Red Kite Law LLP

Mathew Bowen

Mathew is a Partner of the firm and is Head of the Wills and Probate Team. Mathew experience ranges from dealing with straightforward estates to those with multi-million pound values, including many with a business property or agricultural element. Particular areas of experience include: acting as an executor administering estates with claims for business property relief, agricultural property relief and the residence nil rate band contentious issues including estates with claims under the inheritance (provisos for dependents) Act 1975 completing deeds of variation both from a pure redirection and a tax planning point of view reporting of lifetime gifts to HMRC winding up of trusts charity estates limited grants complex estate accounts charity beneficiaries DWP claims He also has extensive experience dealing with Will drafting and Lasting Powers of Attorney, both from a financial and health and welfare perspective. Particular Will writing experience includes: “house for occupation” type clauses Wills for farming families Wills with charity beneficiaries discretionary trust Wills with letters of wishes Wills where capacity is verified as part of the “golden rule” “second marriage” type Wills Mathew also deals with title issues in registered and registered land. These have included: first registrations registrations where deeds are lost or missing change of Trustees deeds of gift Mathew also has experience in Court of Protection work, such as: Deputy applications Applications under s36 and 54 of the Trustee Act 1925 Applications for statutory Wills

Rebecca Caswell

Rebecca is a Partner of the firm, specialising in Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Probate matters as part of Redkite's experienced Wills and Probate team. Rebecca takes pride in her ability to adapt to all scenarios to help clients to solve problems, including sensitive issues. She is able to meet clients at a variety of locations including in the Office, at their home, in hospital etc, as needed.

Ryan David

Ryan is a Partner in Redkite Solicitors and a skilled and experienced property lawyer. With 20 years of experience in the legal industry, Ryan has established a reputation as a knowledgeable and trustworthy advisor to clients seeking guidance on commercial property matters. Ryan brings a wealth of expertise to his role, having advised clients across a wide range of sectors, including retail, industrial, office, and hospitality. His practice encompasses all aspects of commercial property, including acquisitions and disposals, lease negotiations, development and investment work, and real estate finance. Throughout his career, Ryan has developed a deep understanding of the legal and commercial considerations involved in complex property transactions. He is dedicated to providing his clients with practical and effective solutions, tailored to their specific needs and goals. As a partner at Redkite Law LLP, Ryan is committed to delivering exceptional service to his clients. He works collaboratively with his colleagues to ensure that every client receives the highest level of attention and care. 'I've worked in property for over 20 years and dealt with the good, the bad and the hopeless. Ryan, representing the firm was exceptional, he completed upon a very difficult case in an unbelievable timeframe. The communication, responsiveness and professionally was incredible. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this excellent business.’

Rhian Davies

Rhian is a Partner of the firm, and Head of the Commercial Litigation Department. With over 8 years’ experience as an in-house lawyer, Rhian understands the internal commercial implications that litigation can have on a business. This enables Rhian to deliver sound commercial advice tailored to the particular business instructing in the dispute. Rhian regularly acts for a diverse range of commercial clients. Rhian is also the solicitor of choice for other lawyers, who regularly instruct her. Rhian deals with a wide range of commercial litigation disputes, including but not limited to s994 shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, breach of contract claims, debt recovery and matters relating to anti-competitive conduct. Rhian is vastly experienced in handling high-value cases. Recent cases include a £112 million s994 dispute, a $5 million commercial cross-border contract dispute and short notice asset freezing injunctions.

Michael Evans

Michael is a Partner in the firm and was previously Head of the Personal Injury Department. He has vast experience representing victims of permanent and life-changing injuries (such as brain injury) and families whose loved ones have been killed in accidents. Michael is adept at obtaining high-value compensation for his clients, however, he also prioritises ensuring that his clients receive the care they need quickly, not at the end of what can often be a lengthy compensation case. Michael therefore places a strong focus on securing comprehensive and high quality rehabilitation and interim payments for his clients. Michael takes time to build close relationships with all his clients, and takes great pride in seeing his clients' lives develop and improve.

Phillip Gower

Phillip is a Partner of the firm, working within the Personal Injury (Mainly Claimant) department. He has over 25 years’ expertise in Personal Injury Litigation on behalf of claimants, dealing mostly with asbestos exposure, industrial disease and accident claims across the UK, as well as a large number of claims on behalf of clients in Australia, South Africa, America, Europe and Canada. Phillip was responsible for recovering damages in one of the highest awards approved by the High Court in Wales in a brain injury case. Phillip is also an Accredited Asbestos Specialist and Occupational Disease Specialist, and an assessor for the accreditation of other lawyers within the field. He also has a BSA Certificate in Industrial Audiometry.

Catrin Griffiths

Catrin is a Partner with the Firm and Head of the Family Department. Catrin has experience working with with all aspects of the law as it relates to families, whether child care, domestic abuse or disputed financial settlements. She has handled some of the most difficult and sensitive cases involving families in Wales and the South West. Many of her clients are farmers or professionals with valuable pension assets, and she is vastly experienced in advising clients on the complex financial aspects of separation. Catrin was described as the leading individual for Family (South and Mid Wales) in the Legal 500 2015/2016 edition. 'Extremely well-versed in financial remedy matters, particularly in cases involving agricultural land and intervenor issues' - Legal 500. 'Very happy with the service provided to my son regarding divorce proceedings. He is represented by Catrin Griffiths (Solicitor) and Fiona Mayes (Legal Advisor). We dealt mainly with Fiona who was always approachable, very helpful and efficient. Would highly recommend RedKite Solicitors, Carmarthen. Thank you both.’

Tim Haggar

Tim is a Partner in the firm. He advises on all aspects of family and inheritance tax planning, including advising Redkite's SME clients on succession planning and retirement. Tim is recognized locally as the leading solicitor in matters of financial planning. He has personally helped clients manage portfolios worth upwards of £5 million with a total figure many times that. Tim takes great pleasure from helping people to solve problems that would otherwise be very difficult, and takes the trust that they place in him very seriously. Tim's strength lies in the practicality of his advice, and his experience in dealing with high value, complex cases and running his own business. Often, Tim's work involves looking after people have lost mental capacity through an accident, ill health or old age. He also advises clients whose children have learning disabilities and is regularly asked to speak at Mencap events. Tim is vastly experienced in dealing with complex issues involving the court of protection relating to statutory wills, personal injury trusts and specific welfare cases involving complex medical issues.

Lucy Hollis

Lucy Hollis is a Partner of the firm, and heads up Redkite Solicitors’ Commercial and Agricultural Property team. Lucy acts for regional and local developers, handling commercial and residential development sites, infrastructure agreements, planning agreements and all transaction stages. Lucy advises on regeneration schemes, complex development of historical sites and planning law, as well as solar projects, wind farms, and complex lease transactions. She has extensive experience in environmental legislation, including contamination risks negotiating complex warranties, asbestos management, and environmental permits.

Paul James

Paul is a Partner in the firm and Head of Commercial Services. Since joining Redkite Solicitors in 2013 from Eversheds Sutherland, Paul has led the team in advising regional and national clients from across all of Redkite’s offices on a wide range of commercial and contract law matters such as implementing standard terms and conditions of business, distribution agreements, franchise agreements, services and marketing agreements and other commercial contracts, intellectual property and IT matters. In addition to this, Paul provides strategic advice and practical legal support on a range of corporate matters, including business sales and purchases, joint ventures, investments and corporate governance. Paul has an in-depth knowledge of public procurement and shared services models through working with public sector clients such as The Royal Mint Limited, Milford Haven Port Authority, Swansea University and the Welsh Government. Paul has given strategic advice and drafting support to a number of local authorities, housing associations and further education bodies. Paul has spoken at numerous national training events and tailored client training, providing sessions on competitive dialogue, framework agreements and shared services as well as delivering tailored commercial contracts training sessions to private sector in-house legal teams or commercial managers.

Joshua Jones

Joshua is a solicitor working in the Dispute Resolution team at Redkite Solicitors. He advises on a range of areas, which include the following: Contested wills; Debt recovery; Commercial disputes; Property disputes; and Professional negligence 'Very happy with the service I have received from Joshua Jones' ‘Had a really good experience with Redkite. Joshua was always professional, easy to get hold of, willing to listen and his calm and pragmatic approach took all the emotion out of an extremely emotional time for me. I’d definitely use again - thanks Joshua - you’re a star!’

Sophie Jones

Sophie is a Partner in the firm and is Head of the Personal Injury and Clinical negligence department. Her team assists those who have suffered life changing injuries. Sophie's expertise is vast; she has acted on behalf of clients who have suffered brain injuries, amputations, spinal cord injuries and polytrauma injuries. She is passionate about ensuring that her clients have access to rehabilitation as early as possible, as well as ensuring there is support in place for her client’s family. Sophie has assisted clients throughout England and Wales, and can be described as an approachable/empathetic Lawyer with great attention to detail. Sophie has a wealth of experience in acting for many families who have lost their loves ones in tragic circumstances. This includes a number of media reported cases. Sophie has secured multi million pound settlements for her clients including securing one of the largest lump sum settlements in Wales. Sophie is recognised as a next generation Partner and has been described as someone who “has an excellent rapport with clients and displays excellent dedication to the client’s needs”.

Andrew Kelly

Andrew is an Associate Solicitor working in Will, Trust and Estate Disputes. He specialises in work involving; disputed wills; estate litigation; trust disputes; and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. His experience incudes, (but is not limited to) will validity disputes, the interpretation of ambiguous or badly drafted wills, obtaining court orders for an inventory and account, revocation of probate, removal of executors, claims against debtors of an estate, obtaining possession of estate property, claims by the estate to recover unauthorised lifetime transactions/those obtained through undue influence from the deceased, removal of caveats to obtain a grant of probate, mutual wills, secret trusts, proprietary estoppel and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Steven Kuokos

Steven is a Partner of the firm. Steven accepts instructions on all commercial litigation matters and has acted for global financial institutions with a turnover of over £1bn. He has a strong reputation in the Welsh legal market, having worked for Hugh James and Acuity Law, with clients following him to Redkite, bringing claims worth around £2 million. Steven’s expertise includes: Commercial disputes concerning fraud and deceit claims. Fraud matters and s994 petitions involving urgent injunctions. Advising on cross jurisdiction matters. Notable cases include: Acting for a company and settling a potential shareholder/section 994 claim with a 25% shareholder where the company was valued at over £100million Executing a rare search order at short notice Acting for a company in a commercial cross-border contractual dispute. Value of the claim against the company was USD 5,000,000.00. Assisting the company in its goal to achieve a sensible resolution prior to any costly and time consuming litigation/live proceedings Acting for a claimant company in a fraud and deceit claim against ex-employees. Value of the claim exceeded £2,000,000.00. Acting in a 13 party s994 petition. This particular matter required a number of urgent injunctions and freezing orders, which ensured the matter was successfully settled prior to trial in the client’s favour

Carys Lodwick

Carys is a Partner in Redkite Solicitors, and works within the firm's recognised Employment Law Team. During her career, Carys has acquired a broad depth of knowledge in both contentious and non-contentious Employment and HR matters. She is vastly experienced in advising and guiding clients through disciplinary and grievance procedures, redundancies and transfers and bespoke contract and policy arrangements. Carys regularly advises both employees and employers through tribunal proceedings including unfair dismissal claims and more complex discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal claims. This includes drafting legal documents, liaising with third parties, analysing and evaluating evidence, negotiations, instructing barristers and conducting preliminary hearings. Her approach in such contentious situations is often praised as being very thorough, commercial, and supportive to clients. Her practical guidance is something that she is praised highly for. Carys also regularly supports Redkite's commercial and corporate teams with the employment aspects of various business transactions, including providing detailed advice on TUPE, redundancies, and reorganisations. Carys prides herself on providing a friendly but efficient service to all of her clients and giving tailored advice to assist them with the most difficult of conversations with their staff. Carys uses her expertise to provide businesses within-house bespoke training sessions and workshops on a range of employment law issues such as difficult contractual issues, disability discrimination and performance management. She is personally recognised as providing ‘excellent advice across a wide variety of employment law issues’ and being skilled at advising on employment law matters impacting on the health and social care sector.

Alice Powell

Alice is an associate solicitor, specialising in Will, Trust and Estate disputes. Alice is vastly experienced in bringing and defending claims brought under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. For example, in February 2023 Alice acted for a client to successfully defend an Inheritance Act claim heard at a 3-day trial in the High Court in Cardiff. Alice is also experienced in negotiating favourable out of court settlements for her clients, saving them the significant costs associated with a court trial. Alice has also often dealt on behalf of executors and beneficiaries who cannot agree the steps to be taken during the administration of the estate with their respective co-executors or beneficiaries. Alice's approach is sympathetic to the stress and emotion that surrounds estate disputes. She prioritises explaining the court process in simple terms to her clients, keeping them informed throughout every step of the process, and has been described a great listener who is very approachable. 'Alice Powell, together with Joshua, was a real life saver in compelling my sister to behave properly and complete the terms of my mother's will. It took two years of persistent effort.' ‘Alice Powel was a very helpful person and very pleasant to conversate with.’

Emma Priest

Emma is a Partner of Redkite Solicitors and is Regional Lead for the firm's Bridgend and Porthcawl offices, where she specializes in private client work. Emma is the Team Leader for Redkite's Bridgend and Porthcawl Wills & Probate team, which consists of seven staff members. Emma is extremely proficient in her specialist area with over 25 years' experience. She deals with a comprehensive Private Client service including: Wills and associated advice including “right to reside” clauses, Wills with Charity beneficiaries, Discretionary trust Wills with letters of wishes, Wills where capacity is verified as part of the “golden rule” urgent Wills and “second marriage” type Wills Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs and Health and Welfare Probate and Estates Services including the Administration of Intestate (no Will) Estates Elderly Client Issues including Care Home Fees Advice and Inheritance Tax Planning Preparing Deeds of Variation both from a redirection and a tax planning point of view Emma can undertake work in all the above-mentioned complex areas of law personally from beginning to conclusion, therefore offering a complete service for all her clients, many of whom are elderly and bereaved, in an efficient and sympathetic manner.

Rebecca Proctor

Rebecca is a Partner of the firm specialising in catastrophic injury claims. She has built vast expertise since qualifying as a solicitor in 1997, and has recovered many multi-million pound settlements,. She has extensive experience of serious injury claims particularly Brain injuries (both adults and children) as well as spinal injuries , amputations , fatal accident claims and polytrauma injuries, including media reported cases. Rebecca has been appointed by Headway – the national brain injury association – as a solicitor recognised as having expertise in brain injury cases. Alongside obtaining high-value financial settlements, Rebecca aims to support and assist the injured parties and their families by securing early access to specialist medical support, equipment and care. Rebecca has dealt with many multi million pound settlement cases on a “no win no fee” basis , making sure that injured parties have financial security to fund all of their needs over their life time. 'Rebecca Proctor was recommended to me to approach with regard to my claim. Rebecca was friendly, approachable, professional, and gave good solid, practical advice. She was very supportive along the whole process. She always kept me up to date and full appraised and steered the claim home to a more than satisfactory conclusion. I cannot fault her. I work in the legal profession and wish that all solicitors were like her.’

Joe Slader

Joe is a Partner of the firm, and part of Redkite's personal injury team, which was recognised as the best personal injury team in Wales at the Welsh Legal Awards in 2019 and 2020. As a specialist personal injury solicitor with over twenty years of experience, Joe is adept in securing high value claims for people who have suffered the most serious and catastrophic injuries.

Alexia Thomas

Alexia is a Partner of the firm, working in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes, Commercial Disputes, Debt Recovery, and Professional Negligence departments. She is an experienced litigator with a particular specialism in will, trust and estate disputes. While living in West Wales, she acts for clients both locally and nationally. 'I had difficulty finding a firm that could engage with me because living overseas was too munch of a barrier. The complexity of the issue I needed help with was not always grasped. This ended when I contacted Alexia Thomas at Redkite, and got attentive and expert assistance leading to successful resolution. As the engagement progressed it became clear that Alexia was very skilled, and worked with both a high degree of foresight and thoroughness.’

Leanne Tremain

Leanne is a Partner of the firm, working in Wills and Probate. Leanne has over a decade’s experience dealing with Private Client work. Leanne possesses a wealth of experience in drafting and revising Wills, advising and assisting clients with preparing and registering Lasting Powers of Attorney, and dealing with Estate administration after a persons’ death. She is also vastly experienced in advising clients on lifetime planning to include the movement of ownership of assets to the next generation, and Inheritance Tax planning on potential tax paying estates, including the availability of Inheritance Tax nil rate band, reliefs and exemptions. She also deals with Probate matters ranging from small estates to larger, high value, complex estates which have a net value in excess of a million pounds. Leanne's work has often involved responding to emergency calls to attend seriously ill clients in hospital who want to prepare urgent wills, and attending clients after they have lost a loved one to talk them through the probate process. Through this aspect of her work, Leanne understands the importance of supporting and comforting her clients and their families during difficult times and this underlies her passion for her profession.

James Watkins

James is a Partner of Redkite Solicitors, working in the firm's Employment Law Team.

Susan Williams

Susan is a Partner of the firm, working within the Family department and based in Redkite's Cardiff office. Susan has extensive experience with all matters arising from a breakdown in relationships, including divorce and financial arrangements, advising on matters which have complex and high value assets, including business assets, both in the UK and internationally, pre and post nuptial agreements, co habitation agreements and civil partnerships. Susan is highly regarded for her expertise in children proceedings representing parents, children (through their court appointed Guardian) and other family members. She also advises on complex issues such as surrogacy and adoption. She recently had a public children case go to the Court of Appeal and has used King’s counsel more recently on a number of matters. Susan works across all the offices and her clients can therefore be local, national and international. Susan’s successful outcomes for her clients are built on many years of experience as a family lawyer providing in-depth knowledge, practical advice and a tailored service to each of her individual clients. Susan is sensitive and pragmatic in her approach and builds strong relationships with her clients to help them to achieve the best outcome possible. She conducts a significant number of court hearings herself. She enjoys working collaboratively with colleagues across the practice to ensure all her clients' needs are met, often working closely with colleagues in Wills and Probate, Property and Dispute Resolution teams.