Gardner Leader LLP

Gardner Leader LLP

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Madia Aslam

Madia Aslam

Madia is an Associate in the Family team. Madia is based in the Maidenhead office and assists with all aspects of relationship breakdown including cohabitee, divorce, finances and children disputes. Madia also has a keen interest in Islamic Law and the extent to which it is recognised in England and Wales and has written a number of articles in respect of this area. Madia additionally has conversational abilities in Urdu and Patwari/Mirpuri. Madia’s clients have described her as prompt, decisive and have praised her for going above and beyond.
Michael Axe

Michael Axe

Michael Axe is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution and Life Sciences team based in Maidenhead. Michael is a senior litigator with 20 years’ experience of resolving Commercial Disputes for his clients, with particular expertise in Professional Negligence claims, Franchising disputes, Intellectual Property disputes & Brand Protection,  Director & Shareholder disputes, contentious Tax matters, Insurance disputes and Commercial Agency disputes. His clients range from multinational corporations, PLCs and SMEs to high net-worth individuals involved in national and international commercial disputes. Michael is highly experienced in court proceedings and methods of alternative dispute resolution including mediation and various forms of arbitration. He has particular experience in cross-border contractual issues and international intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement. Commercial Disputes Experience Michael has a broad commercial practice with a number of specialisms. He acts in professional negligence claims, intellectual property disputes (including passing off claims), franchise disputes (on behalf of both franchisors and franchisees), tax disputes (against HMRC, UK Border Force and various other authorities), commercial agency disputes and a wide variety of insurance disputes. Michael is also regularly instructed in company disputes including shareholder claims and applications for the removal of company directors.
Jolyon Barton

Jolyon Barton

Jolyon (Jo) is a partner at Gardner Leader in the Inheritance Protection team. Jo’s work includes inheritance tax and capital gains tax mitigation, wills drafting, creating and advising on trusts and their use in tax planning, administration of large and complex estates, court of protection matters and deputyships and lasting powers of attorney. Commercial and other property matters Jo has dealt with have included property transactions associated with tax planning and trusts, acquisitions and disposals including business premises, farms and residential property, options and development agreements, grant and renewal of commercial leases and property tax considerations. Within the partnership Jo is Inheritance Protection team leader and the firm’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer.
Michael Beadsworth

Michael Beadsworth

Michael joined Gardner Leader in 2022 having previously been a partner in a Thames Valley firm of solicitors for many years and having worked as an in-house lawyer for a major UK charity. Michael is a specialist Real Estate Lawyer focused on delivering tailored advice to meet clients’ needs and achievable outcomes. He has well over thirty years of experience in commercial property including options, promotion agreements, land purchases and site set ups, leases, finance agreements and public houses
Tim Blackman

Tim Blackman

Tim Blackman is a Senior Associate in the Real Estate team. Tim’s work covers several areas of commercial real estate, including acquisitions, disposals and landlord & tenant matters. He also acts in connection with rural, equestrian and agricultural land matters, plus transactions involving secured finance. Tim’s clients include individuals, SME’s, financial institutions and regional charities. Tim always aims to provide clear, pragmatic and commercially astute advice, and prides himself on the relationships that he builds with clients.
Richard Buckeridge

Richard Buckeridge

Educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Durham University with a degree in classics. He was admitted in 1980 and has been advising businesses both locally, nationally and internationally for over 40 years. Richard merged his practice of Heath Buckeridge with Gardner Leader in October 2014 and retired from the Gardner Leader Partnership in April 2024. Richard is highly regarded as a Consultant in the practice in his speciality of Commercial Property acting for landlords and tenants and landowners in relation to land development and all aspects of commercial property.
Stephanie Buckeridge

Stephanie Buckeridge

Stephanie is a Senior Associate at Gardner Leader. She is based in the Maidenhead office.Stephanie is well known within the Home Counties. This is reflected by the fact that her workload primarily comes from recommendations made by past or current clients. Stephanie is a member of Resolution a national organisation of family lawyers committed to dealing with divorce, separation and other family problems in a non-confrontational manner. She seeks to finds solutions for clients with sensible discussion and negotiation wherever possible.Outside the office Stephanie has a keen interest working within the community. She spent five years with girls aged from seven to eleven on a voluntary basis developing the girls’ self-awareness, confidence and leadership skills. She has also assisted with Business Enterprise within a Local Secondary School.
Joanna Bullard

Joanna Bullard

Jo joined Gardner Leader in 2016 having previously worked for regional heavyweight firms in Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Jo specialises in Real Estate work acting for a variety of corporate clients and public authorities. Her work includes landlord and tenant matters, sales and purchases, secured lending, development and on the property aspects of corporate asset and share sales acquisitions and disposals. Jo has represented a number of banks in respect of refinancing of property and mortgage portfolios. Jo’s commercial and pragmatic approach in dealing with transactions helps clients achieve their end goal.
Michelle Di Gioia

Michelle Di Gioia

Michelle is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Team and a member of the Board. She has a wealth of experience across commercial disputes, property litigation and health and safety issues and acts for a range of clients from businesses, residential/commercial landlords to individuals. Commercial Disputes Experience Michelle advises in a variety of matters from contractual disputes, professional negligence, partnership/shareholder disputes, insolvency, injunctions and arbitration. Property Disputes Experience Michelle advises both landlords and tenants in respect of rent arrears, disrepair, dilapidations, forfeiture, restrictive covenants and obtaining possession.  In addition Michelle advises property developers and has acted in respect of disputes arising out of overage agreements. Health and Safety Experience Michelle has significant strength in health and safety in relation to compliance, risk management and litigation advice. She has handled major instructions primarily drawn from the manufacturing and construction sectors relating to the defence of prosecutions and regulatory investigations. Her breadth of regulatory experience spans to matters such as health and safety, environmental and trading standards. Michelle provides proactive advice on policies and systems and reactive advice involving damage limitation and reputation management.
Katie Dyson

Katie Dyson

Katie Dyson is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Team. Commercial Disputes Katie is a commercial dispute resolution specialist with experience in banking and finance litigation. Her work includes cross border injunctions, civil fraud, commodities actions, corporate litigation and a significant amount of international arbitration, including at a sovereign/interstate level. Katie has a strong focus on the technical aspects of her cases. She was listed as a Rising Star for Commercial Litigation in the 2022 Legal 500 rankings.
Chris Felton

Chris Felton

Chris Felton is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution and Life Sciences team. Chris specialises in all aspects of corporate and commercial dispute resolution, litigation and arbitration. Commercial Disputes Chris regularly conducts matters in the Commercial, Chancery and Insolvency and Companies Courts. Many of his cases have an international dimension.  He has litigated for clients in a number of different jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, former CIS States, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, Seychelles, Malaysia, Singapore and China. Chris has significant experience of both domestic and international arbitration (LCIA, ICC, Swiss Rules, GAFTA and ad hoc).
Simon Fisher

Simon Fisher

Simon Fisher is a Partner and Team Leader in the Family Team based in the Maidenhead office. Simon Fisher joined Gardner Leader in January 2018 having worked as a specialist family law solicitor for over 15 years. He is a member of Resolution and a former member of the Law Society Family Law Accreditation Scheme. Simon studied Law at the University of Wales, Swansea and qualified as a Solicitor in 2007. He also has a Master’s Degree in Sports Law and Practice. Within the partnership, Simon’s role as Client Care Partner means that he is responsible for ensuring that clients are fully satisfied with the service they receive from Gardner Leader. Family Law Simon is experienced in a range of family law issues including divorce, financial matters, nuptial agreements, cohabitation disputes and children matters. Simon has dealt with many complex cases with international aspects, often involving assets and issues from many different jurisdictions. He is highly skilled at drafting complex nuptial agreements and cases surrounding limited companies. He has acted for many mid to high net worth clients. Simon is hard working and prides himself on seeking the best outcome for his clients. He is committed to resolving issues in an amicable manner whenever possible. Simon is also a Collaborative trained lawyer, which is an alternative way of resolving family issues. Simon has been recognised in the Legal 500 directory as a key lawyer since 2020.
Alastair Goggins

Alastair Goggins

Alastair is a Partner and Head of both the Dispute Resolution and Charity Team. He has over 25 years of experience dealing with contentious trusts and probate issues on behalf of executors, trustees, beneficiaries and charities and is regularly instructed in complex and high value disputes. A recognised leader in his area, Alastair has a proven track record of resolving trust and probate issues to the benefit of his clients both at trial and through alternative dispute resolution. His work often includes issues of foreign law and jurisdiction. Alastair has been recognised as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500 for many years.
Greg Humphreys

Greg Humphreys

Greg joined Gardner Leader in 2000 having emigrated from South Africa where he qualified as an attorney. Greg qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and was admitted to the partnership in 2006 and has led the Real Estate Team for more than 10 years. Throughout his career Greg has worked in the commercial and Real Estate environment. This allows Greg to bring a broad knowledge of commercial law and practice and a commercial approach to the advice that he provides, and he aims for practical solutions to best meet his clients’ needs.
Philip Humphreys

Philip Humphreys

Philip is a Partner in our Corporate Team. He is a transactional M&A lawyer with over 30 years’ extensive corporate experience, acting mainly for sellers on share and asset deals. He also specialises in management buy-outs, joint ventures and reorganisations and increasingly is relied on by clients for overall strategic and commercial advice. He works with a mixture of regional, national and international clients. He is frequently recommended as a key individual in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, the two main independent legal guides: “He is very pragmatic and solution-driven, he always comes up with viable and workable solutions. “ “He’s excellent; he’s highly commercial, very strong technically and has a very calm manner. “
Peter James

Peter James

Sally is a Partner in the Corporate, Commercial and Life Sciences teams. Sally has had a distinguished career that started in a top 10 law firm and included several years in Hong Kong.  After 10 years as a corporate lawyer in private practice Sally moved inhouse for 13 years as Head of Legal for a multi-national technology company which was successfully sold for £82m in 2012. Sally then founded her own boutique corporate law firm in Oxford and over the course of 13 years her team acted for clients in the life sciences sector and the broader business community. In 2023 Sally joined her team with Gardner Leader LLP and is looking forward to expanding the Oxford office. Sally is recognised as an astute, versatile lawyer. She has a well-earned reputation for providing pragmatic, commercial advice. Sally likes to act for family-owned or entrepreneur led businesses but is just as at home working with large corporates and UK subsidiaries of multi-national and overseas listed companies.
Robert Jobson

Robert Jobson

Robert is a Partner at Gardner Leader in the Inheritance Protection Team. Robert advises clients on all aspects of their inheritance planning including trusts, wills, inheritance tax, estate administration and lasting powers of attorney. He specialises in advising clients on trusts and regularly helps clients establish new trusts as well as to administer existing trusts. He frequently acts as professional trustee and executor. Robert’s role is frequently that of a trusted adviser and he works closely with his clients and other lawyers in Gardner Leader to ensure that the client receives the legal advice they need.
Joe Lewis

Joe Lewis

Joe is a Partner and Team Leader of our Corporate Team. He advises entrepreneurs and business owners at all stages of their development from start-up to exit, including start-up capital, angel financing and private equity investment. His practice covers private M&A, management buyouts, shareholders agreements and joint ventures, reorganisation and corporate governance. He has experience of capital markets transactions, including flotations, introductions and fundraisings, having acted for numbers UK and international issuers. Joe is recommended in the Legal 500 2023, as being “experienced, calm and professional”.
Richard Mead

Richard Mead

Richard is based in our Thatcham office. Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1987, Richard has specialised in estate planning work. He advises clients on how to protect their wealth and also guides them on the most appropriate methods of transferring that wealth, both during lifetime and on death.Richard is an expert in advising on and drawing up wills – these often include trusts to reduce Inheritance Tax, minimise the impact of care fees or protect vulnerable beneficiaries. In his line of work he will ensure that pension funds, death in service benefits and life assurance policies are dealt with in accordance with the client’s wishes and as tax efficiently as possible. Richard is also experienced in advising on the taxation consequences of lifetime gifts and whether a trust should be considered, including setting up, restructuring and terminating trusts. He also deals with trust administration and is personally named as a trustee in some cases. His experience in Probate and administration of estates includes post-death tax planning to minimise Inheritance Tax. Setting up and registering powers of attorney is also an area of Richard’s expertise.
Hilary Messer

Hilary Messer

Hilary Messer is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Team. Hilary specialises in dispute resolution and has extensive knowledge in a wide range of civil litigation matters. Hilary is not afraid to take on cases from which other shy away and has built a reputation for her high levels of tenacity and enterprise, making her a formidable opponent. Hilary takes pride in ensuring that she always secures the very best outcome she can for her clients. Hilary was a recommended lawyer in Legal 500 (2019 and 2020) and a noted member of the litigation team. Hilary was previously voted one of the Hot 100 Lawyers for her work challenging the banks on Shared Application Mortgages (SAMs), along with being Times Lawyer of the Week and Law Society Lawyer of the Month. Commercial Disputes Experience Hilary’s expertise in property litigation includes building disputes, landlord and tenant matters, applications relating to trusts of land, boundary and right of way disputes. Property Disputes Experience Hilary practices in all areas of commercial dispute resolution. Hilary has a particular interest in what may best be described as ‘cause cases’, acting for the individual against bureaucracy and officialdom. Contested Probate Experience Hilary acts in a wide variety of contested probate matters, from applications to remove executors to the resistance of Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claims and in claims against estates.
Stephanie Newton

Stephanie Newton

Stephanie is a Solicitor at Gardner Leader in the Family team. She is based in the Newbury office. Stephanie advises clients in relation to all matters arising out of divorce/relationship breakdown. Having previously undertaken public law children work as well as private law children work, Stephanie has extensive knowledge of children matters to assist parents with the arrangements for their children following relationship breakdown. Stephanie can also assist with the protection of assets through Pre-nuptial, Post-nuptial and Cohabitation agreements.
Sam Pinder

Sam Pinder

Sam is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution team based in London. He specialises in corporate and commercial disputes, as well as property litigation. He acts in contentious matters for a wide range of commercial entities and individuals. Commercial Disputes Sam has a broad commercial disputes practice which includes contractual disputes, partnership/shareholder disputes, professional negligence claims and contentious  insolvency. He represents clients both in court and before national and international arbitration bodies. Property Disputes Sam deals with a variety of commercial landlord and tenant matters including rent arrears, disrepair, forfeiture, and obtaining possession, construction disputes, as well as disputes relating to trusts of land, rights of way and adverse possession. Sam has also acted in numerous matters under the Electronic Communications Code in the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). Sam is a member of the Property Litigation Association.
Elizabeth Saunders

Elizabeth Saunders

Elizabeth Saunders is a Partner in our Family Team. Elizabeth has vast experience and technical grasp of issues that arise for high net worth individuals when their personal or wider family relationships break down. Elizabeth frequently deals with trust structures, inherited wealth and family businesses on divorce or separation. Always strategic and constructive, she is a tenacious litigator when the need arises and entirely focused on getting the best outcome for her client. Elizabeth also negotiates and drafts pre and post-nuptial agreements.
Vicky Schollar

Vicky Schollar

Vicky is a Senior Associate in the Employment Team and is based at the Newbury office. Vicky is a highly experienced employment lawyer and joined the firm in January 2024 to head up the Employment Team.  Vicky advises clients across a variety of sectors, but has particular experience in advising SME’s and clients in the education and charity sectors.  Vicky works closely with her clients to understand their business and to provide them with commercial and pragmatic employment law advice.
Andrew Shipp

Andrew Shipp

Andrew Shipp is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Team. Andrew has over 20 years of litigation experience, specialising in complicated commercial disputes and acts for a range of clients from large corporations to sole traders. Andrew also undertakes a wide range of property litigation work. Andrew aims to form a view on a client’s prospects of success at an early stage, so that sensible decisions can be made with regards to the correct course of action in order to maximise the return for the client. Commercial Disputes The main focus of Andrew’s work is commercial disputes. He deals with a range of issues including contractual disputes, shareholder/director disputes and debt recovery. Andrew has a great deal of experience with insolvency matters and acts for Insolvency Practitioners pursuing book debts, contractual claims and delinquent directors. Property Disputes Andrew has acted for a number of clients on a broad range of property litigation issues such as adverse possession claims, rights of way, and landlord and tenant matters, including possession claims, dilapidations and lease disputes.
Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith

Daniel Smith is a Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team. Daniel joined the firm in 2015 as a paralegal after graduating from Oxford Brooks University and completing the Legal Practice Course in Oxford at the University of Law. Daniel’s training has had a significant focus on property, having spent a year in the Residential Conveyancing team. He undertook seats in Residential Conveyancing, Property Litigation and Commercial Property through his training contract. Daniel qualified as a Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team in January 2020.
Harry Stewart-Moore

Harry Stewart-Moore

Harry is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Team based in our London office. Harry is a commercial litigator with a broad practice covering both contractual and tortious disputes. He acts for businesses and individuals in shareholder and company disputes, contentious insolvency proceedings, general contract claims, professional negligence claims and insurance disputes. Many of the matters in relation to which he is instructed involve allegations of fraud. Harry is also regularly instructed in contentious sports and gambling matters. He regularly acts for some of the leading names in horseracing and gambling in High Court proceedings and before various sports regulatory panels.
Kathryn Tarry

Kathryn Tarry

Kathryn joined Gardner Leader in December 2013 as a Consultant.  She began her career in industry and then had a career break to bring up her children during which time she went back to university to study law and qualified as a solicitor.  She then spent many years heading a private client department in private practice. Kathryn spends most of her time dealing with the administration of estates, wills, inheritance tax planning and Court of Protection work.  She deals with complex estates including those with assets in other jurisdictions throughout the world. Administering large and complex estates Negotiating with HM Revenue and Customs on issues of non UK domicile Obtaining a Court Order to allow Probate to be granted following a loss at sea where no body was recovered and no death certificate issued Drafting wills for couples with complex families Drafting trusts and advising on inheritance tax
James Thorpe

James Thorpe

James is a Partner in the Corporate Team. James is an experienced M&A lawyer with over 20 years’ experience advising on a range of M&A matters, specialising in transactional work for UK clients and subsidiaries of overseas clients. James acts for clients of all sizes and in various sectors.James also undertakes complex business reorganisations, demergers, capital reductions, and share buy backs and shareholders’ agreements working alongside the client’s accountants and tax advisers. He also provides advice on shareholders’ agreements, succession planning and investments. He trained with and spent 5 years with a large regional practice.
Gail Vallis

Gail Vallis

Gail is a Senior Associate in the Corporate team. Gail advises on business and share sale and purchases, internal restructuring, shareholders’ agreements and articles of association as well as corporate governance and providing general corporate advice. Gail has particular experience of the life sciences sector. Prior to qualification as a solicitor, Gail worked as a project manager in biopharmaceutical contract research before moving to the in-house legal team of Merck KGaA. Here she advised the life sciences, pharmaceutical and consumer health businesses of Merck Millipore (Now Millipore Sigma), Merck Healthcare and Seven Seas amongst others. Gail has been recommended for her ‘calm and professional approach’ in the Legal 500 2024.
Marie = Verney

Marie = Verney

Marie is a Partner in the Wills, Probate and Estate Planning Team. Marie completed her training contract at Gardner Leader and qualified in 2002. On qualification, Marie joined the Wills and Estate Planning team of another local firm where she spent an additional 15 years furthering her knowledge and experience in all aspects of estate planning. After a short career break to spend time with her young family, Marie has welcomed the opportunity to return to  Gardner Leaders Inheritance Protection Team. Marie prides herself in the relationship she builds with her clients and by providing clear and understandable advice.
Karron Whitter

Karron Whitter

With over 25 years’ Real Estate experience, Karron has been practising in Swindon and Wiltshire for over 20 years and is well known to Swindon property professionals and in the North Wiltshire region with a reputation for getting the job done. Karron has clients across a broad spectrum of sectors, but specialisms include office and industrial/warehouse leases - often for corporate occupiers and notably high-end offices in the City but also advises on more specialist premises such as flight schools and regularly for industrial and warehouse occupiers.
Amy Wilson Weymouth

Amy Wilson Weymouth

Amy Wilson Weymouth is a Solicitor in the Family Team.   Amy joined Gardner Leader in March 2016 as a paralegal in the Conveyancing Team. Amy graduated from University of Surrey with a 2:1 degree in Law with Spanish Law and went on to study the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law, Guildford in which she obtained a Distinction. As part of her studies, Amy undertook a placement year in Spain and speaks fluent Spanish. Amy qualified in to the Family team in February 2019 after completing her first two training seats in Conveyancing and Commercial Litigation. Within the Family team, Amy is based in the Newbury office. During her time in the Conveyancing team, Amy worked largely on Transfers of Equity and Re-Mortgages and has considerable experience in handling these transactions for Family clients. In the Family team, Amy can help with all matters arising out of divorce or relationship breakdown including the divorce process itself and financial remedies. Amy can also help with disputes relating to children.
Penny Wright

Penny Wright

Penny is a Partner at Gardner Leader in the Inheritance Protection team. Penny qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and has wide-ranging experience of acting for individuals in relation to their Wills, estate planning, trusts, powers of attorney, probate and inheritance tax planning. Penny’s charity law specialism includes setting up and registering new charities; advising on trustee responsibilities and governance issues; dealing with Charity Commission on regulatory matters; compliance with the Charities Act requirements; dealing with charity assets including permanent endowments; advising on mergers, reconstructions and winding up charities.