Profile
Position
I qualified in 1997 and have spent the majority of that time as a Partner working as a litigator in Private Client Dispute Resolution teams. I have a lot of experience in this area and am ranked in the Legal 500 as “... a real fighter for her clients, who will leave no stone unturned”.
I specialise in contentious probate disputes including disputed Wills, breach of trust claims, administration of estate disputes and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975. I regularly act for high-net-worth individuals and represents large estates both in bringing and defending claims on a full range of services from initial pre-action negotiations through to mediation and if necessary, all the way to trial, regularly dealing with difficult and emotive cases. I also have a special interest in cohabitee disputes (also known as TOLATA claims) in relation to the ownership of property and am often considered the go-to litigator in this area of work, having written extensively about making claims for beneficial interests in property.
Content supplied by Irwin Mitchell
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘They truly work as a team - their collaboration is excellent. They have a number of different levels in the team and between them all, they have the complete knowledge set to run any case.'
‘The person I work with most is Sangita Manek. She is sensible, pragmatic, realistic and a fighter to her core when needed.'
‘Claire-Marie Cornford is a very strong team leader. She is excellent with clients, always calm, professional and empathetic and they rightly have every confidence that she will fight their corner with determination. She understands their objectives and is focussed on achieving them.’
‘Irwin Mitchell have a formidable contentious trusts offering, with experienced and practical partners and hardworking and dedicated associates.’
‘Claire-Marie Cornford heads up the team. She writes well and fights her clients' corner tenaciously. Sam Ewing and Laura Gabrel are practical and knowledgeable.’
‘The team at Irwin Mitchell are fantastically forensic. They dig deep into a case and grapple with every angle and detail of a client's position. Their client care is top notch and it is obvious that clients feel seen, understood and supported.’
‘Sangita Manek is ferocious in her all rounded support of her clients. She can pick up a case at any stage and immediately calculate what is needed and deliver on it. Ellen Hitchman is exceptionally good at getting clients comfortable and extracting all the little essential details from them.’
'Claire-Marie Cornford is a highly intelligent and dynamic lawyer - certainly a partner to watch.' 'The team is close knit and work really well together, all providing support and expertise.' 'Great strength and depth and an ability to do low value work profitably.'