‘From my perspective it is easily the best firm doing this work in the Worcestershire region. In a sense it is a local firm with a national punch. From the client’s perspective therefore they get a service that really understands their particular needs, but with the heft of a large firm‘.

‘Beth King Smith exemplifies that ability to identify with a client and build a close working relationship which makes that client feel like that are being given special attention. She therefore inspires great confidence in her abilities. Moreover, she is totally unflappable in the heat of litigation. She combines this with her good technical knowledge and ability to galvanise her team‘.

‘Beth King Smith makes decisions quickly and ensures that litigation is progressed speedily from start to finish. In a nutshell, she has the knack of making things happen a quality not always displayed in this area of work. I have also been working with Alyson McGowen whom I have found to be highly knowledgeable, with strong judgment and the ability to cut through bluff and bluster from opponents‘.

‘Beth King Smith had a very ‘can do’ and enthusiastic approach from the moment I first made contact with her. Beth also showed a lot of empathy and understanding of my situation which at the time was fragile. She gave me hope when everything around me was dark. I certainly put my faith and trust in her, and she delivered‘.

‘Beth King Smith and the team are very professional and knowledgeable. I got answers to any questions very quickly. Nothing is too much trouble’.

‘Beth King Smith is very calm under pressure and well organised. She is caring and explained everything in detail so that I could understand. We came out with a fantastic result due to her excellent skills under difficult circumstances. Thank you so much‘.

‘Able to compete with the best-known London firms in quality of lawyers, commercial awareness, and tactical nous but without the fee rates to match. It is a very close-knit team that goes above and beyond in servicing its clients, with whom the lawyers have a great rapport‘.

‘Lucy Howard has been operating at partner level for years. She is one of the hardest workers in this sector and puts her clients first in all she does, which she does by deploying an excellent understanding of the law and keen strategic sense. Kieran Leahy is keen as mustard and incredibly hardworking, as well as very personable and highly perceptive‘.

‘The Mills & Reeve contentious trust and probate team has grown significantly in the few years since it was established and is one of the leading teams in the Midlands. The team is superbly led by Lucy Howard who is first-rate. She is very strong technically who really fights her client’s corner‘.

‘One of the stand out teams within the Midlands for CT&P work. Better known for dealing with high value contested estate work, and resourced to comfortably manage such work‘.

‘Lucy Howard leads the team and has a well deserved reputation as a quality practitioner in this area. Kim Ryan is also highly competent‘.

‘The contentious probate team is growing rapidly with several new key hires in 2021, following Lucy Howard being made partner. Lucy Howard is a strong litigator with a finesse for detail and case law’.

‘Mills & Reeve is one of the few firms in the country that offers the quality of expertise in this area of the law’.

‘Lucy Howard – outstanding and a leading expert in her field with a great bedside manner. Kim Ryan – very thorough and diligent in her approach‘.

‘The firm has developed a very good reputation for being extremely responsive to their clients. Pam Deol has recently joined Sydney Mitchell to add additional experience to its contentious probate department. Pam is an extremely astute solicitor who handles these difficult cases with sensitivity‘.

‘Main thing is that firm’s staff are very, very down to earth , honest and bilingual. Pam Deol is well known in sikh community for the last 20-25 years’.

‘They care, listen and learn all about your case and never is anything too much trouble. Pam Deol was an outstanding solicitor along with her colleagues‘.

‘Pam Deol is outstanding in her field. She has an ability to grasp facts and information easily, and apply her broad experience and expertise to build great empathy and trust with clients. She continues to learn and apply herself to the latest case law and never rests on her laurels. I would say that Pam is a tremendous asset to Sydney Mitchell LLP, I also know that she supports and coaches new talent in the firm as well as other activities such as writing blogs and radio interviews’.

‘Pam Deol is a vastly experienced litigator who is particularly adept at dealing with difficult family situations, and able in those situations to adopt a collegiate approach in order to bring people together in order often to achieve positive outcomes for her clients. When I have seen her in practice she is consistently good humoured but tough and able to work particularly well with Counsel to make her client’s case’.

‘Pam Deol has moved to Sydney Mitchell as a partner and will be a great asset. Pam is very professional‘.

‘Pam Deol is an outstanding lawyer who pays attention to detail and offers a high level of client care and service’.

‘I have had dealings with Pam Deol who is a partner in the contentious trusts and probate department, she has extensive experience in the her area of expertise and has great client care skills and is able to build and maintain client relationships‘.

‘Freeths has a well-established and well-regarded private client team. The strength of the team transcends the regional offices. It is often involved in large private client disputes also involving the elite London private client firms’.

‘Freeths has a solid team in the West Midlands. Max Orbach is a strong managing associate‘.

‘Freeths provided a breath of fresh air and it was a relief to find a firm not only actively willing to help but willing to go the extra mile to ensure the issue was resolved. I dealt directly with Max Orbach and wouldn’t hesitate to contact him in the future. Max went above and beyond for me and I couldn’t hold him in higher regard. He is extremely passionate, professional and knowledgeable in his field’.

‘Freeth’s management of my case was extremely organised. Max Orbach was fantastic, he was ahead of all the other solicitors involved from other firms, his predictions as far as time lines were always spot on and could advise me on what was around the corner, he showed a great understanding of my situation and the difficulties I had dealing with being a defendant‘.

‘ From my perspective it has a great deal of inhouse specialist knowledge, including a very strong private client offering. Thus the private client side and the litigation side work well together to ensure that the client receives very well rounded advice. Some solicitors rely on counsel to guide the case, but this team is very confident and knowledgeable. They think very strategically about the conduct of the litigation. There is also very good quality partner oversight, which is also proportionate’.

‘The lead partner I deal with is Mark Keeley. He is very bright, had a deep knowledge of the law in particular as it develops, and had a great no nonsense but sympathetic manner with the clients. Very easy to work with.  I also work with Max Orbach who is a very deep thinker about his cases, reviewing matters from every angle. A pleasure to work with’.

‘Mark Keeley is an experienced litigator with superb judgment. I often recommend him as a mediator. Max Orbach continues to be impressive’.

‘Gateley Legal is a relative newcomer to the CT&P Midlands market, but has made somewhat of a splash by recruiting, firstly, Gavin Faber, to head the team and, more recently, Andrew McManus, to deputise. Faber has a long standing and well earned reputation within the Midlands market as a true specialist. Similarly, McManus is well known and will undoubtedly provide further depth and credibility to the Gateley Legal offering’.

‘Technically strong, commercially minded and always pleasant to deal with. Gavin Faber – really fights the client’s corner, forms a clear strategy for realising the client’s objectives at the outset’.

‘Gavin Faber is very calm, measured and pragmatic while also having his client’s best interests at heart’.

‘Gavin Faber is an acute and technical litigator with an eye for detail’.

‘Gavin Faber is a stand out litigator. Gavin always gets to the heart of the issues quickly and can grapple with very complex concepts with ease. He takes time to understand his client’s motivation and key objectives and works out how to best achieve them, and advises on the best strategy to ensure that the case is put on the right track at the outset. Gavin is a shrewd negotiator who has excellent judgment on where to pitch an offer to achieve the best settlement’.

‘Gavin Faber is an immensely experienced highly robust contentious trusts and probate litigator. For me he is the pre-eminent strategic thinker in plotting a path through complex litigation. He is a straight talker and very practical, looking to achieve tactical advantage to secure a practical solution. I would recommend him very highly. A person you want in your corner in a fight, but also someone who can find the peace!’.

‘The team covers the gamut of trusts and estate litigation, taking on domestic and international clients. Gavin Faber is the star of the show’.

‘Gavin Faber is great at managing difficult clients and giving them appropriate and focused advice’.

‘This practice offers a varied range of expertise which makes it easy for someone like me, who is dealing with a range of issues following the death of my partner, to link with skilled staff in all the areas of the law that I need to call on. It’s comforting to know that whatever I need help with, there is someone within the team who can take on that work and guide me through the various processes‘.

‘Mainly I have been dealing with Claire Vale who is extremely knowledgeable, provides clear and succinct guidance, all the while being a very professional and friendly person. I’m really glad to have her on my side, she takes the fear out of my dealings with the claims made by my late partner’s family. She goes straight to the heart of problems raised in each communication, simplifying the content and issues so that I can easily understand the current situation and what options I have to resolve the matters‘.

‘The team has great strength in depth and a considerable pool of knowledge and experience. The lawyers are able to handle all aspects of trusts and probate litigation with aplomb navigating legal issues and procedure adeptly. The team is experienced, competent and approachable. They have a breadth of knowledge in dealing with a wide variety of work, including challenges to the validity of wills, removal of executors and bringing and defending 1975 Act claims. They have achieved accreditations across the team and have a good reputation with both clients and professionals alike’.

‘Claire Vale is an excellent solicitor who has a comprehensive knowledge of probate issues, both in regards of the law and also practical issues which are likely to arise in litigation. She is an expert in her field. She is able to identify from a very early stage in any case the likely merits of a course of action and any issues which may be raised by the other side, or practical concerns. This is clearly based upon her extensive experience of this area of law and drawing on this she is able to guide clients through their cases with great effect‘.

‘Claire Vale has a range of contentious trusts and probate disputes, all of which she handles with care and attention to detail. Reassuring for clients and with a keen eye on the important points in any dispute’.

‘Knowledgeable and quick to respond. Reassuring, easy to approach and professional’.

‘Always available, up to speed on the case‘.

‘One of the best teams in the West Midlands. Alistair Spencer is an associate solicitor with an obvious commitment to the development of his specialist practice. He puts in considerable effort to cement his knowledge of the law (such as what can be gleaned from new decisions), and to keep up to speed with it. By this and other steps, he shows Sh Ma to provide a strong and well informed offering in the discrete discipline of contentious probate‘.

‘Approachable, prompt, patient‘.

‘It feels like you’re being treated on a personal individual level, I felt looked after by each person I have spoken to and dealt with. The knowledge & expertise is of a far greater standard’.

‘Wilkes is a strong central Birmingham firm, which again has the benefit of a very strong private client team. As a result estates where there are potentially difficult tax issues are in safe hands because of the breadth of knowledge. Also, the team is particularly strong in property law which gives the contentious trusts and probate team an extra dimension in cases involving a technical property element. In conducting litigation they are very constructive and keep the clients very well informed and engaged at each stage of the litigation’.

‘Kevin Lynch is very affable which he combines with a sharp intellect which makes him very persuasive when dealing with opponents. “Beguiling” might be a good word to use of him. Moreover, he is able to recognise what matters and does not matter, so is very good a focusing on the true issues, without getting side-tracked by irrelevant detail’.

‘Jack Ackrill is very approachable and affable and  is able to see how a piece of litigation is unfolding and prepare accordingly. Kevin Lynch and Jack Ackrill are both able to see things several moves ahead. Jack is exceptionally methodical in his approach and likewise unflappable. They are both very good to work with and deliver excellent client care’.

‘The team is growing on account of the reputation it has built in a relatively short period of time. Even a couple of years ago, it was essentially a two-person operation. Under the dynamic leadership of Kevin Lynch, its offering in this specialist work is clearly going from strength to strength. Kevin Lynch – savvy and insightful. He has a real sense of strategy‘.