Member Article

Triple hire marks start of major recruitment drive for Simpson Millar’s family law team

Leading law firm Simpson Millar has announced the arrival of three new hires within its national family law team in a move which bolsters the firm’s private client offering across the UK.

The appointments signify the start of an ‘ambitious year of growth’ for the firm, with legal heavyweight and Partner Lorraine Harvey joining from Slater & Gordon where she led the Manchester-based family team, and Litigation Executive Chrissy Lightfoot joining from Belgravia based Law Firm Child & Child, where she assisted the former head of practice.

Alice Evans also joins as a Paralegal, having previously worked at Lupton Fawcett in Leeds.

David Lister, national head of the family law team, said plans were underway to further increase the team’s headcount by 12 over the coming months – doubling the total number of family law experts within the business before year end.

With more than 20 years’ experience in key areas of family law including Divorce and pre-nuptial agreements, Lorraine is a Resolution accredited specialist in financial and children disputes.

Commenting on her new role she said: “Simpson Millar is a dynamic, forward thinking firm, and I am delighted to be joining the business during such an exciting era, and amidst the rapid expansion of the family law department which is set to double in size over the course of 2021.”

Chrissy Lightfoot has also joined the family law team as a Litigation Executive and will assist the growing leadership team. Through her 12 years in family law she’s assisted senior partners at other leading firms, including Mishcon de Reya.

Commenting on the latest new recruits David Lister, head of the firm’s family law team, said: “It’s a real honour and privilege to have Alice, Chrissy and Lorraine join our expanding family law team. All three bring with them a wealth of experience, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more high-profile individuals in the coming months.

“Chrissy is known to many across London, especially in the High-Net-Worth sector, and Lorraine has a strong and established reputation within Greater Manchester and across the North West, which is a key growth area for the firm.

“Lorraine’s accolade as a Resolution accredited specialist particularly complements the work we are already doing in order to fundamentally change the face of family law to make it more accessible and open to our clients - including implementing a fully financed divorce and finance fixed price product for those who need it, and a single lawyer-led separation solution which is set for launch in March.

“As part of this, we are working in collaboration with mediators and arbitrators in order to deliver neutral evaluations and consent order drafting services for the significant proportion of couples separating who just want an easy exit with no real fuss.

“The fact that Lorraine joins us from a recognised national outfit and Chrissy joins us after operating for a number of years in one of London’s most luxurious districts tells us that we remain on the right tracks in our quest to become an employer of choice for real talent.”

With offices strategically located across the country, Simpson Millar is a leading national consumer law firm delivering Personal injury and Private Client legal services including Conveyancing, Wills, Trusts and Probate, Court of Protection, Family Law, Public Law and Education, Industrial Disease and Clinical Negligence.

It was recently commended as a leading firm in The Times’ 200 Best Law Firms 2021.

The firm, which is known as ‘The Open Lawyers’, and is establishing itself at the forefront of the changing legal services market, is committed to creating a simpler way to tackle challenges and to ‘open’ up the law to make it easier for people to get legal help and support when they need it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hannah Butler .