Pictured above: from left to right Steve Kelsall, John Chapple, Pamela Arrowsmith, Andy Hodges (Challinors chief executive), Paul Griffiths (Challinors senior partner) and Richard Price

Midlands law firm Challinors has made its second acquisition in less than four weeks - White & Billingham Solicitors and Estate Agents, which is Halesowen's largest law practice.

Challinors acquired Wolverhampton private law practice Shelton Solicitors in July, and now has five offices across the Midlands, in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Halesowen and Nottingham.

A general law practice, White & Billingham has been in its prominent Halesowen location for 25-years and employs 20 full-time staff. The firm's three partners, Steve Kelsall, John Chapple and Richard Price become consultants at Challinors. All fee earners and support staff remain in the Halesowen office. The new practice will be known as Challinors, White & Billingham.

White & Billingham specialises in private client work, including family law matters, childcare cases, Wills, Trusts and Probate work, and residential conveyancing. The firm is a member of The Community Legal Service, so also handles Legal Aid work for qualifying individuals. Corporate activities span litigation and commercial instructions. 

Its estate agency business launched in 2004 to complement White & Billingham's conveyancing case load, will continue to market properties from across the West Midlands and Worcestershire, supported by Vicky Thomas and Challinors Residential Property team, headed by Sarah Pottle.

Challinors' chief executive Andy Hodges, who joined the firm in 2007 and is leading its acquisition strategy, comments: "This is set to be the busiest five years Challinors has ever seen. The firm is committed to realising its expansion ambitions to become one of the region's leading and largest private law firms. A major thrust of our strategy is to maintain servicing the local business and private community from a network of central, high street locations, providing exceptional and specialist legal advice locally, in addition to improving service levels and efficiency through the introduction of a case management system. White & Billingham and its general practice legal expertise and location fit extremely well with this, and Challinors now has offices in three key locations across the Black Country.

"In particular, the reputation and experience of White & Billingham complements and enhances our private client activities in the region. Ghulam Sohail, head of our Serious Crime department in our Birmingham office, which is ranked in Band 1 in Chambers and Partners for the West Midlands, will regularly operate from Halesowen; his team is the only West Midlands based firm that is ranked in Chambers National Rankings for Fraud defence."

White & Billingham's senior partner Steve Kelsall comments: "The firm has always been at the forefront of innovation and change. It started as a Legal Aid crime practice, obtained the first Legal Aid franchise in Halesowen and more recently set up the first 'one stop' solicitor's estate agency in the area. The amalgamation with Challinors is a further step forward in maintaining and improving the firm's high quality legal work and excellent service ethic.  White & Billingham has enjoyed an outstanding level of loyalty from all of our clients over the past thirty years, and they will continue to experience first-rate legal advice and representation, but now with the added benefit of further specialist legal expertise and resource from Challinors."

Fiona Debney, a specialist in Wills, Trusts and Probate and head of this department at Challinors, will regularly operate from the firm's Halesowen location. She is a member of the National Association 'Solicitors for the Elderly' (SFE) and of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Other lawyers to be based in Halesowen include Rajinderpaul Singhbains who specialises in litigation and dispute resolution.

Challinors has offices in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Halesowen and Nottingham. The firm has 23 partners and over 100 fee earners, and is ranked as one of the top legal firms in the West Midlands, being Number 1 in the Chambers UK Directory in a number of categories