Hedges Law

Formed in 1789, Hedges has been providing legal services for over four consecutive centuries. The last member of the founding family, Sir John Hedges, died in 1983 but his legacy lives on in the firm, with his portrait hanging in both the Oxford and Wallingford offices. The firm restructured in 2012 as a limited company and is now steered by MD Nicola Poole.

Nicola is seeking to maintain the very best of the established values of personal service and lifetime loyalty, while moving the practice into the modern world with a fresh and forward-thinking outlook. This is a law firm where all staff live and breathe the company values, and are recruited and evaluated monthly against these. Making the difference to clients and to each other lies at the very heart of Hedges’ culture and is deeply embedded in its daily life.

To recognise the outstanding work of their employees, Hedges Law became employee-owned in May 2021, only the fifth law firm in England to do so. By giving ownership to the team, the firm seeks to empower every employee to continue delivering the same exceptional service that our clients so greatly value.

The philanthropic nature of the Hedges family has been retained within the business, another of its values being actively to give back. Hedges’ staff are regularly found raising funds for local and national charities. It is a happy and fulfilling place to work.

The firm: Hedges Law has positioned itself as the legal advisor of choice to high-net-worth individuals and their families. The firm’s excellent reputation and visibility has further grown recently with the opening of a new office in the Northern suburb of Oxford, Summertown. This allows the business to continue to serve its long-established clients in and around Wallingford whilst being close to where many of the firms Oxford-based clients live, with easy access to the city centre and great links nationally and internationally.

The firm, its client base and reputation continue to grow year on year. The areas of law the firm offers to clients are family, property, private client and dispute resolution, with a new flourishing team dedicated exclusively to contentious probate.

Types of work undertaken: Hedges advises in all areas of residential property law and has an unrivalled reputation in the area for offering a superior service to their clients that is both personal and proactive, with the most thorough legal expertise applied, combined with complementary services such as inheritance planning.

Hedges’ family team is a very strong team of five specialist solicitors. Led by Zoe Rose, they have a proven track record of achieving excellent outcomes in court, as well as having a deep understanding of the emotional impact divorce and separation has on their clients and families. Carrie Rudge, who has been with the firm for many years, is both a highly experienced lawyer and mediator, so the team is often sought after for their superior mediation services. All of the team are members of Resolution and adopt a practical and conciliatory approach to resolving matters on their clients’ behalf where possible. They act for a range of high-net-worth clients across the whole spectrum of family and divorce law, as well as serving clients growing interest in pre- and post-nups. The firm's Managing Director Nicola Poole also has a reputation for being a tenacious but highly practical and approachable lawyer.

The private client team is historically one of the strongest practice areas in Hedges’ long history.  With teams led by highly experienced lawyers, Daniel Boyle and Rachel Carrington-Matthews, their attention to detail, intelligence and delightful interpersonal skills win them high praise and loyalty from both clients and colleagues alike. The team deals with all aspects of wills, probate, tax, trusts, estate and inheritance planning, and powers of attorney.

Christopher Ozimic heads up the firm’s dispute resolution team who take on a wide range of litigation matters including property, business, consumer, and  employment. They have a growing reputation for their work in property disputes with an excellent track record of getting the best outcomes for their clients.

The firms new dedicated contentious probate team is headed up by Claire Cox. An extremely passionate leader, Claire takes pride in navigating her clients through times of crises with a superior track record of achieving the outcomes desired by her clients. Claire is an Associate Member of ACTAPS, the industry recognised qualification for lawyers specialising in contentious trust and probate work.

Other offices: Wallingford