STEVENSDRAKE LIMITED - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Commercial Property
- Director, Head of Commercial Property
Alex is recognised as a leading commercial property solicitor in his field.
He is the Director of the firm and jointly heads the Commercial Property department, specialising in landlord and tenant work in office, industrial, retail and leisure sectors and development.
Job Titles:
- Family Law
- Paralegal, Family Department
Alison has over 30 years of legal experience in a variety of areas of law in both local and London firms. She joined stevensdrake in 1998 and has worked in the Family Department since 2013 where she is able to help and support clients through a difficult time in their lives.
Outside work, Alison enjoys travelling and exploring new places, walking, Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, gardening and socialising with friends. She is also a regular volunteer with a local homeless charity.
Job Titles:
- Team Leader, Residential Property Department
Belinda has over 30 years of experience acting in residential conveyancing transactions and has spent many years working locally in Crawley. She has established good working relationships with local agents. She is experienced in handling freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, remortgages, transfers of equity and shared ownership transactions.
Belinda is known for her friendly and approachable manner when giving time to her clients. She prides herself in building good working relationships with her clients at a time in their lives when a bit of friendly support and guidance helps them to achieve time pressured goals. She enjoys assisting clients she has known for a numbers of years to move house, or buy a second home, or help their children as they move out into the world.
Belinda is flexible in her approach and always willing to respond to individual requirements of clients. Her aim is always to ensure that the conveyancing process is as stress-free as possible for her clients.
Job Titles:
- Family Law
- Member of Resolution
- Solicitor, Family Department
Callie qualified as a solicitor in 2014, after completing her MA in Jurisprudence at Oxford University (St Hilda's College) and a further LLM with the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. She has worked for a number of years in a specialist family law firm, and has experience of a wide range of family matters. Callie has advised many clients on a number of issues including child protection, parental responsibility, child arrangements, prenuptial agreements, and domestic abuse, and she specialises in advice around divorce and separation, civil partnerships, financial issues, and cohabitation disputes.
Callie has been a member of Resolution for several years and believes that taking a holistic and creative approach to the issues surrounding family breakdown often provides the optimal solution for her clients, particularly when there are children involved. However she does take a firm and pragmatic approach, and advocates for her clients in Court including where necessary in relation to urgent injunctions to protect clients, children or assets.
Outside of work Callie enjoys studying new things, and spends her time reading and wandering idly in local open spaces.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Property
- Consultant, Commercial Property / Development
Christopher has 30 years' experience of major property development and investment work. He also deals with planning and other public law matters and is a specialist in airport parking.
After qualifying in the City, Christopher moved to West Sussex where he has practised for the last 35 years. After heading up a substantial Commercial Property Department at a large regional firm he then established Paul Davidson Taylor in 1990, where he was Senior Partner and Head of Commercial Property. He joined stevensdrake as a Consultant in 2003.
Christopher has acted for major landowners and national property developers in promoting and disposing of strategic housing sites. His airport parking work frequently brings him into contact with Government Departments and industry regulators.
Outside of the law Christopher has gained hands-on experience in running businesses in the restaurant, hotel and property investment sectors.
Christopher's pastimes include annual visits to the ski slopes, to Italy to enjoy la dolce vita and to Greece for the island life. His ambition is to master the art of golf.
Job Titles:
- Litigation
- Solicitor, Litigation Department
Clarissa obtained a double law degree in English and French Law before returning to the UK to complete the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School in London.
Clarissa joined the firm in January 2019 as a paralegal in the litigation department and subsequently qualified as a solicitor in July 2022.
Working within litigation team at stevensdrake, Clarissa deals with a variety of matters which include,
Job Titles:
- Litigation
- Paralegal
- Paralegal, Litigation Department
Dan is a dedicated paralegal at stevensdrake working in the Litigation department having joined at the start of 2024. Dan provides support and assistance to the team's solicitors and Directors and is gaining exposure to a wide variety of matters.
Dan holds a Law LLB degree and is currently pursuing a Masters in law whilst working towards qualifying as a solicitor on completion of the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE).
Dan's commitment to legal excellence and ongoing education enhances our firm's capabilities and he takes a warm and professional approach in making sure our clients are happy and to uphold the firm's reputation.
Outside of work, Dan enjoys supporting his local football team at the Amex Stadium. However, his love for the game doesn't stop there. On weekends, he loves nothing more than a friendly kick-about with mates and hitting the gym to stay in top shape. A dedicated family man, Dan values spending quality time with his loved ones whenever he can.
Job Titles:
- Director, Head of Collections
Debbie joined the firm as Head of Collections in June 2018 and became a Director in the firm in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Head of Wills, Trusts and Probate
Job Titles:
- Consultant, Head of Insolvency Department
Job Titles:
- Director, Joint Head of Litigation Department
- Joint Head
- Litigation
Ian is joint head of the stevensdrake litigation team, and a member of the Property Litigators Association.
Ian trained with the firm and has over 20 years specializing in litigation, for a broad range of clients including large multi-national companies, through to owner-managed businesses. In addition to property matters such as dilapidations claims and opposed lease renewals, he deals with a broad range of commercial disputes, including contract claims, partnership disputes, litigation arising from joint venture agreements, and fraud claims including cross border actions. He has also worked extensively for the UK subsidiaries of a US based corporation on their trademark enforcement. In addition to advising and working to negotiate settlement, and pursuing court proceedings, he is also experienced in Arbitration and enforcing subsequent Arbitration awards.
Reported cases reflect his breadth of experience, from property disputes (restrictions on assignment, Legends Surf Shops plc (in administration) [2006] BCC 204), contract claims (consumer debt, American Express v Tuvyahu[1999], Court of Appeal), employment (Haines v West Sussex County Council [1997] UKEAT 871_96_1205), to defamation (Freer v Zeb & Ors [2008] EWHC 212). Also acted on quashing various building societies' unlawful "penalty" charges (including as featured on Channel 4's ‘Mrs Cohen's Money' in 1998).
In his free time Ian balances family life with a passion for football (Chicago Bears…), and (strictly) outside of work indulges in his hobby of Dungeons & Dragons.
Job Titles:
- Employment Law
- Solicitor, Head of Employment Law Department
James qualified as a solicitor in 2001, having completed his academic studies at the University of Sheffield. Throughout his career, he has worked for a number of prestigious regional law firms, joining stevensdrake as Head of Employment Law in 2012.
As well as pursuing and defending the full range of Employment Tribunal claims, James spends a considerable amount of his time providing advice and support to businesses of various sizes. He advises on a wide variety of HR and employment law issues, including employment contracts, HR processes and procedures, grievances, disciplinary issues, absenteeism, performance management and settlement agreements. He also regularly helps clients with redundancy exercises and internal reorganisations.
James has previously been described as an ‘Associate to Watch' by Chambers UK, an independent guide to the legal profession. His clients regard him as "thorough", "easy to work with" and someone who avoids blinding them with legal jargon.
Job Titles:
- Secretary, Residential Conveyancing Department
Job Titles:
- Director, Joint Head of Litigation Department
- Litigation
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Head of Family Department
- Family Law
Kamal joined stevensdrake in 2017 having qualified as a solicitor in 2015. He was appointed head of the Family department in 2020 and Associate Director in 2022.
Prior to joining stevensdrake, Kamal spent time working in the Family departments of two highly respected Legal 500 ranked firms.
Having worked in Family Law for over a decade, Kamal has amassed a significant amount of experience and can advise on all areas of Family law. He has also built an extensive network within the Family law world and is able to draw on the assistance of specialist barristers and other professionals, where required.
Kamal predominately deals with the financial matters which arise following the breakdown of a marriage, civil partnership or cohabiting relationship. Many of Kamal's cases involve assets of significant value (including property and pensions) but he is equally adept in cases where the assets are modest.
Kamal regularly advises in relation to wealth preservation and is often instructed to prepare or review Pre or Post Nuptial Agreements as well as Cohabitation Agreements for unmarried cohabitees.
Kamal is routinely instructed to deal with matters concerning children, whether this be to secure financial provision for them or to determine their living arrangements (in this Jurisdiction or abroad).
In all cases, Kamal always seeks to resolve disputes in the most amicable and cost effective way possible, and to ensure his clients are fully aware of their options from the outset, where possible.
Kamal also seeks to take the adversarial nature out of what is often a stressful and difficult experience. As a member of Resolution, Kamal is committed to helping his clients resolve their issues in a constructive way and is a keen proponent of all forms of alternative dispute resolution including but not limited to mediation and arbitration, which can often save clients significant costs and see their cases resolved far quicker than usual.
Outside of work, Kamal enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid fitness enthusiast and a long-suffering supporter of Crystal Palace FC. Kamal also provides mentoring via the Princes Trust and the LYLG Mentor Scheme. He has previously held the role of Trustee for a small charity focussed on relieving the effects of homelessness and the Tandridge Trust.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Head of Corporate and Commercial Law Department
- Head of Corporate & Commercial Law
Nusrat Qureishi joins us as the Head of Corporate & Commercial Law. She is a corporate commercial lawyer with more than 20 years' experience with particular expertise in the sale and purchase of businesses and companies, as well as the establishment of partnerships and other joint ventures.
Having trained and worked for many years for a City Law firm, Nusrat has a wealth of experience of working on high-value and complex corporate transactions. Her experience extends to advising on mergers, investment, shareholder, restructuring, banking and re-financing and corporate governance work. Her clients have included entrepreneurs, owner-managers, mid-market companies, SMEs, PLCs, international corporates, private equity, banks and financial institutions, joint venture parties, LLPs, partnerships and individuals.
Client service is highly valued by Nusrat who invests time to gain a real understanding of her clients' needs to meet their goals as effectively and commercially as possible. She aims to be involved in the preparation of a business for sale or purchase from an early stage to ensure that the process runs smoothly and without unnecessary risk, helping to reduce both time and cost for her clients. Her experience allows her to advise companies on strategy - enabling entities to realise the next stage of their growth plans and also support more sophisticated businesses to achieve their commercial objectives.
Nusrat's approach is totally consistent with the ethos of stevensdrake where client satisfaction is valued together with the provision of a high quality service.
Job Titles:
- Business Law
- Consultant, Corporate and Commercial Law Department
Paul joined the Firm in June 2015 and works in the Corporate and Commercial Law department.
Paul undertakes corporate, partnership and asset transactional and re-structuring work together with other complex non-transactional deals and contracts and other corporate matters such as share options. After his first few years in private practice, Paul spent nearly 20 years in-house, starting at the Legal Services division of ICI plc and then moving on to be the Legal Advisor to Associated Octel (now Octel Corp.) in the fuel additives and chemicals business.
In 1997, Paul became Head of Legal at multinational company Hays plc. He and his team of lawyers dealt with around 70 mainly acquiring international transactions before working on the major Hays plc re-organisation, leaving Hays in 2005 after it had been transformed into one of the world's biggest recruitment companies. In 1999, he and the team he led won the prestigious ‘In-House Lawyer' magazine's ‘In-House Team of the Year' award.
In 2007, Paul went back to private practice, specialising in complex corporate, commercial and procurement work and corporate transactions in a major regional practice. His work has recently consisted of various company and owner-managed share sales/purchases, asset purchases and management buy outs, the associated corporate finance lending aspects, advice to the ‘Bloodhound' world land speed record attempt in 2019, a public body outsourcing £160m of services and about £40m of IT licensing, development and outsourcing over 6 contracts.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Litigation Department
- Litigation
Richard re-joined stevensdrake in January 2018 as Associate litigation solicitor, having previously been a part of the litigation team between 2007 and 2012.
As a strong commercial litigator Richard is also able to assist in a variety of commercial disputes including breach of contract, debt recovery, recovery of assets and claims in negligence against professional advisors, and will offer pro-active and pragmatic advice in order to achieve the best outcome for his clients. Richard has a particular specialism in commercial and residential property litigation, including contested lease renewals, possession proceedings, recovery of arrears of rent and dilapidations claims; and is a member of the Property Litigators Association.
Between 2012 and 2017 Richard worked for a number of Local Authorities as a solicitor, deputy-monitoring officer, and monitoring officer and has gained a wealth of knowledge in local authority law, policy, and procedure; this includes planning law and policy, Judicial Review, Housing Act 2004 prosecutions, data protection and freedom of Information claims.
In his free time, Richard enjoys playing hockey and is an active rower having participated on a number of occasions in the annual Pilot Gig Rowing World Championships
Job Titles:
- Commercial Property
- Solicitor, Commercial Property Department
Rodney obtained his law degree in South Africa before he converted to English law with BPP law school in London.
After spending several years working in the charity sector in London, Rodney joined the firm in September 2015 as a Paralegal in the Litigation department, before commencing his training contract in October 2016. Rodney completed his training and qualified as a solicitor in the Commercial Property department in April 2018.
Working within the Commercial Property team, Rodney deals with a wide variety of property transactions which include asset sales and purchases, refinancing, freehold and leasehold disposals and acquisitions as well as all non-contentious landlord and tenant transactions, acting for both individual and corporate clients.
In his spare time, Rodney enjoys all forms of sports as well as keeping fit in the gym with the occasional park run, weather permitting. When Rodney is not trying to keep fit, he enjoys oil painting wildlife.
Job Titles:
- Paralegal, Residential Property Department
Job Titles:
- Head of Residential Property
- Senior Conveyancing Executive, Head of Residential Property Department
Rossina joined stevensdrake in July 2022 as a Paralegal and works closely with Sarah Leason-Pike, Head of Residential Property. She has over five years of experience in the property field and has assisted with an extensive range of matters including, but not limited to, (both leasehold and freehold) sales, purchases, re-mortgages, transfers of equity, shared ownership, new build, staircasing and unregistered land. She exclusively deals with mortgages, sources of funds and first registrations within the department and assists Sarah with the day-to-day running of her case load. She is always on hand to answer questions and guide clients. She aims to meet clients' targets and help make their transactions as smooth as possible.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Legal Executive
- Chartered Legal Executive, Private Client Department
Sue is a Chartered Legal Executive with extensive expertise in Wills, Probate and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Over the years, Sue has established close links with many voluntary organisations and has built a solid local reputation for delivering practical and sympathetic advice to families. Sue regularly speaks on Wills, Inheritance Tax and Lasting Powers of Attorney across the local area.