Joiners and Leavers

As you’d expect with a busy law firm, we’ve had quite a number of new starters as well as leavers. This year the firm has said goodbye to two of the long-standing partners.

Ian Smith joined Crane and Staples in 1986 and was a partner of the firm for many years. Ian retired as a Partner in 2013 and stayed with us a Consultant, until retiring at the end of August this year. Ian has been a fantastic asset to the firm and the local community over the years, providing legal advice to many local businesses. We are all very sad to see Ian go but hope that he enjoys his well-earned retirement.

Gregory Ainscough has been a partner at Crane and Staples since 1982, Greg retired from the Partnership this year, but happily stays with us as a Consultant. Greg is well known in the local community for his advice on probate, wills and trusts, and property matters.

The firm continues to expand and we were delighted to welcome four new solicitors this year:

Nicole Tynan joined our thriving Family Department in February. Nicole is a Children Law Specialist and joins us from a Local Authority.

In Summer we were pleased to welcome Nicola Shepherd to our Employment and Dispute Resolution department in the Summer. Nicola joins us with a wealth of experience in advocacy and litigation.

In our Property team we were pleased to welcome back Paul Taylor who had previously been part of the Crane & Staples’ Residential team in our Hertford Office. Jonathan Carr recently joined us from a firm in Kent with experience across a wide range of both property and business law areas, Jonathan is delighted to be part of the team, and is also enjoying his shorter commute to work!

We are delighted to congratulate James Shaw and Mandip Sumal on their qualification as Solicitors, having carried out their training contract with the firm. James has accepted a role within our Family Department, and Mandip within our Property Team.

We have also welcomed 2 new trainee solicitors, Georgie Donnellan and Tom Axon, both of whom were previously employed as legal administrators. Georgie and Tom both began their training in September this year and are looking forward to learning lots over the next two years!

Our valuable support team also continues to develop. Lizzie Russel joined us as Legal Administrator whilst studying for her Legal Practice Course, and has recently progressed to her new role of Post Completion Paralegal.

Sheryl Hartigan has joined us to assist in our Property and Commercial Departments. Sheryl has previously completed her Legal Practice Course and joins us from her recent experience at the Herts Chamber of Commerce.

Jodie Sharkey and Anisha Kawal have joined us as Legal Administrators along with Karen Slatter, who has stepped into Mary Oliver’s shoes to assist our Private Client team.

We are thrilled to welcome all of our new staff and hope that you will meet them all soon.

We will miss the valuable members who have also left us. Mary Oliver retired, having worked for the firm for over 30 years providing superb support to our Residential Conveyancing and private client departments. Mary was also a fantastic baker and kept the staff fuelled with delicious cakes.

We also said goodbye to Amy Brunt and Tim Wild from our Property department this year. Sam Britten left us this year, after assisting our Commercial Department since 2011, to become a Property Paralegal.

We wish all our leavers every success with the new chapters in their lives.