Birketts LLP logo

Birketts LLP

birketts.co.uk
Show options

Lawyers

search
Philip Brown
Philip Brown
Philip is a Partner in our Real Estate team and leads the firm’s developer team. He has expertise in a wide range of real estate work with particular emphasis on commercial and residential development (both immediate and strategic) and the securing of development and project finance. Philip’s clients are made up of national, regional and local developers, promoters, housing associations, landowners disposing of land for development and banks and alternative lenders. Philip has been ranked highly in numerous Legal500 and Chambers rankings over the last decade. Outside of work Philip enjoys spending time with his young family and is a passionate sports fan; in particular he enjoys following the Exeter Chiefs and, in the summer, Somerset County Cricket Club.
Nicola Gooch
Nicola Gooch
Nicola joined Birketts in August 2025 and is a Partner in our Planning and Environmental Team. Nicola specialises in planning law, with a particular expertise in mixed use regeneration projects and enabling developments. She acts for a wide-range of clients, including house-builders, land promoters and development companies; retail developers, investment funds; care home providers; sports clubs; educational institutions and agricultural businesses. Nicola regularly advises clients on natural capital schemes, including the creation of habitat banks, nutrient neutrality schemes and navigating water neutrality concerns. She is also known for her ability to help clients navigate the intricacies of the Community Infrastructure Levy and its implications for project finances. Nicola is recognised as a leading individual in both Legal 500 and Chambers, and has been highly rated in Planning Resource’s survey of planning lawyers for the last three years. She is a regular columnist for The Planner magazine. Nicola regularly shares insightful blog posts on her LinkedIn profile.
Vanda James
Vanda James
Vanda joined Birketts in 2023 and is a Partner and Head of our Sevenoaks Family Team. Vanda is an expert in all aspects of family law and specialises in complex financial cases or those with an unusual element and has notable expertise in international child relocation and other highly sensitive family issues. Vanda also regularly drafts and advises on Pre/Post Nuptial Agreements and is a member of Resolution and has been a trained collaborative lawyer since 2006. Vanda is passionate about getting the right outcome for her clients and has been described as formidable. When needed, she enjoys carrying out a forensic analysis of financial information especially those cases involving family businesses and trust assets. When required, Vanda can be tenacious and has a reputation for giving clear advice both as to the strategic way forward and potential outcome. Vanda is empathetic and is always determined to achieve the right outcome for her clients which she does with diligence, focus and determination. Vanda has been ranked as a leading matrimonial specialist by Legal 500 and Chambers UK since 2007. Vanda is the former President of Kent Law Society and is listed in the Citywealth Leaders List. She is also identified as one of the top 10 pioneering family lawyers transforming matrimonial law in Kent 2023 by Business Today.
Lauren Johnson
Lauren joined Birketts LLP as an Associate in September 2025 following almost 9 years at a London law firm. Lauren qualified as a Solicitor in May 2022. Lauren undertakes a variety of both contentious and non-contentious matters, with a strong focus on contentious insolvency litigation and disputes. Lauren often acts for insolvency practitioners, litigation funders, individuals and financial institutions. Lauren has been involved in a wide range of contentious matters including claims under the Insolvency Act such as misfeasance claims, preferences and transactions at undervalue as well as property litigation, asset recovery and creditor disputes. Lauren’s understanding of both the technical and commercial aspects of insolvency allows her to offer insightful, tailored solutions. With a reputation for being approachable, detail-oriented, and focused on results, Lauren is committed to delivering exceptional client service.
Stephanie Kingdon
Stephanie Kingdon
Stephanie has significant experience in all aspects of general property and commercial landlord and tenant disputes, in particular relating to managing and mitigating risk in transactional work. Stephanie advises on a wide range of contentious commercial property matters, and her experience extends to complex, high profile and politically sensitive advisory work. She has dealt with real estate litigation in both the High Court and Court of Appeal and has resolved disputes through mediation and arbitration. In addition to “traditional” property disputes, Stephanie also advises on planning-related matters including judicial reviews and statutory challenges.
Sian Leonard
Sian specialises in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious corporate and personal insolvency whether it is acting for the officeholder, director, bankrupt, lender, creditor, or other stakeholder in the insolvent estate. Sian’s work also involves a lot of front-end work in her advisory role and with transactional work, meeting very short timescales, addressing whatever issues are thrown at her, and ultimately delivering great results for her clients. Sian is also the main point of contact for some of Birkett’s lender clients. Sian has been awarded the 2019 winner for rising star – SME at the Insolvency Practitioner Association awards. Sian is also heavily involved in R3 as a committee member of the Eastern Region of R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals and a member of the R3 London Women’s Group. This allows her to understand, appreciate and hopefully promote the insolvency industry to everyone effected by insolvency.
Phillippa O\'Neill
Phillippa is a Partner in our litigation and dispute resolution team, based in Cambridge. Phillippa advises high net worth individual and corporate clients on complex, high value disputes. She regularly works with clients to resolve breaches of warranty claims, shareholder and partnership disputes, breaches of restrictive covenants and breaches of confidentiality.  In addition, Phillippa has worked on large cases involving breaches of contract, commercial fraud, professional negligence and jurisdictional issues. In addition to working on potentially litigious matters, Phillippa works with colleagues in other practice areas to provide risk management advice. She is also well versed in various forms of alternative dispute resolution including mediation and arbitration and more recently she has gained experience of working for family businesses. Phillippa has worked across a number of sectors including retail, food and leisure, manufacturing and engineering, waste management, logistics, transport, health, education and sport.
Sacha Wooldridge
Sacha Wooldridge
Sacha leads Birketts’ Tier 1 ranked immigration team, providing practical, client-centric immigration solutions to private clients and businesses alike. Sacha works holistically alongside other experts to provide international mobility pathways that factor in other considerations including international tax, social security and employment law compliance – ensuring clients make optimal relocation decisions  based on their family and lifestyle priorities. Sacha has a wealth of experience supporting businesses from start-ups to FTSE 100s across all sectors including financial and professional services, engineering, FMCG, energy and technology. Sacha provides end-to-end immigration support for business with a deep personal commitment to providing a friendly and personable point of contact with the highest quality service and technical advice – recognising that moving people internationally is both critical for business and can be a challenging time for individuals and their families. Sacha is also able to support business through its key growth milestones – advising on the immigration implications of mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and TUPE transfers and helping business navigate the latest geopolitical challenges. Sacha also enjoys supporting individual private clients. Sacha advises on family and non-sponsored visas as well as British nationality and passport applications. Sacha is experienced in supporting high net worth and high profile individuals with more complex immigration needs, including investors, entrepreneurs and economic citizenship applications and has experience with supporting musicians, artists, creatives and working with professional sports organisations. In assisting private individuals Sacha provides an appropriate immigration solution, delivered with discretion, as a tailored service in partnership with your team/preferred third party advisors. With a passion for politics, Sacha enjoys working on immigration policy and is a regular attendee at the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for Migration and also for Visas and Immigration, is an active member of the ILPA Economic working group and participant in the BEIS, Professional and Business services sector deal immigration sub-working group. Sacha is also  a regularly attendee at the various political party conferences to represent the interests of business and spoke on a panel alongside Yvette Cooper MP at the Labour Party conference in autumn 2018 and was quoted in The Observer in 2024.