SYDNEY MITCHELL - Key Persons
Giving practical advice, Adam will deal with every aspect of buying and selling your house in a quick and efficient manner.
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Partner
- Practice Head
‘Andre Minnaar provides such a spectacular service, what makes him different from competitors is that he is very straightforward and he explains everything so smoothly and politely, I value his service so much that I can comfortably say he's part of our family, and he would be a diamond to any company'.
Andre is an expert in resolving complicated UK immigration, asylum and nationality problems of all kinds and is well known and respected for his in depth knowledge, guidance, support and thorough preparation whilst keeping his clients informed throughout the process.
Born and educated in Cape Town, South Africa, he graduated in BA. LLB from the University of Stellenbosch, before being admitted as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Andre holds a practising certificate as a Registered Foreign Lawyer with the Solicitor's Regulatory Authority in the UK. He relocated to the UK in 2001, since which time he has built up extensive experience, specializing solely in all aspects of private immigration and asylum matters, working in a variety of both charity organisations and solicitor firms.
Andre holds a practicing certificate with the SRA as a Registered Foreign Lawyer.
He is also an experienced tribunal advocate, having successfully represented hundreds of appellants during his long career, often succeeding where others have failed.
Andre prides himself in delivering a friendly and excellent service where no stone is left unturned to ensure that he not only meets client expectations, but exceeds them and maintains a very high success rate. Being an immigrant who went through the immigration process himself, Andre has an understanding and first hand experience of the immigration system. He has a reputation for being client focused, driven and very responsive to his client's needs, thus relieving a lot of the stress immigration issues can cause.
Recent Cases
Andre has submitted fresh submissions and got UKVI to overturn their refusal and court appeal in a very controversial and wifely published case which attracted national and international media coverage of Afghan interpreter who worked for the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan
He achieved great success in a complex long residence application, where the client had a long absence from the UK of 9 months
Successfully won an appeal of a de facto adopted child where the child has not lived with the adoptive parent for the requisite time
He has a track record of successfully applying and or appealed several asylum claims for gay Pakistani's
He won an asylum appeal for a Filipino woman who was subjected to excessive domestic violence and failed to get sufficient protection from the Authorities in The Philippines
He successfully claimed asylum for a wife of a diplomat fleeing sexual abuse and slavery
He prevented deportation by successfully arguing statelessness
And achieved a great result by applying successfully for entry clearance for twins born in a very complex and highly unusual surrogacy case
Job Titles:
- Experienced Solicitor With a Demonstrated History of Representing Both Claimants and Respondents
- Solicitor / Employment
Job Titles:
- Conveyancer, Senior Plot Sales Conveyancer
Carmen is extremely client focused and has dealt with all aspects of plot sales, part exchange properties, site set up and infrastructure agreements for national developers, on both small and large developments. She has over 35 years' experience in dealing with conveyancing matters and has worked with many National Housebuilders and independent developers.
Charlotte is a Senior Solicitor in the Private Client team based in the Shirley office. Charlotte focuses on assisting clients on a wide variety of private client matters including:-
Job Titles:
- Partner, Solicitor / Commercial Property
Claire has over 17 years of experience working in private practice.
Claire covers a broad range of commercial property transactions including sale and purchase of commercial, mixed use property and HMO's, commercial leases/landlord and tenant, commercial/mixed use/residential developments including acquisition, option agreements and promotion agreements.
She also assists clients in obtaining finance for acquisitions, developments, working capital and restructuring. Claire also has a background in insolvency and restructuring working with insolvency practitioners and LPA Receivers.
Claire works with a broad range of clients delivering a commercial and pragmatic approach providing clients with solutions and not obstacles wherever possible.
Job Titles:
- Senior Solicitor
- Senior Solicitor / Family & Children
Claire is a Senior Solicitor in the Family Team based in Sheldon. She believes it is important to build a strong rapport with her clients and gives pragmatic advice to achieve the best outcome for her clients.
Claire has dealt with all
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Partner
- Solicitor
‘The outstanding Dean Parnell is a heavyweight litigator, is the man you want in the trench with you fighting your case. He is a great lateral thinker in all disputes and comes out on top all of the time. In every sense he is a real mastermind of a lawyer. Hugely respected in the City and beyond. Down to earth and very approachable.'
‘Dean Parnell is a very talented litigation lawyer who is first and foremost a problem solver. He is an original thinker with a keen intellect and provides clients with the confidence that they are in safe hands.'
‘Dean Parnell gives a friendly and efficient service to his clients; he is one of the go-to employment lawyers in the City. A very tough negotiator on his client's behalf. If you want the best representation at all levels he is the man to instruct‘.
‘Dean Parnell stands out as being very much a ‘can do' person who has a very sound grasp of the legal and commercial elements of employment litigation. He is astute, and a reassuring presence to have alongside you whilst going through litigation‘.
Dean was President of Birmingham Law Society during 2010/2011 and had a very successful year in office.
Dean is a past President of the Birmingham Law Society. He has chaired the Dispute Resolution Committee within Birmingham law Society since August 2009.
Dean works with his clients in three key areas: Dispute Resolution, Employment and Regulatory.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Solicitor
- Associate, Solicitor / Family & Children
As an Associate Solicitor in the Family Law team at Sydney Mitchell, Emma is dedicated to providing clients with clear advice and strives to minimise the trauma and anxiety associated with sensitive family matters. She has a firm, but friendly
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Partner
- Solicitor
- Employment Lawyer
'Emma-Louise Hewitt was brilliant in helping me achieve what I wanted out of my case'
Hewitt's team handles a mix of claimant and respondent matters, with recent work including whistleblowing cases, unfair dismissal claims, and matters involving disability discrimination and sexual harassment.
Job Titles:
- Family Lawyer, Senior Associate
- Family Lawyer, Senior Associate / Family & Children
Gemma has practised exclusively in Family Law since 2008. She has advised on all aspects of family law from divorce, finances, children matters, adoption, surrogacy, pre-nuptial agreements, cohabitation, domestic violence and emergency remedies.
Gemma has worked with clients from all backgrounds and deal with many difficult circumstances. She has considerable experience in cases where domestic abuse is an issue. She is an ally of our LGBTQ community and has represented clients on same sex marriage/dissolution and in complex children matters.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Consultant / Commercial Property
Georgina Walsh is a Consultant, based at the firms Shirley office on the Stratford Road, Solihull. Georgina is familiar with the location having practiced in the Shirley area for the last 22 years at both Johnson Walsh and Harris Cooper Walsh.
Job Titles:
- Probate Practitioner, Wills Administrator
Gillian deals with the Administration of Estates and Trusts and the preparation of Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney. She believes that she empathises with her clients from all walks of life and gives them achieve a sense of assurance on a
Hayley works within the Litigation team in Shirley and Birmingham as a Paralegal.
Heleena is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution Team. She has worked on a wide variety of cases on employment, insolvency and commercial and civil litigation matters for both individuals and businesses.
Heleena always strives to meet
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Solicitor
Ian has over 15 years litigation experience, most recently working on high value, diverse claims.
Ian is personable and straight talking and endeavours to provide
Job Titles:
- Solicitor
- Conveyancer, Solicitor
Jamie is a Solicitor and Conveyancer. He has dealt with all types of residential transactions including purchases, sales, re-mortgages, transfers of equity and right to buys.
Jamie has a personal approach with his clients whilst
Jasmin Begum is a Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution Team.
Job Titles:
- Family Lawyer, FCILEx, Senior Legal Executive / Family & Children
- Senior Chartered Legal Executive
Jayne is a Senior Chartered Legal Executive with over 25 years' experience in all areas of Family Law. Jayne is a member of Resolution, a national organisation of family lawyers committed to a non-confrontational approach to dealing with divorce
Jess is a paralegal in our private client team.
Jess is passionate about ensuring her clients feel at ease when discussing sensitive matters. She has worked in private client since 2021 and has experience with Wills, Probate and Court of
Jessica is a conveyancer and has experience in dealing with all types of conveyancing, including freehold & leasehold sales and purchases, buy to lets, new builds, transfer of equity, re-mortgages and shared ownership.
Jessica has
Job Titles:
- Collaborative Lawyer, Senior Solicitor / Family & Children
Judi is a senior solicitor in the private client team.
She gives analytical and supportive legal advice in a sensitive and practical way. She tries to ensure that a solution may be found that keeps the wellbeing of the family as the focus
Job Titles:
- Senior Solicitor / Company & Commercial
Julian is a company lawyer with a broad based practice area covering corporate transactions, commercial contracts and intellectual property.
He advises clients on buying and selling companies or businesses, a wide range of commercial
Job Titles:
- Head of Department, Senior Partner / Family & Children
Karen has formidable negotiating skills and achieves high levels of settlement and client satisfaction. She adopts a firm but fair approach to all aspects of her litigation with an eye to the commercial realities.
Katie is a Wills Assistant in our Private Client Team based in Shirley.
Katie graduated from Liverpool John Moores in the height of the pandemic with a 2:1 in law. Since then, she has worked within Private Client focusing primarily on
Kay deals with House Sales, Purchases, Remortgages, Transfers of Equity Assents, covering the whole range of residential conveyancing.
Kim is a Senior Cilex and member of the Private Client team and assists clients on a wide variety of matters including preparation of Wills and Powers of Attorney. Read More …
Job Titles:
- Personal Injury Solicitor
- Solicitor / Accident & Personal
Kiran is a Personal Injury solicitor. She has been dealing with personal injury claims for over 10 years; dealing with all areas of personal injury law including accidents occurring at work, accidents in public places and road traffic accidents
Job Titles:
- Partner / Banking & Finance
Leanne is Head of the Restructuring and Insolvency Team incorporating Banking and Finance Litigation.
Leanne acts for lenders advising on their recovery options and for insolvency practitioners in all aspects of contentious and non-
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Solicitor
Lorna is a Senior Associate in the Private Client Team.
Lorna assists private clients and advises on wills, powers of attorney and tax planning. She also deals with applications for grants of probates and administering estates and advises
Lucy has worked in the legal profession for many years, previously assisting fee earners in a wide range of private client services. She now specialises in Continuing Healthcare work, providing clients with advice relating to applications,
Malika works within the Litigation team in Shirley and Birmingham as a Paralegal.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Conveyancer, Solicitor, Senior Associate
Marta is a Senior Associate in our Conveyancing team. She qualified as a solicitor in February 2015 and gained experience in the area of probate and residential conveyancing. Marta moved to Solihull in 2017, previously being based in Maidstone,
Job Titles:
- Partner / Family & Children
Mauro has a single minded approach in dealing with clients' complex family issues. Mauro advises people on all aspects of relationship breakdown.
Megan is an experienced Paralegal. She started her career in law while simultaneously studying for her Masters in 2017. She has experience in different disciplines including conveyancing, immigration and private client work. After graduating,
Melissa is an experienced Solicitor and provides extensive personal immigration advice to our clients on spouse visas, applications for children, asylum, European applications to citizenship.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Head of Department, Senior Associate / Accident & Personal
Mike is head of the personal injury department and a Senior Associate.
Mike assists people injured in accidents and gives clear and straight forward advice. He handles all manner of personal injury claim, advising people who have been
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate and Head of Contentious Probate
Mitra is a Senior Associate and Head of Contentious Probate. She is an experienced private client litigator specialising in inheritance and will disputes, Court of Protection disputes and professional negligence.
Danny works with individuals, partners and families on every aspect of buying, selling, renting and remortgaging their homes, including houses, flats and maisonettes.
Danny helps to make every transaction progress to completion as quickly and as easily as possible, with the aim of reducing the stress associated with buying and selling.
Helping a wide range of people to buy all sorts of properties, Danny's clients have included professional footballers company directors, first time buyers, professional musicians, housewives and home husbands!
Danny assists people with -
Mr N Heelam - Chief Compliance Officer
Often later life planning can be a very stressful experience and Patrick aims to make this process as straight forward and hassle free as possible for all involved. He strives to put his clients at ease and foster a collaborative relationship
Job Titles:
- Estate Agency Manager / Estate Agency
Phil joined Sydney Mitchell in January 2012 and now manages the Sheldon branch of the Estate Agency. Throughout his 20 year career he has worked for both corporate and independent Estate Agents, mainly in residential sales and lettings.
Rajvinder is a highly skilled solicitor with over 11 years' experience in providing expert immigration advice. Rajvinder can advise on both personal and business immigration matters. She has been praised for providing clients with a professional
Sabah is an experienced legal professional with a demonstrated history of working extensively within the private client sector. She specializes in estate and trust administration, Court of Protection applications and the
Job Titles:
- Legal Assistant, Probate Practitioner, Wills Administrator
Samantha Elsmore (nee Hughes) is a Private Client Practitioner in the Private Client Department assisting clients with a wide variety of matters including dealing with estate administration and the preparation of Lasting Powers of Attorney and
Samantha studied law with French in Dundee and during this time spent 6 months studying in Paris. She completed her training at a large practice in Belfast which involved acting on behalf of Claimant's in relation to both Litigation and
Shelley is a Partner and leads the Private Client team in the Sheldon office. She began her law career at Sydney Mitchell straight from school working in a number of different departments before becoming a Wills Clerk and moving on to deal with
Shelly was educated in Solihull and read law at the University of Northampton. Shelly began her career with Sydney Mitchell in 2000 where she initially worked in the remortgage department. She then spent some time in the administrative department
Job Titles:
- Partner, Solicitor / Commercial Property, Real Estate
Shilpa is a Partner in the Commercial Property team and is based at the firm's Shirley office.
Job Titles:
- Solicitors - June 2017 - April 2019
Job Titles:
- Collaborative Lawyer, Family Lawyer, Senior Solicitor / Family & Children
Teresa specialises in divorce proceedings and all aspects related to financial matters arising from a relationship breakdown including matters with pension assets in excess of £1.5 million. She also specialises in all aspects of Children Law
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Partner
- Solicitor
Tracy is a partner and Head of Private Client Services Team at Sydney Mitchell. She has extensive experience in all areas of Private Client work including:
Care funding issues
Continuing health care
Trusts