KEELYS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Head of Wills, Trusts and Probate Department

Interests Away from work Helen enjoys cooking, travelling, walking and spending time with her family. Interests When not at work Helen enjoys singing, and attending musical events and theatre. She also enjoys swimming, walking, bike riding, and spending time with her family. Interests Outside of work Lisa loves to run. She has completed the London Marathon three times for Brain Research UK raising over £6,000

Job Titles:

• Solicitor
• Services Solicitor

Dally joined Keelys as a solicitor in 2025. She has 19 years of dedicated employment law experience. Dally has extensive experience in providing advice across a wide range of industries in all aspects of employment law, acting for both employers and employees. These include handling disciplinaries, grievances, performance management, managing sickness, redundancies, restructures and TUPE. Her personable approach enables her to explain and break down the legal complexities by providing clear step by step commercially focused advice. She is also able to advise on both the implementation and drafting of employment contacts and handbooks. For employees Dally is able to assist with negotiating settlement agreements, unfair dismissal, discrimination and constructive dismissal.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Management Team
• Corporate and Commercial Head of Department Senior Partner / Experience

Job Titles:

• Director of IT
• Member of the Management Team

Experience Darren has over 18 years' experience working in the IT industry, joining Keelys in 2007. He has experience in many aspects of IT including desktop/infrastructure support, training, web design and development, data analysis and management information reporting, solution design/management and implementation, and cyber security.

Elly studied Law at Liverpool University from 2017 to 2020 and graduated with a First Class Degree with Honours. She is currently working towards qualification as a solicitor. Elly began her legal career after graduation working at another law firm where she assisted other fee earners. Elly currently deals with debt recovery matters and possession proceedings in relation to residential and commercial property matters. Elly also acts on behalf of a national organisation in relation to liaising with foreign jurisdictions including, but not limited to, Poland, Turkey and Romania. Elly is currently assisting Joanne Davies and Patrick Farrington in the Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Department. Reporting to Head of Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Department: Joanne Davies Interests Outside of the office you will find Elly shopping, at the theatre, at spin class or discovering new eateries with family and friends. Phone:01543 420489 Email:ebassan@keelys.co.uk

Job Titles:

• Solicitor
• Real Estate Associate Partner / Experience

Emma joined Keelys as a solicitor in 2021. She has over 10 years of experience in Commercial Property work, having worked for local Staffordshire firms since qualifying.

Job Titles:

• Corporate and Commercial Consultant / Experience
• Head of Corporate and Commercial Department

Hitesh qualified as a solicitor with the firm in 2003 and became Partner in 2014. He has over 18 years experience of Corporate and Commercial law both for SME's and large and multi nationals and PLC's. Hitesh's work includes private equity transactions, acquisitions and disposals, corporate re-organisations, share option schemes, finance, banking and succession planning. He also undertakes Commercial work including supply agreements, distribution agreements, terms and conditions, and outsourcing agreements. Interests In her free time Si n enjoys yoga, baking and photography.

Job Titles:

• Employment Services Associate Partner
• Member of Local Branches of the Chartered Institute of Personnel

Ian joined Keelys in 2020. He has been a qualified solicitor for over 25 years, and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD. Ian specialises in employment law and advises employers in many different sectors and industries, from start-ups to multinational businesses, as well as public sector and not for profit organisations. He also advises employees, directors, groups of workers and their representatives. Ian advises and supports employers and employees through disciplinary action, grievances, performance issues, sickness absence, equal opportunities and discrimination, redundancies and restructuring, TUPE, data protection and regulatory law, and with settlement agreements. He often presents cases in Employment Tribunal hearings. Ian has also defended Nurses in professional conduct proceedings before the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Interests Ian has been a committee member of local branches of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for the last decade. He is a devoted husband and father of three sons, and enjoys camping, swimming, and watching rugby (but not playing, as he can't catch the ball).

Job Titles:

• Real Estate Paralegal / Experience

Jade has assisted on many aspects of commercial property transactions ranging from sales, purchases, plot sales, landlord and tenant work, company secretarial matters and financing.

Job Titles:

• Head of Real Estate Department
• Real Estate Head of Department Partner / Experience

James is a Partner and is head of the Real Estate Department. He has over 20 years experience of Commercial Property work.

Job Titles:

• Employment Services Associate Partner

Job Titles:

• Real Estate Partner

Experience Jas trained and qualified in the Magic Circle law firm, Clifford Chance, before moving to the West Midlands where she continued her career in national firms Harvey Ingram (now part of Shakespeare Martineau) and Freeths. Jas joined Keelys in September 2014.

Job Titles:

• Solicitor
• Partner and Head of the Litigation

Joanne is a Partner and Head of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. Joanne is a solicitor with over 20 years' experience in litigation matters. Having trained and qualified in 1994 at Wragge & Co, she also spent several years at Martineau Johnson, as well as having experience of working as in-house Counsel in the finance leasing industry.

Julie qualified as a Solicitor in 2005. She has specialised in Family Law all through her career, throughout Staffordshire and Cheshire. In 2015, she joined Keelys LLP. Julie is a Partner and Head of Department.

Job Titles:

• Law Head of Department Partner

Job Titles:

• Real Estate Partner

Experience Kate is a Partner at Keelys. She qualified as a solicitor in 2008 and has specialised in Commercial Property work since then. Kate joined Keelys in April 2015, coming from international law firm Pinsent Masons where she trained and qualified.

Liam trained at a specialist litigation firm and has been a litigator for more than 14 years now, working at partner level in three different firms. Liam's reputation is excellent, and he has been recommended by the legal directories on many occasions. The Legal 500 for many years ranked Liam as a "Next Generation Partner" for commercial litigation, quoting a source as saying that Liam "is impressive. He is smart and very thorough. A fighter with a relaxed demeanour, which belies his steel-like approach". Chambers has previously quoted a source as saying that "Liam is totally dedicated to knowing his client's case, its strengths and weaknesses and the optimum way to pursue it. He is a dedicated strategist." The Legal 500 also uses a comment that "Liam Owen is meticulous and extremely thorough. That way he is in the best position to know the strengths and weaknesses of a client's case at an early stage. He leaves no stone unturned'. Comments in the Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide 2024, which ranks Liam as "Up and Coming" include: "Liam Owen is an outstanding example of how all solicitors should conduct themselves. He is unfailingly courteous, knowledgeable and kind when dealing with difficult family matters" and "Liam is excellent and is a fantastic lawyer. He is easy to work with, a safe pair of hands and highly recommended." Practice Area Liam conducts high value commercial litigation, with particular specialisms in contentious wills, probate and trusts work, and construction litigation, although he is well-versed in almost all kinds of commercial and corporate litigation. Highlights Examples of Contentious Probate and Related Work Acted for two beneficiaries of a deceased in relation to a high seven figure trust regarding some potential issues between them and the trustees. Acts on behalf of the executors and principal beneficiaries of a seven figure estate in relation to a claim intimated by relatives of the deceased; Represented the estate on the Defence of an Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim in the High Court, brought by the deceased's girlfriend at the time of death. This was a complicated dispute which also required the interests of the minor children of one of the beneficiaries (who passed away shortly after the testator) to be taken into account. The matter resolved on confidential terms at mediation, and the settlement was approved by the court. Acted for three of the children of two deceased parents and, after issuing proceedings in the Chancery Division of the High Court, obtained a court order for the rectification of the mother's codicil. Acted for a beneficiary of an estate in circumstances where an unreasonable delay by solicitors in carrying out the deceased's instructions and drafting a will had meant that the deceased passed away before executing their will. As a result, the proposed beneficiary had missed out on the inheritance the deceased had wanted to give them under the will. Examples of Commercial Litigation Work Acted for the Claimant in a dispute over the equitable shareholdings each of four brothers held in a company, with the dispute culminating in a four day Chancery Division trial in Birmingham in August 2024. Judgment was reserved. Acted for a company in respect of a claim against two former senior employees and another company in respect of alleged: breach of contract; breach of fiduciary duty; breach of confidence; inducement and unlawful means conspiracy and diversion of business. Liam's client issued proceedings in the King's Bench Division of the High Court for injunctive relief and damages. The Defendants agreed to provide affidavits. The matter settled on confidential terms at mediation shortly after proceedings were issued. Represented the Claimant, a "partworks" publisher, on a complex claim regarding an alleged breach by the Defendant of a joint venture agreement relating to a Reader's Digest publication. The Claimant pleaded unilateral mistake and rectification, breach of fiduciary duty, and misrepresentation. Morse v Eaglemoss Publications Limited [2013] EWHC 1507. Represented a minority shareholder in an engineering company who had been ejected from the company and removed as a director. His case was that the company's affairs had been conducted in a way which was unfairly prejudicial to his interests. The matter settled on confidential terms, after Liam acted as his client's advocate at mediation. Acted for the Respondents in defending two linked winding up petitions, arising from a dispute based on the management of two dental practices in the West Midlands. The petitions were heard together at a one-day hearing in the Rolls Building. Liam later pursued a breach of contract claim on behalf of a director of the Respondents on the basis that he had a beneficial interest in the dental practices. That claim settled on mutually acceptable terms at mediation. Represented the Claimant on a breach of trust claim relating to shares held in several Thai restaurants and pubs from which the Claimant recovered substantial damages following a fully contested 3 day trial. The court accepted that shares in a company were held on trust for the Claimant and that the Defendants had breached that trust. Construction Liam also has significant experience of high value construction disputes, including adjudications under the Scheme and the subsequent enforcement in the Technology and Construction Court of the decisions his clients obtained in those adjudications. Examples of Contentious Construction Work Successfully acted on a final account adjudication brought by a developer against a construction client, resulting in the developer being ordered to pay an additional sum of £1.4m plus interest to Liam's client above what it had already paid. Successfully defended a £1.1m claim brought through adjudication in relation to purported operational losses and the purported remedying of defects in relation to a luxury hotel. The Referring Party was awarded nothing. Defended a multi-million pound construction claim by a local authority arising out of purported breaches of a Framework Agreement. The dispute settled at mediation. Successfully applied for summary judgment in relation to a final account adjudication decision, defeating arguments alleging a breach of natural justice on the part of the adjudicator. RGB P&C Limited v Victory House General Partner Limited [2019] EWHC 1188 (TCC). Acted successfully on the strike out of a Part 7 claim brought by the developer in the Technology and Construction Court for declarations that an £800,000 sum awarded to Liam's client by an adjudicator should be returned following the final account. The final account was determined in favour of Liam's client. The opposing developer discontinued its claim shortly before the strike out application was due to be heard. Qualifications Solicitor Reporting to Head of Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation department: Joanne Davies Interests Liam is, along with his son (and his wife when she can be persuaded), a fan of travelling to professional wrestling events, and sporting events generally! He also enjoys fitness training, reading (all sorts of things from biographies to quality fiction to self-improvement, science and history) and travel. Phone:01543 420043 Email:lowen@keelys.co.uk

Job Titles:

• Head of Residential Conveyancing Department

Interests In her spare time Lisa practices yoga and enjoys travelling. Interests Outside of the office, you will find Molliee dancing at festivals, cooking, or travelling.

Marie joined Keelys in December 2013. She has over 20 years experience of working within a family law department. Marie became a Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (now known as CILEX Member - Advanced Paralegal) on the 25 th March 2025 and she obtained her certificate in family law in August 2011. Marie is currently working towards her fellowship, with a view to becoming a CILEX Fellow.

Job Titles:

• Solicitor

Job Titles:

• Law Assistant

Job Titles:

• Head
• Head of Employment Services Department
• Services Head of Department Partner

Paul joined the firm in 2006 as Head of the Employment department. He has over 20 years' experience of employment law, originally at city law firms. Interests Outside of work Dally has a passion for travel, discovering new restaurants and spending quality time with friends and family.

Job Titles:

• Trainee Solicitor
• Employment Services Partner

Experience Ravinder joined Keelys as a trainee solicitor in 2001 and qualified into the Employment Team in 2003. She was promoted to Associate Partner in 2008 and in 2011, promoted to Partner.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner
• Member of the Management Team

Sharon qualified as a solicitor in 1989 at Keelys having joined the firm two years earlier as a trainee. Sharon specialised in Property matters and has over 30 years experience primarily dealing with Commercial Property but also Residential Conveyancing. Interests Outside of work Darren is an avid gym-goer and enjoys reading, walking, baking and travelling.

Job Titles:

• Corporate and Commercial Solicitor

Job Titles:

• Trainee Solicitor
• Employment Services Partner
• Services Partner

Experience Tom joined Keelys as a trainee solicitor in 2005 and joined the Employment Team soon after qualification in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Partner in 2012 and in 2016, promoted to Partner.