Paula James > Irwin Mitchell > Chichester, England > Lawyer Profile

Co-headed by Naomi Neville and Paula James, the Irwin Mitchell lifetime and estate planning department has considerable expertise in dealing with international tax issues, drafting complex wills, and handling estate disputes. Splitting her time between Southampton and Chichester, Neville regularly assists companies with their succession planning, while Chichester-based senior associate Laura Colville specialises in powers of attorney and probate matters. Amy Comins supports elderly and vulnerable individuals with property and financial affairs, and Emily Wentworth focuses on legal and beneficial co-ownership issues. Associate Nicola Hawkins is also noted.

Irwin Mitchell assists clients with an array of contentious matters including professional negligence claims pertaining to defective trust instruments and wills. Paula James in Chichester is adept in trust and probate disputes with a multijurisdictional element, while Candy Stockton handles the day-to-day affairs of the teams newly founded Gatwick office. Samantha Ewing and Stephen Ireland are based in Chichester, the former often handles matters under the under the Inheritance Act, while the latter has been described as ‘highly knowledgeable.’

The ‘brilliant’ lifetime and estate planning team at Irwin Mitchell offers advice to clients in the business wealth, rural business and private wealth spaces on all elements of tax, trusts and estate planning, including financial administration for individuals that lack capacity and Court of Protection work. Offering two trust companies and its in-house service, Irwin Mitchell Asset Management Limited, the team in Gatwick is led by the ‘fantastic’ and ‘exceptionally good’ Caroline Shelton, who acts for business owners as well as professional sportsmen and landowners with complex assets, wealth preservation issues and succession planning needs. Leading the Chichester office is Naomi Neville, who focuses on instructions from high-net-worth clients and handles probate and estate administration work for those with urban and rural businesses. Also co-heading the team is the national director of legal services for private clients Paula Myers, and national head Paula James. Rose Macfarlane is ‘a standout’ lawyer with a niche practice in non-contentious court applications for trustees.