• March 28, 2024
 New private client leadership team for Irwin Mitchell

New private client leadership team for Irwin Mitchell

Reorganisation helps clients to take advantage of hybrid working – tapping into specialists from across the country.

Irwin Mitchell has reorganised its Private Client team to better support its clients’ needs across the country, taking advantage of the shift to more flexible working patterns.

The firm’s Private Client team is the 3rd largest in the country in terms of fee earners and comprises of 165 people across Irwin Mitchell’s office footprint. They are ranked number 1 in many areas of law by both the Legal 500 and Chambers UK independent guides to the best lawyers.

Paula Myers heads up the Private Client team which works across wills, tax and trusts, probate, rural and landed estates, will disputes and international tax. Irwin Mitchell acts for an increasing number of clients with cryptocurrency holdings of over £200 million. The firm also has partnerships with a number of highly respected charities, such as Macmillan and Age UK, providing Will writing and associated legal services.

The reorganisation of the Private Client team see a new leadership team established to recognise the strength in depth across the country and bring specialists in each area of Private Client closer together regardless of location. This will provide clients with an enhanced service offering.

As well as heading up the Private Client team overall, Paula Myers will continue to lead the national Will Disputes team. She will be joined on the Private Client leadership team by:

  • Paula James, who will lead the Lifestyle and Estate Planning Team
  • Ashley Hill who heads up the Tax, Trusts and Compliance Team
  • Gillian Coverley will lead the Partnerships, Wills and Probate Team
  • Claire-Marie Cornford will lead the International and High Net Worth team with international tax expert Alex Ruffel currently taking charge while Claire-Marie is away from the office on maternity leave.

Paula Myers said:

“We’re one of the largest private client teams in the country working across the UK and for international clients and the new set-up embraces our new ways of hybrid working post-Covid maximising our resources across the UK which will help us deliver an even better client experience. Our specialists from all over the country are working closer than ever so rather than being restricted by geography we can ensure the right people are working on the right client work.

We’ve got some incredible colleagues, many of whom are accredited by STEP or recommended by independent guides such as the Legal 500 or Chambers UK. I’m proud of the work we do for our clients and we look forward to working with more over the coming months and years.”

Irwin Mitchell has seen a of high profile Private Client recruits in the past 12 months including Will Dispute partners Kam Mejavadia and Candy Stockton; Christine Thornley joined to lead the Manchester Tax Trusts and Estates (TTE) team and Thomas Wainman is a TTE partner in Leeds.

Irwin Mitchell also last month appointed leading private client expert Siri Siriwardene to drive growth amongst the affluent community including business owners and high net worth clients. Siri will work closely with the new Private Client leadership team, as well as the Family Law, Residential Property and Asset Management teams to analyse and help meet the broad needs of existing clients as well as drive a strategic growth plan targeting new business.

As a full service law firm Irwin Mitchell has the market leading complex personal injury team, an award-winning Corporates and Institutions team, the largest Family Law team and its Asset Management team has c.£1bn assets under management. The firm also recently opened two new offices in Cardiff and Liverpool.

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Annie Simmons