Boyes Turner

Alexander Wright

Alexander is a Partner and professional deputy for property and affairs and works principally with clients who have suffered injuries at birth with lifelong care needs and multi-million pound settlements. His focus is managing files with complex and volatile family dynamics, matters with complicated financial arrangements, and statutory will applications. Alexander leads the litigation support service line in the team, preparing expert reports and witness statements on deputyship and private trust costs in litigation, receiving instructions from multiple other law firms. Alexander was a director of the Professional Deputies Forum from 2019 to 2023 and played a leading role in the case of PLK & Ors [2020] EWHC B28 (Costs), as a Deputy for PLK. Alexander was Chair of the Professional Deputies Forum in 2023.

Andrew Whiteaker

Andy is a partner and head of the highly regarded Employment team at Boyes Turner. He advises clients in a wide variety of contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including human resources support, providing employment support for mergers, acquisitions, and disposals, employment tribunal litigation and negotiating and drafting executive service contracts. Andy’s clients include national and multination organisations, and he provides international support for clients with cross-jurisdictional issues through Boyes Turner’s network of partner law firms. He focuses on providing practical advice, seeking to identify pragmatic and commercial solutions to his clients’ needs.

Barry Stanton

Barry is the Managing Partner of Boyes Turner and is responsible with the Management Committee for the overall strategic direction of the firm. Barry is also a Partner in the highly regarded Employment team at Boyes Turner. He advises clients on all aspects of employment law but has a particular interest in TUPE, restrictive covenant issues and complex discrimination claims. Barry advises a wide range of clients from international and national businesses in a variety of sectors including engineering, software and technology, professional services and logistics. He regularly writes and comments on a range of topical employment issues as well as presenting at webinars involving UK and EU employment law and works with overseas firms to manage clients’ international employment issues. He brings a positive and professional approach to understanding, resolving and managing clients’ HR issues, minimising the risk of claims and takes a pragmatic approach to resolving problems. When faced with litigation his rigorous analysis of the claim and determination to succeed secures positive outcomes for his clients.

Brian Dowling

Brian is a partner in the firm’s residential development and housebuilder team. He specialises in assisting developers, charities, government bodies and private landowners working together to unlock sites and bring them forward for residential development. This involves advising on site acquisition and assembly, options, section 106 agreements, promotion agreements, joint ventures, affordable housing disposals, and utilities matters.

Chris Dobson

Chris is a partner in the Corporate team and advises clients on a broad range of corporate transactional and general company law matters. He acts for both national and international clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups, angel investors and SMEs to listed companies. He advises on legal issues across a number of business sectors and works closely with clients to advise them on all aspects of their transactions. Chris is recommended in particular for M&A transactions in the technology and healthcare sectors.

Claire Roantree

As a partner in Boyes Turner’s personal injury team, Claire acts for clients with life-changing injuries, such as brain and spinal injury, amputation, severe burns, complex orthopaedic/musculoskeletal injury, chronic pain and PTSD. Claire’s experience with seriously injured clients has given invaluable insight into the power of early inter-disciplinary rehabilitation to restore mobility, independence, assisting with supported return to work and participation in family and social activity, giving a sense of purpose and self-worth which helps maximise recovery after life-changing injury. Claire and the PI team are on the legal panel for The Katie Piper Foundation and the Cardinal Major Trauma Signposting Service at John Radcliffe Major Trauma Centre, where commitment to the rehabilitation of burns and major trauma survivor is of the upmost importance.

Claire Taylor-Evans

Claire is a Partner in the Employment law team and also the Corporate Immigration team. She defends complex discrimination claims and managing high-level exits on behalf of corporate clients, many of whom are household names in the Technology and Leisure and Hospitality sectors. Claire leads the firm’s gender pay gap reporting service and supports her clients in their employee diversity and inclusion strategies. A contributing author to Bloomsbury Professional’s annual “Termination of Employment” publication, her articles also frequently appear in business magazines.

Derek Ching

Derek is a highly experienced Director in the property department at Boyes Turner. He has a background in a wide variety of property and planning related sectors. A substantial part of his practice involves advising on land development, planning related matters and ensuring the successful realisation of projects, whether for occupation or sale. Specialist areas of practice include: advising housebuilders on site assemblies and disposals. acting for landowners on disposal of land for development. care home and primary healthcare developments. acting for mineral companies involved in the extraction of sand, gravel and stone, securing options and leases of mineral rights together with related arrangements for infilling of voids created by mineral extraction. advising charities with property portfolios on property management, acquisitions and disposals including planning related matters, as well as advising on constitutional issues, appointment and removal of trustees, conflicts of interest and compliance with charity legislation.

Donna Goddard

Donna heads up the Debt recovery team. The team works closely with both our Business Support & Insolvency and Dispute Resolution teams.

Helen Dobson

Helen is a commercial and technology lawyer with expertise spanning the digital, telecoms, transport, healthcare and retail sectors. She advises on commercial transactions, supply chain arrangements, marketing and customer communications, strategic partnerships and the exploitation and management of intellectual property. Helen brings a pragmatic, highly commercial and solution-focused approach to her legal practice. She assists companies, investors, and management teams in relation to the full range of B2B and B2C arrangements. Drawing on first-hand experience from previous roles both in industry and as in-house legal counsel for a major telecoms operator, she understands the importance of balancing legal risk against commercial opportunity and works with her clients to realise their commercial objectives.

Helen Goss

Helen is a partner in the firm's Employment team and heads up the Leisure & Hospitality group. She advises organisations in various sectors including technology and hospitality on all employment and HR related issues with the aim of providing a workable solution which is commercial and pragmatic. Helen has particular expertise in complex discrimination, reorganisations and acquisitions involving employees. Helen is a fully qualified and accredited workplace mediator and business coach. She also manages complex investigations in grievances, disciplinaries and whistleblowing allegations.

James Pantling-Skeet

James Pantling-Skeet is an experienced Senior Associate in Boyes Turner’s highly regarded Community Care, Court of Protection and Special Educational Needs teams. He provides a holistic, empathetic yet focused service to parents, young people, families, Attorneys, Deputies, Case Managers and Charities. His combined Community Care and Special Educational Needs expertise means he is well-placed to provide comprehensive legal advice relating to rights of children and adults living with a disability, injury, or illness. James and his team provide an all-age service.

Julie Marsh

Julie is a partner and long-standing member of the medical negligence team at Boyes Turner and specialises in complex and high value clinical negligence work. She specialises in cases involving spinal cord injury including cauda equina syndrome cases, amputation and cases involving infections such as meningitis. Julie is committed to making a difference to the lives of those severely injured as a result of medical negligence. She investigates cases thoroughly leaving no stone unturned and secures early admissions of liability as a result, allowing applications for substantial interim payments to help clients access support and rehabilitation. Julie writes on topical issues relating to clinical negligence and is especially interested in issues relating to spinal cord injuries and amputation.

Kim Milan

Kim Milan leads Boyes Turner’s highly regarded personal injury team. A specialist in catastrophic injury cases, Kim acts for clients with acquired brain damage, spinal injuries and serious orthopaedic injuries.Brain injury cases are complex and require specialist knowledge and expertise. Kim’s experience of using the claims process to help seriously brain-injured children and adults regain their independence after the aftermath of an accident has led her to recognise the critical importance of timely rehabilitation for optimum recovery.

Laura Magson

With over 15 years of specialist experience representing people with mesothelioma, Laura leads Boyes Turner’s highly regarded mesothelioma and asbestos disease claims team known for its “unrivalled" quality and ability for asbestos disease claims in the Thames Valley area the “go to firm” (Legal 500). She also applies her extensive legal expertise and exceptional client care to represent severely injured victims and the bereaved dependent families of those with fatal injuries. Laura works hard to conclude mesothelioma cases during a claimant’s lifetime and has obtained sizeable sums within months of instruction, but also obtained Court orders for provision of future private treatment costs such as immunotherapy that may not be available on the NHS, so her clients have the security of knowing any future treatments will be funded. When it is not possible to conclude the case during a client’s life-time, Laura supports the families to complete the claim on the deceased’s behalf. Her compassion and commitment to making a difference for her clients results in a persistence which enables her to succeed in heavily defended or difficult cases. Laura is a recognised asbestos disease expert, accredited as a “leading industrial disease lawyer” (Legal 500 2021) with an excellent and well-deserved reputation and has given live interviews on BBC Radio about mesothelioma and the implications of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme. She is an outspoken campaigner dedicated to using her knowledge to raise public awareness and make a difference, for example through her work with local asbestos groups. Her mesothelioma clients come to her from all over the UK and abroad and from a variety of trades and occupations. Her track record of successful claims includes cases arising from low-level exposure, environmental exposure to asbestos from living near an asbestos factory or from breathing in dust from the clothes of family members. Laura takes proactive steps to secure settlements for asbestos-related disease claimants during their lifetime wherever possible and where there is a risk of future serious deterioration, she obtains provisional damages awards which preserve the claimant’s right to come back to court for further compensation in the event that the specified deterioration occurs. She succeeds in complex cases involving multiple defendants. She has both the compassion and legal expertise needed to obtain justice and compensation for sufferers and bereaved families and negotiates voluntary repayments of end of life care costs for hospices which nurse her clients. She personally supports asbestos disease sufferers at support groups coffee mornings and charity events. She also gives regular presentations and training to health care professionals throughout the country. Away from the office, Laura helps raise awareness and funds for the charities and support groups that help sufferers of asbestos-related and other diseases. Her fundraising exploits having included abseiling down The Blade, a skyscraper in Reading, the height of 32 double-decker buses, in aid of a children’s hospice, Naomi House and a 25 km Thames Path Challenge walk for Mesothelioma UK.

Laxmi Patel

Laxmi is head of Boyes Turner’s leading Education team and an established expert in special educational needs (SEN). She runs appeals to the SEND Tribunal and provides representation. She has particular expertise in complex cases across education, health and social care, many requiring tri-partite funding and residential and split placements, and/or ‘education otherwise than at school/college – EOTAS/C’.

Lydia Dunford

Lydia Dunford is an Associate Solicitor in Boyes Turner’s Education team. She has a sound knowledge base of SEN legal issues and the SEND appeal process. She represents clients at the SEND Tribunal, including Health and Social Care national trial appeals, and has had positive outcomes in all hearings, often exceeding clients’ expectations. Lydia has experience of complex appeals and case manages them from beginning to end, securing significant packages of education and social care support. Lydia has written an in-depth article looking at the evolution of Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS), previously published on Snap Care’s website, and a further version published on Autism Eye’s online magazine.

Mark Appleton

Mark is a partner in the commercial property team. He has 38 years of experience in dealing with commercial property matters. He specialises in the purchase, development, letting and disposal of properties for owners, occupiers and investors. He also deals with the management of investment properties and property estates and deals with high value landlord and tenant matters. Mark deals with numerous development projects of sites ranging from residential estates to student flats and commercial premises under land promotion agreements, options, conditional agreements and joint venture agreements. His clients range from industrial companies, schools, doctors, developers, on-shore and off-shore investors, management companies, golf courses, SASSs, SIPPs and pension trustees.

Natalie Roff

Natalie has worked exclusively in non-contested debt recovery since 1996 and manages the team on a day-to-day basis. She has a strong reputation for delivering excellent client service, and has substantial experience in relation to uncontested debt recovery from negotiating settlements to enforcement of Judgments.

Nick Carter

Nick is the head of the highly regarded Commercial Property Team and has over 25 years’ experience advising clients in all aspects of commercial property transactions. He specialises in industrial units, business space including laboratories for landlords and tenants acting for a range of owner managed businesses to large national and international companies along with religious and other not for profit organisations . He has developed a specialist practice managing portfolios of properties for not only large corporate clients (often in the tech, innovation and life sciences sectors), working closely with their in-house legal and property teams and with their other external advisors but also for religious bodies managing their places of worship and other property interests nationally. As a member of the firm's inward investment team, Nick is highly experienced in advising foreign businesses setting up and operating in the UK.

Oliver Fitzpatrick

Oliver is a Partner and head of the market-leading and highly regarded Insolvency and Business Support team at Boyes Turner. He primarily acts for insolvency practitioners and provides specialist and pragmatic advice to clients on the full range of formal insolvency processes, both in a corporate and a personal context. Oliver also acts for company directors, companies, lenders and private individuals. Oliver's expertise is in not only in transactional and advisory matters, such asset realisation and protection work and dealing with an array of technical issues, but also with contentious insolvency cases that involve either challenges to appointments, antecedent transactions, asset preservation or cross boarder issues to name but a few.

Paul Linsell

Paul is a partner and heads up the specialist family law team at Boyes Turner. He has extensive experience in helping both married and unmarried people on all aspects of private family law, both as a solicitor and as a fully accredited mediator. Paul is known for his ability to assess a situation quickly and effectively, so as to be able to give valuable advice that is tailored to an individual’s needs and goals. His calm and persuasive manner offers clients a reassuring and steady guide through the challenges they face. Paul regularly works on complex finance cases involving international elements, business interests, complex pension arrangements and trusts. He has accredited specialist expertise via Resolution in relation to complex financial matters on divorce and in relation to the complex law surrounding issues for unmarried couples. He has a reputation for giving pragmatic advice in relation to pre and post nuptial agreement and cohabitation agreements. Paul also advises and assists on children matters, having acted for parents, grandparents and other third parties in relation to child arrangements, specific issue application (including relocation) and prohibited steps applications.

Paul Lowery

Paul is a partner in the firm’s Reading based Wealth Protection team. He specialises in the preparation of wills, including complex wills with a foreign element, trusts and trust administration, estate planning for high net worth individuals, probate and estate administration including complex estates, Court of Protection applications and elderly client work.

Philip Jacques

Phil is a Partner in the Commercial Property team specialising in transactional property work spanning the industrial, distribution, office, retail and tech sectors.

Phillip Baldwin

Phil is a partner in the dispute resolution team. He specialises in providing dispute resolution services across a wide spectrum of sectors with a particular emphasis on business-to-business disputes.

Rachael Allison

Rachael is an Senior Associate within the Education team. Her experience extends to assisting parents at all stages of the SEN process, including pre ECHP provision and support, refusal to assess or issue a Plan, review of draft ECHPs Plans, Annual Reviews and failure to deliver on the contents of statements ECHPs. She has particular experience with dyslexia/dyspraxia/ASD/ADHD and sensory processing needs with strong links to local specialist schools and support groups.

Rachel Baxter

Rachel has joined the education team as a SEN Specialist, helping children and young people to secure the education that meet their needs. She is very passionate about education law as she has a child with special educational needs.

Rachel Brown

Rachel has worked in debt recovery and dispute resolution for over 25 years and is experienced in advising in contractual disputes including those relating to computer software, hire agreements and professional services. She specialises in cross-border disputes and working for local governments assisting them in enforcing Liability Orders for unpaid council tax. Rachel is experienced in bringing and defending claims in both the High Court and in county courts and also have experience in resolving disputes and settling cases by mediation. She spends 75% of her time doing Dispute Resolution and 25% of her time in Debt Recovery.

Richard Money-Kyrle

Richard is a partner in Boyes Turner’s outstanding medical negligence team. Richard is deeply committed to making a difference to the lives of severely injured patients and their families. He represents clients who have been brain damaged resulting in cerebral palsy, tetraplegia and PVS, and disabled by spinal injuries, cauda equina and amputation. Richard’s gentle and compassionate manner with clients is combined with intellectually rigorous use of the legal process to secure early admissions of liability, substantial interim payments and maximum compensation to provide his clients with rehabilitation, housing, education and care.

Rowan Turrall

Rowan heads the Dispute Resolution team at Boyes Turner and has been advising on a wide range of contractual disputes for 20 years. She works closely with the firm’s commercial and technology team dealing with technology-related disputes as well as dealing with a range of construction disputes. Rowan is experienced in dealing with substantial claims in the High Court and County Court and has resolved a number of cases through mediation and adjudication. She provides practical and commercial advice to her clients who appreciate her calm approach to the issues they face. Rowan is responsible for building Boyes Turner’s community for in-house lawyers, designed to foster valuable connections and knowledge sharing among legal professionals. This includes delivering seminars, webinars, round tables and conferences for in-house lawyers. She also regularly provides training on construction related topics.

Russell May

Russell is a senior associate - solicitor and head of the firm's property disputes team and widely regarded as one of the Thames Valley's leading property disputes lawyers. He has twenty years’ experience in dealing with a wide variety of property disputes involving both commercial and residential property. Russell advises a number of high profile clients including national house builders and telecommunications companies on all aspects of development and landlord & tenant disputes. His areas of expertise also include disputed break clauses, rights of way, rights to light, adverse possession, restrictive covenants, boundary issues and contested leasehold enfranchisement.

Ruth Meyer

Ruth is the head of the highly regarded Court of Protection team at Boyes Turner and a professional deputy and trustee. Her outstanding service extends from giving expert witness evidence, to advising on and setting up Court of Protection deputyship or trusteeship, project managing and auditing essential capital expenditure, coordinating care and providing liaison, negotiation, advocacy and intermediary services with the courts, government agencies, financial advisors and other professional bodies. In her capacity as Court of Protection deputy or trustee Ruth provides a professional yet ‘bespoke’ approach to the individual needs of each client. Ruth combines her highly professional and astute management of her clients’ best interests with an approachable, down-to-earth and compassionate manner with her clients, many of whom regard her as a trusted family advisor and friend.

Sarah Williamson

Sarah is a partner and head of the Commercial & Technology team specialising in Digital & Technology. Sarah has extensive experience advising on a broad range of commercial contracts including those with an international aspect. She specialises in technology and digital media and acts for well-known online publishers. She also has experience in marketing and advertising having worked at a niche London law firm for the creative and media sectors and has advised a number of creative and digital agencies and online platforms. Sarah acts as quasi in-house counsel for a number of her clients acting either as sole legal counsel or as an extension to their legal team, providing pragmatic and commercial legal advice. Sarah is also an experienced data protection lawyer and holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/EU) certification with the IAPP.

Susan Brown

Susan leads the Clinical Negligence team at Boyes Turner and has specialised in complex and high value clinical negligence work for over 30 years. She has a specialist expertise in child brain injury arising from birth asphyxia and trauma, neonatal negligence, including Kernicterus, hypoglycaemia and infection related brain injury. Susan uses liability judgments and interim payments to provide early respite and life-changing resources for the client. She ensures that her clients’ true needs are reflected in settlements which balance capital costs with long-term security in terms of annual payments.

Vanessa Wand

As a senior associate-solicitor in Boyes Turner's outstanding medical negligence team, Vanessa Wand has secured millions of pounds of compensation for her clients. Vanessa deals exclusively with complex, high value medical negligence claims. She has a specialist interest in obstetric and birth-related injuries to both mother and baby, which include cerebral palsy and severe neonatal injury, maternal death, complex stillbirth with psychiatric maternal injury, perinatal tears and cloacal injury, alongside her broad-based expertise with cases involving amputation and other life threatening, fatal and permanently disabling conditions. Working both independently and as an invaluable support to the partners in the group, Vanessa is an expert in quantifying claims involving cerebral palsy and other types of neonatal, severe, neurological injuries, consistently enabling her clients to receive the highest possible compensation awards.

William Nassau-Lake

William has over 20 years’ experience of advising on a variety of real estate transactions but specialises in acting for house builders, commercial developers, care providers, investors and land traders in connection with the acquisition, disposal and promotion of development sites and has a reputation for being one of the regions’ leading development lawyers. He also advises on planning and infrastructure agreements, joint venture arrangements and acts for funders and borrower in connection with secured lending. William is head of the Development & House Building team and also oversees the Plot Sale Group. He also advises high net worth individuals with property affairs. “William’s enthusiasm for fighting our corner and meeting (and often exceeding) our expectations is a credit to himself and his team. He has played a key role in helping us conclude many transaction transactions and helped with our growth and success”. Care Provider/London Developer “William and his team always impress. Their commercial approach combined with a rapid and user-friendly service has enabled us to meet deadlines and secure deals which we would have certainly otherwise missed out on. They are people that just get the job done.” Regional Housebuilder

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