Jessica Flaherty is a partner at Bell Lamb & Joynson and heads up the firm’s award winning Private Client team. Jess is a trust and estate practitioner and an Accredited Lifetime Lawyer.
What was your career path to your current role?
I left university and was lucky enough to get a paralegal role in a local high street firm within a few months. Following that I was granted a training contract and the rest, as they say, is history!
Did you have any other career ambitions?
Not since going to university but when I was applying to college it was a toss up between A-Level law and a BTEC in interior design. Random, I know!
What keeps you motivated in your work?
My lovely team and clients. I am lucky to have a close-knit team who work really well together. I have recently returned from maternity leave and the first two clients I have seen have both said “I feel so much better now I have spoken to you”. Comments like that keep me motivated.
What has been the best development in wills and probate in the last 20 years?
The development of technology, particularly with regard to will drafting and estate administration software.
And the worst?
Introduction of online LPAs. I feel like we are moving backwards with regards to managing the risk and protecting vulnerable clients in this regard rather than forwards.
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
Legislation that prohibits DIY wills and ensures that wills are regulated. I think this would help protect and safeguard testators and beneficiaries and provide peace of mind knowing that everything has been done properly.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
Not really legislation, but the removal of mutual wills. Although I can see the appeal, they are very restrictive and it is difficult for clients to properly understand the implications and possible issues that may arise in the future when they have been created.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
You can’t be expected to know everything all the time. This is so true, especially in wills and probate as the advice we provide often crosses over into so many other areas of law.
What advice would you like to give to someone just starting out?
What’s the phrase? “Life is a marathon, not a sprint” – that applies to your career too. You don’t need to be qualified by a certain age or be an associate by the time you are a certain age. Actually take time to figure out what you enjoy doing. It took me a little while, but now I know I wouldn’t work in any other area of law.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
I love Disney… so much so that I dragged my husband to Orlando for our honeymoon for our ‘once in a lifetime’ holiday, and for me to then book the same holiday for the following year as soon as we got home. Currently on five visits to Disney World and four visits to Disneyland Paris, and counting…
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