STEPHENS SCOWN - Key Persons
Aimee is a partner in the Commercial Real Estate team in Exeter. She joined Stephens Scown in 2021 after spending over a decade based at a firm in Milton Keynes.
Aimee qualified as a solicitor in 2005 and with over 15 years' experience she has advised clients across a whole spectrum of industries on a wide range of property matters - with a particular specialism in acting for occupier and investment clients and with a particular interest in retail and leisure.
Examples of Aimee's recent work include:
Advising a large logistics operator in connection with its state-of-the-art warehouse facility, delivering timely commercial advice to assist their business
Leading on large scale portfolio property disposals as part of rationalisation projects for a bank
Advising a large pension fund on the acquisition of a 4-star hotel in Cambridge, purchased as an investment. The complex structure of this transaction included various steps starting with the freehold-owning company being bought by our client's seller
Assisting a car dealership company with the expansion of their property portfolio, through acquisition as part of dealership corporate asset deals and more discrete property purchases, and in the restructure of its property ownership
Project managing a legal team in the delivery of a large-scale multi-site (over 1800 sites) assignment programme for telecommunications operator.
Increasingly, organisations and business leaders are no longer measuring success solely from the annual accounts, but whether they have a defined positive purpose, whether that purpose is being met and what the organisation's impact is. As one of our B Corp™ Champions, Aimee is knowledgeable and passionate about helping you build your own purpose and positive impact - at whatever stage of this you are at.
Outside of work Aimee enjoys spending time with her cheeky border terriers, going to the gym, pedalling around the country lanes and hopes to improve her skills in stand-up paddle boarding.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Solicitor
- Member of the Insolvency Lawyers' Association
Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 2001 and is head of the Restructuring and Insolvency team based in our Exeter office. Andrew joined Stephens Scown in 2007 and became a partner in 2014.
Andrew holds an LLB Honours degree in Business Law from Bournemouth University and a PG DIP in Legal Practice from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.
Andrew has over 20 years' experience of providing advice to numerous insolvency practitioners, business people, creditors and individual debtors on the legal and commercial issues that arise on or out of insolvency. He also advises on lending and taking security.
His work includes:
Assisting insolvency practitioner with their investigations into company failures
Acting for directors and liquidators in bringing or defending wrongful trading claims
Acting for buyers or sellers in accelerated or distress business sales
Acting for a number of lenders advising about the risks of transactions being set aside in the event of the borrower's insolvency and suggestion reasons to mitigate the risks to the lender
Advising boards of directors of companies in financial difficulty about the steps they should take to mitigate the risks for themselves personally and the companies' creditors.
Andrew acts for clients from a wide range of industries but with particular experience of insolvency in the mining and minerals sector, engineering and technology sectors.
Andrew is a full member of the Insolvency Lawyers' Association and the Devon & Somerset Law Society. He has also spoken at a number of outside events on matters of insolvency law, including to the South West Society of Chartered Accountants.
Charles is an equity partner in the Commercial Property team at Stephens Scown having joined in October 2022.
Charles has experience dealing with all types of commercial property, including offices, shops, warehouses, industrial land and leisure, as well as straying into first registration of unregistered rural property.
Charles also has experience in cross-jurisdictional transactions where property in the UK is being acquired or let to or by clients in other jurisdictions, including USA, Europe, Malaysia, Russia and China.
Charles is able to advise on:
Landlord and tenant matters - leases, licences to assign, surrenders, assignments;
Sales and purchases of owner occupied property, and related secured lending transactions and other finance transactions, including sale and leaseback transactions;
Sales and purchases of investment property (usually commercial but including some residential and development land);
Some development related work acting for tenant's or buyers or buildings to be constructed or which have been recently constructed;
Options and conditional contracts, overage;
Secure lending, acting for borrowers and lenders, including several banks, both in the UK and overseas.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Legal Executive
Charlotte joined Stephens Scown in 2023 as a Chartered Legal Executive in the Employment team.
A member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), she specialises in litigation with experience in working for businesses.
Charlotte is a trainee solicitor currently in the final stage of her training with the Employment team.
Charlotte joined Stephens Scown as a paralegal in 2021 and is due to qualify as a solicitor in August 2024.
She has a Law degree from the University of Sussex and achieved a Distinction in the LPC (LLM) from the University of Law in 2022.
Charlotte has previous experience in Family, Planning, Intellectual Property, and Data Protection.
She is also a member of the Stephens Scown charity committee.
Chris joined Stephens Scown in 2008, qualifying as a chartered legal executive in 2009. Now an experienced senior associate in the employment team, Chris has specialised in employment law since 2013. He also has knowledge of family law, having spent more than ten years (up to 2013) working in the sector.
With a passion for employer support work, Chris has maintained long and valued relationships formed with many employer clients. Thanks to his regular connections and client care excellence, these relationships have spanned numerous years from his initial contact through to successful matter resolutions.
A strong proponent of prevention being better than cure, Chris is a key member of our HR Express service, providing pragmatic day-to-day HR and employment law advice. This allows clients not only to have confidence in the decisions they are making, but also to implement those decisions with clarity, certainty, and expert support.
Chris prides himself on not just churning out black letter law advice; going above and beyond to get to know his clients in order to better understand their unique requirements, ensuring his advice is targeted to meet their specific, personal wants and needs.
Chris advises on the full spectrum of employment law, his expertise including matters related to:
Senior exits
Business reorganisations
Settlement agreements
Disciplinary and grievance processes
Capability issues
Discrimination issues
Whistleblower protections
Contracts and policies
TUPE
His breadth and depth of knowledge sees Chris support organisations from a wide range of sectors, with a particular interest in both the mines and minerals, and food and drink sectors.
Ellie is an experienced partner and believes that for businesses, having effective, specialist advice readily available is key to putting in place and retaining an engaged and settled workforce. She prides herself in giving focused, pragmatic advice which makes the running of businesses smoother and easier. Within her role she works with businesses on their day to day HR and employment practices as well as advising on reorganisations and business transfers. She also supports private individuals on the full spectrum of employment law including redundancy, departure situations and Settlement Agreements, capability issues and discrimination.
Ellie read classics at King's College, Cambridge (MA Hons) before completing the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the Colleague of Law in Guildford, obtaining a distinction in both courses. She trained at a London firm and qualified at the same firm in 2007. Ellie joined Stephens Scown in 2015.
Gemma is an Associate working in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team, joining Stephens Scown in August 2023.
Gemma qualified as a solicitor in 2019 and her specialisms include professional negligence and commercial disputes including contract disputes, shareholder/director and partnership disputes and franchise disputes as well as some commercial agency work alongside debt recovery and insolvency work.
Some of Gemma's recent work includes:
Solicitor and surveyor negligence;
Unfair prejudice petitions;
High value contract disputes;
Internal and external debt recovery work;
Bankruptcy and winding up petitions; and
Partnership disputes including in the farming and healthcare sectors.
Fluent in French, Gemma enjoys practicing the language outside of work, as well as spending time with family, horse riding and travelling."
Job Titles:
- CEO, St Aubyn Estates, 2021
In her spare time Kate enjoys staying active and taking advantage of the coast. Kate particularly enjoys paddleboarding and running.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member and Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association
Ian is a partner in our Property Litigation team based primarily in Truro.
Ian qualified as a solicitor in September 2002 after gaining a LLB (Hons) law degree from the University of Liverpool and joined Stephens Scown in September 2015.
Ian acts for all manner of clients from private individuals to landed estates, farmers to large corporate clients with clients based all over the South West and increasingly elsewhere in England. Ian is a specialist property litigator, advising clients in relation to all contentious matters concerning land, whether freehold or leasehold and particularly in relation to agricultural land.
Ian also regularly advises on disputes concerning commercial land and residential property. Ian frequently advises in complex issues particularly in relation to landlord and tenant issues and regularly appears in the County Court and First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). Ian also deals with matters in the High Court and Court of Appeal as well as agricultural arbitrations and tribunal applications. Ian also has significant experience of, and success in, representing clients at mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
Recent work by Ian has included the following:
Acting for client contesting a Case B notice served in relation to an AHA Tenancy and settling in favourable terms
Acting for a client in relation to, and settling, arbitration under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 for a claim in the region of £1.3m
Advising clients on succession applications under an AHA tenancy
Obtaining a vesting order for a farmer client in relation to land left in a will with missing/untraceable executors
Acting for a farmer in multi million pound negotiations for the grant of a new easement to a well-known/household name food and drink producer.
Ian is a member and Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association and is also a member of the Property Litigation Association and the Cornwall Law Society.
Outside of work, Ian is a keen musician playing the cornet and trumpet. Otherwise he enjoys taking in the beautiful countryside both at home and abroad as both a walker and reluctant runner, the odd round of golf as well as enjoying good food and wine.
Jennifer is a Solicitor in our Commercial Real Estate team based in Truro.
Jennifer joined Stephens Scown in 2016 and qualified as a Solicitor in October 2023. Before starting her training contract, Jennifer was a paralegal in the Commercial Property team for three years.
Jennifer has experience dealing with Landlord and Tenant matters, sale and purchase of commercial property and Corporate support work. She has a special interest in sustainability and growing her expertise in ‘green lease' clauses.
Increasingly, organisations and business leaders are no longer measuring success solely from the annual accounts, but whether they have a defined positive purpose, whether that purpose is being met and what the organisation's impact is. As one of our B Corp™ Champions, Jennifer is knowledgeable and passionate about helping you build your own purpose and positive impact - at whatever stage of this you are at.
In her spare time Jennifer loves to travel having previously lived abroad for several years. She is also a B Corp™ fanatic and is one of the B Local Co-Chairs for Cornwall.
Areas Of Expertise
Commercial Property Support
Food and Drink
Leisure and Tourism
Occupying Commercial Real Estate
Sustainability - building your purpose and impact
Technology
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of the Employment Lawyers' Association
Joe is a partner in the Employment team and specialises in employment disputes, as well as negotiating exits for employees.
Joe joined Stephens Scown in January 2022, after relocating from the Bristol region. Joe has practised exclusively in employment law for more than a decade, having qualified as a legal executive and then as a solicitor in 2015.
Joe has a successful track record representing businesses and individuals in all types of Employment Tribunal litigation. He also regularly advises businesses and business owners, HR teams and front line managers with employee issues.
Clients recommend Joe for his attention to detail, commercial understanding and ability to take the right strategic approach for each matter in order to achieve the desired outcome. Joe has a reputation for being immensely personable, explaining the law in a way which is clear and easy to understand.
Joe is a member of the Employment Lawyers' Association and sits on the South West steering committee.
Kate is a partner in our Rural team and is based in our Truro office. She achieved her LLB degree from Aberystwyth University and qualified in April 1986.
Kate Joined the firm in 2013. She specialises in advising landowners on complex acquisition and disposal of farms, whether as an asset purchase arrangement or a share sale; landlord and tenant issues including the surrender of Agricultural Holding Act tenancies and the granting of Farm Business Tenancies; secured lending. In addition she also advises on options and leases in respect of renewable projects both from the landlord and tenant perspective; easements, rights of way and adverse possession applications. Kate's work often involves dealing with complex title matters including Settled Land Act Issues.
Kate is a fellow of the Agricultural Law Association (ALA) and formerly sat on the Nation Council for the ALA. Until recently she was a Tutor on ALA Fellowship course. She is also a member of the Country Landowners Association.
Kate Westlake is a partner in our Real Estate department in Cornwall.
Kate qualified as a solicitor in November 2016 after gaining a 2.1 degree in LLB Law and a distinction in the Legal Practice Course from the University of the West of England. Kate trained with the firm and joined in 2013.
Kate specialises in the social housing and marine sectors and undertakes work in a range of commercial property matters including development, acquisitions and disposals of property, commercial leases and licences and charging and security work. Her clients include developers, landlords and tenants, social housing providers and owners of property portfolios.
Typically, Kate deals with:
Site acquisitions including options, conditional contracts and development agreements
Commercial leases acting for both landlords and tenants
Complex refinancing of property or charging of properties or portfolios
Complex agreements including overage and pre-emption agreements
Buying and selling commercial investment properties and assisting with property owner portfolios.
Examples of Kate's more recent work includes:
Complex refinancing a store for a value of over £50 million
Acquiring three retail properties from liquidators in short timescales
Assisting a client with a sub-sale to acquire land with planning permission for mixed open market and affordable units for a value of £1.2 million and putting in place overage
Charging a portfolio of 250 properties for a register provider for more than £10 million
Acquiring 48 properties on a scheme with a conditional contact and development agreement with a value of more than £5 million
Sale and lease of a well-known restaurant and bar in Cornwall with a complex turn over rent provision.
Katie is a trainee solicitor in the Private Client team, working in the Wealth Protection specialist subsector, joining Stephens Scown in September 2023.
She completed her LPC and Masters in Manchester before returning to her roots in the South West. Her work generally involves:
Drafting wills.
Drafting lasting powers of attorney.
Assisting on probate and trust files; and
Estate administration.
Outside of work, Katie enjoys bouldering, travel, and live music.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- Director of Totally Truro
- HR Advisor and Paralegal
- Member of Our Popular HR Express Service Team
Mark is a HR advisor and paralegal in the Employment team, with more than 20 years experience. He joined the firm in 2015, with a background as a HR manager.
Mark is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), qualifying in 2001, and a volunteer member of the Devon & Cornwall CIPD committee. Mark is a Politics graduate from the University of Exeter and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management, awarded by Thames Valley University.
Mark specialises in providing HR support to clients on specific matters, or regular or project based secondments, either from our office or on-site. This can include assisting clients with internal processes, for example investigations, chairing hearings and appeals, drafting and issuing contracts, leading TUPE consultations or redundancy processes. He also delivers training and gives support to businesses on common HR issues such as holding difficult conversations, absence management, appraisal processes or misconduct.
Mark is also a member of our popular HR Express service team, dealing with the full range of employment queries and regularly advises clients on disciplinary and grievance issues, redundancies, reorganisations, performance and sickness absence issues, flexible working to name a few.
Job Titles:
- Director, Gasworld.Com, October 2021
Outside of work, Mark is a Director of Totally Truro (Truro and Newham BIDs - Business Improvement Districts) - the business led initiative supported by government legislation which gives businesses the power to raise funds locally to be spent locally, in this case on improving Truro, Newham & The Port of Truro. Mark is also a Councillor on Truro City Council. He is a keen runner, cyclist, novice drummer and a music and sports fan.
Mike is a partner and specialises in property litigation. He qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and obtained a law degree from the University of Reading. He joined Stephens Scown in 2011.
Mike acts on a range of contentious property issues including commercial and residential landlord and tenant, utilities, development matters, restrictive covenants, easements and property related professional negligence.
Job Titles:
- Head of Department
- Partner
- Member of the Property Litigation Association
- Practice Head
Richard heads the Property Litigation team at Stephens Scown, and joined the firm in February 2019. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1998 after reading Law with French Law at the University of Reading and studying law at l'Université Paris Nanterre.
Richard acts on a range of contentious property issues including commercial, residential and agricultural landlord and tenant, freehold, land registration, telecommunications, utilities, wayleaves development matters and property related professional negligence.
He is a joint editor of Aldridge Leasehold Law, a looseleaf textbook on landlord and tenant published by Sweet & Maxwell.
Richard is a member of the Property Litigation Association and the Agricultural Law Association and an associate member of the Pyramus & Thisbe Society (a society for professionals with a particular interest in matters relating to The Party Wall etc. Act 1996).
He is ranked by Chambers and Partners as a leading individual for Real Estate Litigation in the South West and is described as "a seasoned and distinguished litigator". Sources describe him as a "very hard-working, intelligent and client-focused solicitor." Others note his "collegiate and robust style" and his "pragmatic approach supported by deep and broad knowledge of property law."
Sam is an associate in our Real Estate team in Truro. Sam qualified as a solicitor in September 2018 after gaining a Law degree from the University of Bristol and joined Stephens Scown in July 2013.
He deals with mining and minerals, forestry and natural resources matters together with general commercial property work, including the taking, grant and renewal of commercial leases; sales and purchases of commercial, agricultural and residential property; registration at the Land Registry of complex and/or historic titles; and dealing with other general commercial and estate matters.
Sam has experience in the minerals sector, assisting landowners and mineral extractors, including international minerals operators, and in the forestry sector, dealing with the sale and purchase of woodland for investment and amenity purposes. Sam has also assisted local town and parish councils on property acquisitions and has been involved in work for estate clients including a complex mineral registration project.
His work includes:
Complex historic minerals registration project
Registration of large operational mineral extraction sites
Acquisition of public amenity sites for local town and parish councils
Dealing with estate matters for large local estates.
Outside of the office, Sam enjoys cricket and hockey.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Partner
- Member of Resolution
- Specialist
Sarah is a partner and head of the specialist Family Finance team across our three offices. She qualified in March 2006 and has over 15 years of experience advising clients on:
Divorce & complex financial settlements involving business interests, inherited wealth, trusts and pension assets
Pre/post-nuptial agreements to preserve wealth and protect family businesses in a succession planning context
Child maintenance and financial provision for children of unmarried parents.
She specialises in advising business/farm owners and those with significant inherited wealth on the protection of assets from the impact of relationship breakdown; and their spouses who seek their share of resources. She also acts for professionals and has an in-depth understanding of the nuances of public sector pension schemes.
Her work includes:
Acting for a husband whose family company was part owned by him and his wife - securing the transfer of the wife's shares to him and a clean break settlement
Representing the wife of a minority shareholder in a private company, obtaining a valuation of the shareholding and securing a financial settlement reflecting its value
Securing an order that a wealthy husband funds his wife's legal fees to put her on an equal footing in the divorce process
Representing a wife whose husband failed to provide full and accurate disclosure of his financial circumstances and eventually obtaining the relevant information to ensure a fair settlement
Acting for the wife of a public sector worker to achieve an equal share of his valuable pension scheme in addition to half of the capital assets
Advising many high net worth individuals on post nuptial agreements to protect their assets in the event of a future breakdown in their marriage
Representing a wife challenging a pre-nuptial agreement and seeking greater provision to meet her needs
Helping a client preserve his valuable Navy pension built up during the 25 years after he separated from his wife despite her subsequent financial application to the court 22 years after their divorce.
Sarah is a member of Resolution and promotes a constructive approach to resolving family issues.
We recognise that increasingly individuals want to know how the decisions they make in their personal lives impact on sustainability. As one of our B Corp™ Champions, Sarah is knowledgeable and passionate about supporting you to make decisions that suit your aspirations to have a positive impact on our communities and the environment around us.
Chambers and Partners (2024) - "She is one of the top matrimonial lawyers in Cornwall." "Sarah is a brilliant, responsive and detail-driven lawyer."
Chambers and Partners (2023) - "Sarah has an ability to see around corners for her clients and provide comprehensive advice from the first meeting. Clients love her friendly and straightforward approach, and willingness to be with them throughout the process." "She is able to take on complex work and deliver plain-English explanations and advice. She is a class act." "She delivered a perfect level of service and high-quality advice."
Job Titles:
- Business & Strategic Partner
Job Titles:
- Head of Organisational Development
"Chris represented me for nearly two years in a tribunal for unfair dismissal from my job. During a difficult period of time for me, he was at all times very professional, caring, and he kept me informed and updated at all times."