Experienced Partners Add Further International Family Law Knowledge to Growing Team

By Dave Grimshaw

Irwin Mitchell has signalled plans for further significant growth in private client legal services work with the appointment of three experienced partners and several other fee earners to its national Family law team.
 
International child disputes expert Louise Halford has joined Irwin Mitchell in Manchester from Pannone and will team up in the North West with Fiona Turner, a specialist high net worth family lawyer who joins after 15 years at niche practices in London.
 
Carol Grundell, whose expertise includes complex financial matters, will complete the new Partner trio when she moves to Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office from DWF at the end of June.
 
The three senior figures will help Irwin Mitchell build on its increasing international workload and profile in complex and large value family cases with further growth and recruitment potentially in the pipeline.
 
The Partner hires come on top of further recruitment to the Family team, which has also recently also appointed two new associates, Ashleigh Prescott in Leeds and Nicky Howarth in Bristol, while David Lister has joined the Sheffield office as a solicitor.
 
Irwin Mitchell’s Family Team is ranked highly on the independent Legal 500 and Chambers UK guides and has grown year-on-year in terms of both turnover and personnel. The latest senior recruits will help provide further experience for the firm’s growing high net worth and international client base.
 
Martin Loxley, Head of the National Family Law team at Irwin Mitchell, said: “Our Family team has gone from strength-to-strength over the past few years and has grown significantly into one of the largest national teams with family lawyers in offices across the country.
 
“The vision of the family team is to be the leading firm in complex relationship breakdown in the UK. It means we are constantly looking to build our existing teams and recruit individuals who will add to the quality of service to our clients. The client is always first .They rightly expect to pay for excellent service and advice. These recruits fit that profile and will help us grow both our national and international practice.”
 
He added: “We are seeing more and more clients all the time approaching us for  advice on international matters and we are delighted to be welcoming these new partners to our innovative and growing team as they will add their extensive experience and expertise in dealing with international family law issues to the skills we already have here.”
 
All three of the new Partners are members of family law organisation Resolution which encourages good practice and a code of conduct in the handling of cases.
 
Fiona Turner, originally from Preston, has moved back to the North West, joining Irwin Mitchell after spending the previous 15 years working in London at innovative family law practices. Her clients include high net worth individuals, from both the UK and abroad, from all walks of life - including business people and entrepreneurs, as well as sports and media professionals.
 
Renowned for her international work, Louise Halford, specialises in all aspects of family law and has particular expertise in dealing with cases involving foreign jurisdictional problems. She has 15 years experience in dealing with complex children disputes and is recognised by the Legal 500 guide as a leading expert in child abduction cases. She dealt with the first case in England under new provisions introduced across Europe resulting in a child being returned to England and its parent.
 
Joining the Leeds office as Partner is Carol Grundell, who was a partner for five years at DWF. Carol is a trained collaborative lawyer and specialises in all areas of family law, particularly divorce and complex financial cases.  She also advises clients in relation to Pre and Post-Nuptial Agreements, Cohabitation Agreements and Children Disputes and regularly deals with an international element to her cases.

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in Family and Divorce law.