Ellis Jones Solicitors LLP

The firm: Ellis Jones Solicitors LLP is a leading independent law firm located in Dorset and Hampshire in the South of England and in London. The firm offers a wide range of services to individuals and businesses, with a focus on SME and owner managed businesses.

Ellis Jones prides itself on delivering excellence and professionalism with personality. They have been recognised in The Times Best Law Firms 2020 and are ranked year on year in The Legal 500 and listed in the Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide.

Principal areas of work
Commercial litigation: Ellis Jones Solicitors’ commercial litigation team has a wealth of experience advising businesses and individuals on a wide range of disputes. Its national reputation and wide-ranging referral network sees it act for SMEs, charities and individuals across a range of complex and high-value disputes.

Comprising of 11 lawyers, the team incorporates dispute resolution (Tier 1 The Legal 500 2027), banking and finance litigation, and contentious insolvency. It is headed by Lauren Day (Leading Partner The Legal 500 2027),  Paul Kanolik (Leading Partner The Legal 500 2027) who has niche experience in bringing claims against betting companies. Conor Maher has also been recognised as a Leading Associate, highlighting the strength and depth of expertise within the team.

"Ellis Jones dealt with my legal matter very efficiently; they were great at communicating and explaining the various potential outcomes."

The team’s banking and finance offering has recovered in excess of £60m for clients since it was established in 2012 and the Firm has recovered over £3.8m from various betting operators in relation to gambling disputes over the last two years.

Family: The family department (Tier 2 The Legal 500 2027) is the largest team of family mediators/collaborative lawyers in Dorset, committed to achieving accreditation by Resolution (a national family lawyers’ association) through rigorous testing on legal, strategic and procedural knowledge. Partner Sean McNally is a collaborative lawyer and trained mediator with experience in handling a wide range of family law matters. Both Deborah Leask (Leading Partner The Legal 500 2027) and Ian Butterworth are accredited specialists in complex high value financial cases and Deborah is also an accredited specialist in pensions.

Katie Taft is accredited in the field of Child Abduction and Children Law and act for parents across the world in international child abduction. They are included on the highly specialist ICACU panel. Katie is also recognised by the charity “Reunite” as an expert in this field. Ian sits as a Deputy District Judge and is a member of the Resolution specialist accreditation committee which oversees the accreditation scheme nationwide.

"The family team has a long and distinguished reputation as the best in the area. This has been earned by creating a strong, reliable, and knowledgeable team able to meet all types of family disputes. No other firm in the area now has such a stable base from which to offer advice."

Business services & Employment Law: The Ellis Jones business services team (Tier 3 The Legal 500 2027) offers technical and practical advice in corporate and general commercial work with a dedicated employment law team (Tier 2 The Legal 500 2027) led by partner Kate Brooks. Offering a solid blend of HR and traditional employment law services and is particularly regarded for work involving education and charity employers, as well as LGBT clients in discrimination cases. Specialist sectors include healthcare, E-commerce, IT, FCA regulated clients, academies and charities.

"The standout partner is Kate Brooks. She is extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of employment law, and she is both pragmatic and practical.”

Neil Cook (partner and head of department) is dual qualified, having been admitted as a US Attorney in New York and as a result deals with International transactions. Neil has also owned a care home and is able to provide specialist advice to the healthcare sector. The team have worked with clients overseas in many jurisdictions.

"The commercial approach of both Neil and Clem was a standout quality for us and something we highly value."

Wills, trusts and probate: Partner, Carla Brown, heads the wills, trusts and probate department (Tier 2 The Legal 500 2027), highly regarded for its trust practice in particular, whilst also maintaining a very strong reputation for will writing, estate planning and estate administration. Carla was noted as having "an exceptionally strong background in Trusts and Wills; she is backed by a strong team." The department handles a diverse range of needs to fit the requirements of high-net-worth individuals.

Contentious trusts and probate: Awarded Tier 2 in The Legal 500 2027, the team’s work includes Inheritance Act claims, disputes concerning the validity of wills, estate and trust disputes, and proprietary estoppel claims. Victoria Riddleston has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner and Matt Rushent recognised as a Leading Associate in The Legal 500 2027. The Contentious Trusts and Probate team has four specialist lawyers, with the quality and expertise of the team being described as “second to none”.

Property Litigation: Awarded Tier 4 in The Legal 500 2027, recognised for advising on a variety of property disputes, our Property Litigation team supports clients on matters including business lease renewals, restrictive covenants, planning disputes and other complex property-related issues.

Lauren Day and Florence Maher were highlighted as key lawyers within the team.

"The members of the firm with whom I have worked show a great deal of care and attention to their individual cases."

• Managing partner: Lauren Day

• Number of partners: 26

• Number of fee-earners:  74