Geldards LLP

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

• ‘Geldards' education team is professional, and it is clear they not only know the law, but also genuinely care about achieving justice for children with special educational needs and disabilities. We felt confident about our case knowing we were being assisted by such a strong team.’

• ‘Kevin McManamon is very calm and puts clients at ease. He was always very patient, did his best to ensure we had access to information, and responded to communication as soon as possible. He is not only an extremely gifted solicitor, he is a genuinely good guy. We will be forever thankful to Kevin for what he managed to accomplish. I will continue to recommend Kevin.’

• ‘This is a great team of passionate and highly skilled lawyers, all of whom come from a variety of different backgrounds and a number of whom have first-hand experience of raising and educating children with special educational needs.’

• ‘Kevin McManamon is a really excellent lawyer. Highly knowledgeable about all areas of education law, as well as complementary areas like COP and health/social care. Wonderful with clients and courteous with opponents, but firm where required. Great written advocacy. Salise Dourmoush is another excellent lawyer. Excellent with clients, but pragmatic and realistic in her advice where required. Excellent written advocacy. Adam Friel needs no introduction. Great with clients, proactive in bringing opponents to the table and narrowing issues/resolving claims where it is workable. Douglas Hamer is tirelessly dedicated to his clients and excellent at spotting legal points for argument.’

• ‘The team are highly experienced and capable. It is a diverse team working effectively together. They have created a team of experts at the top of their field to support the appeals and litigation so that almost all cases win. They are particularly good at negotiating successfully.’

• ‘Adam Friel is straightforward and clear with clients, a real team player. Kevin McManamon is a master of the details of his cases and an excellent holistic thinker.’

• ‘Geldards is a market leader in the field of education law. The solicitors working at the firm draw on considerable experience in the field and their combined experience spans decades. They have good links with well-respected expert witnesses and are exceptionally skilled at dealing with appeals in the First Tier Tribunal on behalf of parents. They also have a good deal of experience in dealing with complex judicial review cases against Local Authorities, as well as Court of Protection matters for young adults with disabilities.’

• ‘Kevin McManamon is exceptionally bright and hard-working. He is my "go to" in complex JR proceedings and Court of Protection applications. He is sensitive and thoughtful and manages difficult clients very well.  Adam Friel has a significant amount of experience in education law and is very well regarded by his peers. He is a very safe pair of hands for any education case.’

Lawyers

Rising stars

Salise Dourmoush

Geldards LLP

Salise Dourmoush, Senior Associate, has over 10 years’ experience in the legal field and 6 years with a specialist practice in SEN. Salise has worked on behalf of parents at a leading Appellant City Law Firm and on behalf of local authorities as their in-house SEN and Education Lead. This has provided her with 3-dimensional understanding of the field and an enhanced approach to her practice. Salise uses this experience to assist children and young people with SEN to achieve their best possible outcomes in their education and future lives. During her career, Salise has developed a jargon-free, practical, and collaborative approach, to try and achieve the best results for her clients as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. Salise is an experienced advocate and holds many training sessions for those wanting to learn about SEN Tribunal processes and final hearings. She is a member of the Education Law Association. Salise is also bi-lingual and can speak fluent Turkish.