The practice at Slater Heelis (Part of Lawfront) in Manchester is now led by Deborah Coyne, who joined the group in September 2024. Coyne assists SMEs and PLCs as well as public sector clients, with her varied experience encompassing exit strategies and immigration/skilled worker issues. Helen Frankland is noted for her expertise advising on workplace management issues. Team changes include the 2024 departures of former team lead Tracey Guest in October, of Sarah Calderwood and Sally Tomlinson in June and of Helen Harrandine in April 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'We work collaboratively with the team. They take the pressure off my team, given we have limited resources. From our perspective this has worked really well.'
- 'The main benefit for us as a client is the degree of pragmatism displayed. You get both the legal view but also the practical view of what a reasonable employer would do.'
- 'Helen understands our business, our culture and how we operate as a team which is really helpful and she is able to provide advice that works for us as a business.'
- 'Helen Frankland is very helpful and will provide additional information, templates and documents if she believes this will be of assistance, even if I haven't specifically asked for them. This gives me a more complete picture of what information I need and what documents I need to accomplish a particular task.'
- Helen Frankland is excellent and available. We always get a practical not just a legal response. We have a very good working relationship with Helen and see it as a collaborative effort and partnership which we value.'
- 'Debbie Coyne is very helpful.'
Lawyers
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Deborah Coyne
Other key lawyers
Helen Frankland; Laura Burnett