Pictured above: (l-r) Kevin Harris-James, Graham Neyt and Simon Woodings 

Kevin Harris-James, a member of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, joins Beswicks from national law firm Irwin Mitchell.

Described by the Legal 500 as "One of the leading family lawyers outside London", Kevin has a reputation for a no-nonsense approach and has "represented numerous professional footballers and celebrities from the world of entertainment. Given his reputation, often one of the first choices for the professional and business community."

Kevin will be developing the whole range of services to private clients building on his outstanding reputation in family law. 

"I believe in taking a holistic approach to offering legal advice to the client base, which includes entrepreneurs and sports personalities as well as private individuals. All clients of a firm are potential private clients, so there is huge scope for cross selling to the business and sports clients at Beswicks," comments Kevin Harris-James. "Given the competitive environment for the legal profession at the moment, this is the right time to be doing things differently and I am delighted to join a go-ahead firm like Beswicks, where I can also pursue my professional interest in the world of international sports."

Kevin is one of the few family lawyers outside of London who is experienced in handling high value international divorces, an area which is seeing significant growth, due to increasingly international lifestyles. In addition, this country is gaining a reputation as the divorce capital of the world and there is a growing incidence of ex-patriots seeking to divorce in the UK.

In addition, Kevin is well respected in the sports industry. He is registered as a lawyer with the Football Association and has represented many clubs and players in contract and transfer negotiations. Beswicks is the top-ranked firm for sports law in the Midlands Legal 500 and this was part of the attraction.

Graham Neyt, Beswicks Managing Partner, comments 'We first met Kevin across the table on the other side of a case and felt that his no-nonsense approach was a natural fit with our straight talking style. Our family team already has a superb reputation for acting for high-net worth individuals and entrepreneurs and we have been keen to build on this. We have invested heavily in the commercial law team over recent years and developing our private client services was the logical next step. Kevin is the ideal person to help us drive the private client services forward, particularly amongst our sports client base here and overseas."

For more information on Beswicks Solicitors, view their website here: www.beswicks.com