Forbes Solicitors has announced the appointment of four new Partners and four new Associates as part of its continued growth.
The largest legal practice in the North West outside the major cities has promoted Lucy Harris, Rubina Vohra, Judith Bloor and Patricia Prescott to Partners from Associates.
It has also confirmed that Kirsty McNulty, Laura Cieplak (nee Wilson), Darren Smith and Paul Huxley have been promoted from Solicitors to Associates.
Siobhan Hardy, Senior Partner at Forbes said: “We are delighted to announce these appointments, which underline the strength in depth which we have at Forbes and which also demonstrates our track record for nurturing our own talent and helping people to build careers with us.
“I look forward to watching their careers flourish even further in the future.”
Lucy Harris works in the Social Services Specialist Unit, within the Insurance Department, representing a number of Local Authorities in their defence of social services claims. She now specialises in cases involving child sexual exploitation acting for some high profile clients. Lucy also provides advice to insured clients on related issues such as legal disclosure, redaction, and litigation privilege.
Judith Bloor has over 20 years experience in the Insurance Sector, specifically defending personal injury claims. She has a wide range of experience in defending public liability, employers’ liability and occupiers’ claims, as well as Inquests, work related injuries and illnesses for both the retail sector and local authorities.
Rubina Vohra is Head of the Private Family Team and is a member of the Advanced Family Law Accreditation. The majority of her case load is divorce, separation and children related. She has significant experience in dealing with financial matters for those that are married and those that have been cohabiting. A large portion of Rubina’s clients have business’ which requires particular expertise.
Patricia Prescott is Head of Wills, Probate, Tax and Trusts and is a full member of the Society for Trusts & Estate Practitioners. She specialises in Wills, Probate, Inheritance Tax, Estate Planning, Trusts, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection and Elderly Client Issues.
Darren Smith is experienced in all areas of Criminal Law from the Police Station Stage of proceedings through to the Crown Court and Court of Appeal. He is a member of the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn; the Criminal Bar Association; Member of the Family Law Bar Association; Member of the Northern Circuit; Member of the Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme.
Paul Huxley is a specialist Duty Solicitor who has experience in representing clients at both the Police Station and various Magistrates Courts in the North West. He is very experienced in all aspects of a criminal case, including trials and sentence hearings of minor offences, through to the more serious and complex.
Kirsty McNulty is based in the Wills, Probate, Tax and Trusts Department and is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly. She advises clients on a range of matters including Will and estate planning; probate; Lasting Powers of Attorney; the Court of Protection on behalf of a proposed Deputy; life interest Trusts, elderly and vulnerable Client advice and advice on care home fees.
Laura Cieplak advises on all aspects of Employment Law and HR. In particular, Laura has vast experience in advising client’s in-house on day-to-day HR matters through to large scale restructure and redundancy processes. In addition, she assists clients in defending and avoiding claims for Unfair Dismissal; Discrimination, harassment and victimisation; Wages; TUPE Transfer; ‘Whistleblowing’ and Settlement Agreements. Laura represents Companies throughout proceedings from Pre-Claim Conciliation to a Final Hearing at an Employment Tribunal.
