Pictured: (l-r) Lawyers Richard Gray and Venetia
Chatzimichali have joined Challinors Family Team led by Partner
Fiona O'Sullivan
The Family team at Midlands' law firm Challinors, which is
placed in the highest Top Tier ranking in the latest edition of the
independent Legal 500 Directory, has hired specialist family
lawyers Richard Gray and Venetia Chatzimichali.
The latest hires bring the total family team resource to
thirty-three fee earners, and grows the firm's representation on
the Law Society Children's Panel to six.
Based in Challinors' Birmingham city centre office, Richard Gray
joins the firm from the Northampton office of Adams Moore
Solicitors, where he was Lead Family Solicitor for more than two
years, specialising in private and publicly funded family and
children matters. He qualified as a solicitor in 2000 and is an
Accredited Member of the Law Society's Children Law and Family Law
Panels.
Venetia Chatzimichali joins Challinors' West Bromwich office
from Kale & Co Solicitors in Wolverhampton, where she was a
family lawyer for over two years, managing a publicly and privately
funded case load of children, matrimonial and domestic violence
matters. She is currently studying towards a PhD in Law in
Financial Services Law.
"We handle all manner of family legal issues, from complex child
care work to representing high net worth clients," explains the
firm's Partner Fiona O'Sullivan, Head of the Family Law team, which
includes the dedicated Child Care team.
"As instructions continue to rise in both our Birmingham and
West Bromwich offices in the West Midlands, we needed to expand our
dedicated team, and both Richard and Venetia represent experienced
and competent additions to our resource for private clients."
Challinors' Associate in the Child Care Team, Claire Butterfield
was appointed to the LSC Children Law Panel earlier this year.
Challinors now has six of its team appointed to the Panel,
including its latest hire Richard Gray, together with Consultants
Angela Houston and John Chapple, Solicitor Fiona Bowen, and
Associate in the East Midlands, Pramila Meghani.
Challinors Family and Child Care teams both scored highly in the
latest edition of the Legal 500, which awarded the Family team the
highest, First Tier ranking for the third consecutive year. The
team is recognised for its high level of service which 'exceeds
expectations', and team head Fiona O'Sullivan, is recognised for
her 'personable, prompt and efficient' attributes and her expertise
in the pension's aspects of financial settlements.
Challinors has offices in the West Midlands in Birmingham, West
Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Halesowen and Nottingham in the East
Midlands. It has17 partners and over 100 fee earners, and is ranked
as one of the top legal firms in the West Midlands. The firm's
Crime and Family Law teams received top tier, Band 1 ranking in the
2010 and 2011 editions of the Legal 500 Directory and is ranked in
Band 2 of the Chambers UK Directory. The firm is Number 1 in the
Chambers UK Directory in Crime and Clinical Negligence
categories.