements, breach of covenant and nuisance. She has developed a specialism in acting in substantial nuisance cases for both private individuals and developer clients, and also carries out specialist work in all forms of leasehold enfranchisement/right of first refusal work, acting for both freeholders and leaseholders.

Louise is a Partner in the Sheffield office and leads the Serious Injury team comprising of over 50 team members. She has more than 20 years of experience in acting for clients who have sustained serious brain and spinal cord injury and other complex injuries, having joined Irwin Mitchell in 1997. Louise’s cases have won the Post Magazine’s Rehabilitation First Award on a number of occasions (claimant’s solicitor category), demonstrating Louise’s strong ethos of maximising client recovery and prioritising rehabilitation and quality of life in every case. She has been part of legal teams tackling complex and ground breaking issues. These include appearances in the Court of Appeal in relation to securing substantial interim payments, Statutory Services funding, life expectancy, periodical payments and the interaction of legislation regarding Statutory Services provision with damages recovery. Louise has also been involved in a significant number of highly complex, multi-million pound settlements. Alongside her considerable technical expertise, Louise is known for her profoundly caring and compassionate approach with clients, helping them to rebuild lives positively after serious injury.

Maisie is a tenacious litigator. She has great commercial acumen and an ability to understand clients and their businesses. Maisie frequently represents high net worth clients on complex financial matters and has been commended by senior junior Counsels and KCs her impressive handling of cases and strategic decisions. Maisie is part of our Teams of Excellence for Court of Protection / personal injury settlement work. Maisie handles cases where clients lack capacity and/or have suffered a significant injury. Maisie also advises our Serious Injury teams on claims for legal costs relating to a divorce and financial proceedings in schedules of loss; this includes providing statements to the Court in support of those heads of loss. Maisie confidently undertakes her own advocacy, often against experienced Partners and Counsel. As well as her own complex caseload, Maisie works closely with Ros Bever and other Partners across our National Team, specialising in UHNW and HNW matters with a particular specialism in Private Equity assets and complex trusts structures Maisie’s recent notable cases include: • Having assisted a Partner in acting for a client worth £16m in financial remedy proceedings, Maisie was instructed by the client to advise in relation to a pre-nuptial agreement. • Representing a local businessman whose company is due to complete on a £40m deal in his divorce. The settlement involves a company restructure and complex tax issues. • Securing s37 Freezing Orders to preserve over £5.8m of assets, third party disclosure orders, and a set aside of a property transfer, in ongoing protracted proceedings. • Advising on a pre-nuptial agreement in circumstances where the client is due to receive an inheritance in excess of £10m and is the beneficiary of family trusts. • Representing a client in a divorce where the sole asset is her future damages from a wrongful birth claim valued at > £5m.

PartnerSpecialisms: retail and commercial property, real estate finance, landlord and tenant matters, secured lending, mines and minerals.

Matthew is managing Partner for motor road traffic accident claims at Irwin Mitchell and executive board member for the Personal Legal Services division. He is on the national management committee of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society. MASS, like Irwin Mitchell, is concerned with protecting and promoting the interests of road traffic accident victims and is regularly asked to consult on procedural and legislative changes.

Matthew is a solicitor in Irwin Mitchell's Medical Product Liability and Medical Negligence team.  Matthew deals with national and international group actions in relation to defective medical devices and pharmaceuticals or sub-standard medical treatment. He provides advice and pursue legal actions for the recovery of compensation for victims of defective medical products; he does not represent the manufacturers. 

Associate solicitor

Partner

Consultant

Managing Partner of Court of Protection and Public Law and Human Rights

Oliver is a Senior Associate in the Leeds Asbestos Related Disease team. He has over 15 years’ experience in working with asbestos related disease and occupational illness claims and has a particular interest in Mesothelioma, Asbestos Related Lung Cancer and Silicosis cases. He is also APIL accredited as a Senior Litigator and asbestos and occupational disease specialist. Oliver was a leading member of the team in submitting its bid for the 2020 Yorkshire Legal Awards Litigation and Dispute Resolution award, for which the team have been successfully shortlisted as Finalists. He is particularly noted for his compassion and client care skills representing clients with terminal illnesses. He is an active fundraiser for charities supporting cancer patients, such as Mesothelioma UK, Maggies Leeds, Cancer Support Yorkshire and various hospices throughout the area. Oliver also has provided support to Mesothelioma Support Yorkshire (MESSY), a patient support group run, since its inception over 10 years ago. He has a reputation for his thoroughness in litigation and consistently recovers well in excess of £1m in client damages each year, including vital funds to cover private treatment costs for mesothelioma clients, with circa £1.8m recovered this year with the highest settlement of £350,000 for a mesothelioma case.

Partner

Padma is an Employment and Business Immigration Senior Associate who advises on a full range of contentious and non-contentious employment and business immigration issues.From a business immigration perspective, Padma has experience in advising on: UKVI checks, record maintenance and penalties, sponsorship of migrant workers, visa applications and immigration related employment issues.

Associate Director

Director of legal services for private client services at Irwin Mitchell, based in Leeds.  Handles claims on validity of wills, involving issues of undue influence, and testamentary capacity, proprietary estoppel claims, rectification actions, financial provision claims, disputes involving trusts and breach of trust claims. Professional negligence claims regarding trusts, wills and advice provided in relation to that.

Polly is a Associate Solicitor based in Irwin Mitchell Leeds office.  Polly regularly handles 1975 claims, Will validity challenges, proprietary estoppel and trust claims, and she has seen an increase in claims with a financial abuse aspect. Polly has experience of investigating and unwinding financial abuse and acting where an appointment of an Attorney or Deputy becomes contentious.

Personal Injury Partner, Sheffield

Solicitor in the Wills, Trusts and Estates team in Sheffield.

Partner

Medical Negligence Partner, Leeds

Solicitor Richard specialises in disputes that arise when a person dies. I deal with a wide range of cases and each one is different to the next . People seeking to challenge the validity of wills on grounds of undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity or issues with formalities, and have experience in defending such claims too. Richard has also worked on bringing and defending claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 when someone’s unhappy with the inheritance that they’ve received under a will or the intestacy rules.

Robert advises on all aspects of banking and finance with particular focus on real estate finance (investment and development). He also often acts on growth capital lending, corporate M&A and corporate banking, whilst many of the transactions he works on have a cross-border element to them.

I have over 10 years’ experience in the field of Tax, Trusts and Estate law. I gained experience working for the Trusts & Estates division of a Private Bank before moving to Irwin Mitchell in 2016. My expertise includes the following areas of work: Preparation of Wills Estate Planning (including Inheritance Tax planning and succession planning) Obtaining Grants of Probate Inheritance Tax calculations and completion of Inheritance Tax returns Estate Administration, including administration of complex and high value estates Preparation of Declarations of Trust and advice and assistance with setting up or winding up Trusts created by Wills Advice on and preparation of Deeds of Variation to alter the distribution of an estate after death. I gain a detailed understanding of my clients’ circumstances and needs to ensure complex situations are solved effectively. My advice and assistance is explained and presented in a manner which is clear and easy for my clients to follow. Where necessary, I also work closely with colleagues in other departments in the wider firm (including Residential Property, Family Law and Trust & Estate Disputes) to ensure all of my clients’ legal needs are met at often critical stages of their lives. I deliver regular presentations to members of the public (like hospital staff, local and national charities and parents of children with disabilities) on subjects relating to Wills, Estate Planning and Estate Administration.

Roopen is a Family Law Solicitor who specialises in matters relating to divorce, dissolution or separation. She also advises clients in respect of financial remedies upon divorce or dissolution. 

Partner

Senior Associate Solicitor

Partner

Partner

Partner

Sarah is a Partner in the Medical Negligence department and leads a team of lawyers who are based in the Sheffield office. Sarah has specialised in medical law for more than 20 years, and has particular expertise in birth injury, amputation, and spinal injury cases.

Partner I am regional head of the Leeds and Newcastle medical law teams, having specialised in medical negligence law since qualifying in 1998. I have extensive experience in this field of law with a particular expertise in cerebral palsy, birth injury claims, amputation and brain injury cases.  I work with my clients to ensure not only they are fully compensated for their injuries but have the support in their life present and future to succeed in all they want to despite their injuries.  I am a keen advocate for patient safety supporting change through the experiences of our clients and where asked support clients in promoting change and raising awareness, I provide training to medical professionals.   I am immensely proud to represent my clients and have a superb team who work tirelessly for their clients.

She has worked at the Leeds office since 1995 and after many years spent as a litigator in a variety of personal injury claims she moved to set up a specialist team to represent clients making claims to the Government funded Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme. Sarah acts for clients who have been the innocent victims of crimes of violence regularly securing awards either from the CICA themselves or by representing clients at Appeals Tribunals for those who have suffered injury as a result of assaults including assaults causing brain injuries (one punch assaults), historical abuse including sexual abuse, domestic violence, hate crimes, fatalities, honour attacks, grooming and stalking, people trafficking and modern slavery and terrorism in the UK and abroad. Sarah was recently successful in reopening a historical abuse claim previously rejected by the authority and securing the maximum award of £500,000. Sarah receives referrals from many victim’s charities and support groups and can act for victims on a pro bono basis.

Senior Associate Solicitor

Senior associate

Partner

Sophie deals with both contentious and non-contentious matters and has over 9 years’ experience in restructuring and insolvency. She acts for banks, lenders, insolvency practitioners, individuals and businesses in relation to any situation requiring insolvency or restructuring advice. Sophie has helped to design a new product for debt collection agencies that can help to manage the risk of any adverse publicity, when looking to reverse any decisions taken to petition for a debtor’s bankruptcy and instigate possession proceedings for consumer debts. She has also helped to design a fixed fee product for providing advice to directors where their company is in financial distress or facing insolvency. In the summer of 2020 Sophie was the lead fee earner on a high profile and complex matter which involved the administration and sale of 5 companies, the solvent sale of 2 companies and the liquidation of 5 other companies within a group, including two foreign entities.Sophie is also building a name for herself in Leeds for non-contentious insolvency.

Senior associateStephen specialise in health and welfare cases in the Court of Protection and a broad range of judicial review cases, including challenges to the provision of community care and healthcare. He is instructed by individuals and charities challenging cuts to public services. He acted for the claimant in the case of R (ZYN) v Walsall MBC [2014] EWHC 1918 (Admin), successfully challenging a local authority’s policy on social care charging. Stephen regularly acts for vulnerable adults who lack mental capacity in the Court of Protection, instructed by the Official Solicitor in relation to disputes regarding their residence and care arrangements. Stephen also acts for families in complex medical treatment cases. He represented the families in the cases of NHS Trust and Baby X and others [2012] EWHC 2188 and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust v CD [2014] EWCOP 23, (2014).

Stephen’s areas of expertise are commercial and contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, breach of warranty claims, breach of fiduciary duties claims, professional negligence claims, IT disputes and contractual disputes with an Intellectual Property aspect. Stephen acts for individuals and businesses from a variety of sectors, with a focus on limited companies in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.Recent highlights: Obtaining summary judgment for Encon Insulation Limited in a commercial dispute against a recruitment consultant. Acting for the UK subsidiary of an Indian manufacturing company on a variety of claims, including breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy to injure. Successfully acting to recover a substantial sum from two Panamanian companies arising out of breach of contract for services for a large facilities provider. Advising a well-known civil engineering contractor in relation to a multi-million pound dispute arising out of issues with sewerage works in the Greater Manchester region. Acting for a company based in France in a contractual dispute with a UK company over alleged breaches of contract during the supply and commissioning of equipment at a power station.

PartnerExperienced commercial dispute resolution lawyer. Since June 2011 has headed the commercial litigation department in Sheffield of 25+ lawyers. The department handles over 2,000 claims per year. Deals with most aspects of commercial and property litigation including professional negligence. Experience of High and County Court matters and a keen advocate of ADR having dealt with numerous mediations. Recent appearance in the Court Appeal included the reported case of Brown-Quinn and Webster Dixon LLP v Equity Syndicate Management Limited. In addition to traditional commercial litigation work, Steven and his team are panel solicitors for a number of well-known insurers dealing with disputes for individuals, businesses and charities who have the benefit of a legal expense insurance policy. Leading commentator on legal issues facing SME’s and jointly responsible of for the identification and development of new legal product offerings to SME community for the business legal services division. In recent years has developed bespoke innovative litigation funding solutions for commercial clients.

PartnerSteven is an expert in construction and engineering law, with extensive experience of commercial dispute resolution. He prides himself on the human touch and supporting clients. He leads a team in Leeds that helps clients successfully resolve disputes including those operating in the construction, engineering and infrastructure sectors. His wide range of dispute resolution expertise helps his clients minimise the impact of disputes by acting pro-actively, practically and commercially and by using the dispute resolution technique most appropriate to the issue. He has experience of taking disputes to the highest courts in the land, including the Court of Appeal and House of Lords (as it then was). He has adjudicated more cases than he can remember. He regularly gives upfront and dispute avoidance advice to clients and is an accredited mediator. He has a particular specialism in the NEC standard form of contract and has helped resolve many disputes under its terms, especially compensation event and ground condition claims. He also has procurement experience, and helps his clients avoid or minimise the risk of disputes by ensuring that their interests are properly protected in construction and engineering contractual documents. He worked previously at DWF, Hammonds and Walker Morris and has significant expertise in general commercial matters, thereby strengthening both the construction and commercial dispute resolution offering in Leeds and across the country. His recruitment is part of the strategic growth of the firm in business areas and in key cities, including both Leeds and Sheffield. Legal specialties: construction and engineering law, dispute resolution, arbitration, litigation, adjudication and mediation. He is accredited as a mediator by CEDR (the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution).

Tania is a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Medical Negligence team in Sheffield. Tania specialises in clinical negligence claims and inquests and have over 13 years of experience in this field. During this time, she have dealt with a wide range of complex and high value cases, including those involving children who have sustained life-changing injuries following birth, such as cerebral and Erbs palsy. Tania has also represented individuals who have suffered brain and spinal injuries as a result of negligent medical treatment. Tania has a special interest in fatal accident claims and inquests, representing bereaved families in the Coroner’s court.

Terry remains one of the most respected pensions practitioners in the market, and heads the firm's pensions practice. She acts for employers, trustees and contractors on all aspects of pensions law. Her clients operate across a number of sectors. She has a particular focus advising on the complex protections for employees in the coal, electricity, railways and water sectors. Terry’s key clients include the trustees of a defined benefit pension scheme sponsored by a financial institution with complex regulatory and compliance obligations, and employers with employees who have the benefit of protected person rights. Terry is a full member of the Association of Pension Lawyers, a past chair of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association Yorkshire Group, a co-author of Tolley's Pensions Law and a member of the LexisNexis PSL editorial board. She has recently taken on a personal trustee appointment using her experience to help a local charity.

Thomas specialises in probate issues, inheritance tax and Probate Registry applications for Grants of Representation. He has 13 years' experience in this field. Thomas' specialty is dealing with complex applications to the Probate Registry such as dealing with unusual family situations, international jurisdictions and missing legal documentation.  

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Associate Vicki has experience in all real estate transactions, but has a particular focus on development work and real estate finance. Recent highlights include: Acting for a bank in relation to the real estate aspects of a £40m refinancing of two office buildings in central Manchester, one of which was sub-let to a government agency. Acting for a bank in relation to the real estate aspects of a £30m facility to a care home developer. Acting for a bank in relation to the real estate aspects of the £2.2m refinancing of the Aldi supermarket site at Clifton Moor, York. Acting for a borrower in relation to a £2.397m refinancing of a residential development in Liverpool using the CBILS scheme. Acting for a fund in relation to an existing facility in respect of a sale and leaseback to the borrower of part of a student accommodation site in Leeds (which the bank already had a charge over) in order to facilitate the development by the borrower’s parent company of a co-living and work space development on the site adjoining the student accommodation. Dealing with the title due diligence in relation to the purchase of up to 185 acres of land at Thorne, Doncaster which will be developed into a distribution / warehousing site. The project is expected to last for up to 20 years with a project value in excess of £200 million. Dealing with the title due diligence in relation to the conditional purchase of 14.1 acres of land at Fulwood Park, Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire for the development of a 190,000 sq. ft. distribution warehouse. Dealing with the title due diligence in relation to the purchase and development of 5.76 acres of land at Heathlands, Wakefield which is a former power station that has been allocated for housing use. Dealing with the title due diligence in relation to a reciprocal option to acquire land at The Wakefield Hub, J30 M62 which is to be developed into B1c, B2 and B8 uses. Acting for a food manufacturer on its sale of a factory site in Flint (Wales) for £1.5m.

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Associate Solicitor Yousafa focuses on complex cross-border succession planning (including the drafting of bespoke Wills for UK and international high-net-worth individuals) and the administration of cross-border estates, in particular the application of international succession law and the tax-related considerations. She regularly works with international families and trustees particularly where there is a requirement for Sharia linked advice. Yousafa has particular experience advising on the taxation of UK residential and non-residential property owned by offshore structures.

Zoe is an associate director and partner in the Sheffield family team of Irwin Mitchell. Zoe has specialist family law expertise and deals regularly with complex high-value financial cases involving property portfolios, businesses and trusts. She also led the reported case of GR v DR [2013] 2FLR 1534. Zoe has a particular interest in dealing with same sex marriages and has helped the team develop its expertise in this area. She routinely advises clients on the protections of assets in prenuptial, postnuptial and cohabitation agreements, as well as working with the firm’s Court of Protection team to advise on the complexities of multi-million pound personal injury settlements. Zoe deals with highly complex children disputes in cases where the parents are completely estranged and alienated. She also deals with international relocation cases.

Associate solicitor Main areas of practice include: Construction Law (litigation/domestic arbitration/adjudication/ADR) Professional negligence claims for both building professionals and against solicitors High value disputed debt claims including enforcement General commercial contract disputes Shareholder and partnership disputes Breach of fiduciary duty/confidence and restrictive covenants Injunctive relief including delivery up and specific performance.

Zoe is a Senior Associate team leader and an experienced case handler who has specialised in clinical negligence cases for over 24 years.  She has extensive experience of handling a variety of high value cases, including amputation and neonatal injuries, stillbirth, spinal cases, orthopaedic and fatal claims.