WRIGHT & LORD SOLICITORS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Financial Services Administrator
Carol Callan has lived and worked in Lancaster all her life. Her career started at Skipton Building Society where she initially joined as a Customer Adviser advancing to a Customer Review Adviser helping customers with their finances and legacy planning. Carol worked for Skipton for nearly 30yrs taking a few years off to start her family. Carol is married and has two grown up children and enjoys going on long walks with her husband and dog Wes, travelling and spending time socialising with her family and friends.
Her role at Wright & Lord Financial Services is assisting the Financial Adviser and Mortgage Adviser with all aspects of their roles and by using her vast knowledge and experience, Carol ensures our clients receive an efficient and comprehensive service.
Chanel joined Wright in Lord in 2016, working as a legal assistant, having just completed her law degree at Lancaster University. Chanel started her training contract with us in 2018 qualifying as a solicitor in May 2020.
Chanel currently works in the residential conveyancing department, although she has previous experience in the private client, family and litigation departments.
When not working and chasing round after her toddler, Chanel enjoys attending classes at the gym and relaxing with a book.
Born and educated in Morecambe, Chris studied for a law degree in Manchester before completing his professional qualification in York.
Chris joined Wright & Lord in 2003 and became a Partner in 2008.
Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1998, Chris has specialised in family law. He is a member of the Law Society's Family Law Panel and Resolution, and has vast experience in all areas of family law, including divorce and separation, financial settlements and, pre-nuptial and living together agreements.
Over recent years Chris has also moved into Private Client work, which encompasses wills, estate planning, probate, trusts, powers of attorney and applications to the Court of Protection.
Living locally, Chris is married with two sons. He is a Governor at Dallam School, Milnthorpe and involved with Bolton le Sands Cricket Club, being on the committee and helping to run the junior teams.
Dale was born and educated in the local area before gaining an Honours Degree in Forensic & Biomolecular Science at Liverpool John Moores University. He first worked at Wright and Lord for a number of years up to 2008 before qualifying as a Solicitor. Having gained an interest in law during his studies, he then completed a post-graduate diploma in Law.
This led to Dale becoming qualified as a Solicitor in November 2012. Dale initially specialised in private client work involving wills, lasting powers of attorney and the Court of Protection. He added to this what are now his well-established skills in residential conveyancing and ultimately, led his own conveyancing department.
Job Titles:
- Independent Financial Adviser
Deborah Masterman has lived and worked in the Lancaster & Morecambe area since she was a child. On leaving school she worked for Hayton & Hallam Solicitors in Lancaster and then for the Skipton Building Society and Skipton Financial Services for 36 years where she gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in all aspects of Financial Planning including Pensions, Inheritance Tax planning and Investment Advice.
Deborah retired from the Skipton in August 2015 but decided she still had a role to play in the Financial Services sector and was delighted to be able to join the Wright & Lord Financial Services team in the autumn of 2016.
Deborah is married with one daughter who has recently ‘flown the nest' and enjoys going on holiday, walking and reading.
Emma joined Wright & Lord in April 2022. Having obtained a degree in Law and Criminology in 2013 at Lancaster University, Emma worked at a local Conveyancing firm and went on to qualify as a Licensed Conveyancer in 2018. Having taken a break from work to spend time with her two young children, Emma is now assisting Susan Backhouse in the Private Client department involving Wills, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Estate Administration and enjoying the change!
Outside of the office, Emma enjoys spending time with her family and baking with her son Jack.
Gavin joined the firm in 2016 having previously worked at Royal Mail for 18 years. He has a variety of roles within the firm and provides assistance in all departments.
In his spare time, Gavin enjoys walking his two border terriers, watching sport and spending his holidays in Northumberland.
Hannah has worked in the optics industry for almost 20 years and fancied a complete change. She joined Wright and Lord in January 2023. She is a self-confessed home bird, but does like a summer holiday abroad. She also enjoys watching movies and is a massive Disney fan!
Holly Masterman has always lived in Morecambe and on leaving Morecambe Community High School she went on to obtain a degree in Classical Studies at the University of Manchester. At the age of 21 she started working for Skipton Financial Services where she gained the CII Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and is now studying for the CII Level 6 Advanced Diploma and to attain Chartered Status.
Holly enjoys socialising with friends, reading and travelling and in keeping with Wright & Lord tradition, her partner is a member of Heysham Golf Club.
James is a Trainee Solicitor at Wright & Lord, joining the firm in April 2022.
James read Law at the University of East Anglia, and went on to obtain an LLM in Legal Practice from BPP University Law School, Birmingham.
During his postgraduate studies James worked in the Private Client department of a firm local to the Midlands, before moving on to work in Corporate Real Estate at international law firm Eversheds Sutherland and Superdry.
Originally from Stoke-on-Trent and having lived in various places and undertaken various roles, including dental assistant, complaints handler for a bus company and working in security at Gatwick Airport, Joy joined Wright & Lord in 2010 and thoroughly enjoys her position as a receptionist, speaking to and meeting clients.
In her spare time, Joy enjoys a busy social life, live music and going to the theatre and travelling as often as possible with her husband.
Julie joined the firm in March 2021 primarily as a Wills draftsman having worked in local solicitors' practices doing Wills and Probate.
Outside of the office, Julie enjoys spending time with her family and walking her dogs. She also enjoys reading and reviews books by self-published authors for an international firm.
Born and bred in Morecambe, Kim has enjoyed a diverse work history from pulling pints in the local to making people's spectacles but in 2022 she needed a new exciting challenge that brought her Wright and Lord and the Bare team.
In her newly discovered spare time Kim enjoys getting to as many gigs and shows as possible and travelling around the UK in search of excellent cocktails and the perfect burger.
Born and raised in Barrow in Furness, Kirstie worked for a local building society for 18 years before heading off to travel solo around Australia for a year.
She moved to Morecambe for love, and started working for Wright & Lord Financial Services in January 2008 at their new Bare office. Kirstie then transferred to the legal side of the business in May 2009 at the Bare office and have remained there ever since!
In her spare time, Kirstie enjoys cooking, baking and reading and loves to holiday with her husband and with her oldest friends and their dogs. She is desperately trying to persuade he husband to let her have a dog of her own!!
Linda joined Wright & Lord in August 2021. Linda has worked previously in the legal profession but has recently returned after several years bringing up her family. Linda works alongside Gillian assisting Chris Gates in the Civil Litigation department. Linda is always very happy to help and assist wherever possible.
Linda spends her spare time with her friends and family, enjoying the great outdoors, gardening and fell walking.
Lynne is the Practice Manager at Wright & Lord Solicitors with responsibility for client and business relations together with regulatory controls.
Educated at Arnold High School for Girls Blackpool, Lynne gained an honours degree in Law at King's College, London. She qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and practised as a family law specialist for over 15 years before joining Wright & Lord in March 2001, shortly after its inception. She became a partner in October 2006.
Lynne is a sports fan, following a variety of sports, and is a member of Lancashire County Cricket Club. She enjoys art and the theatre, visiting Stratford-upon-Avon as often as possible to take in Royal Shakespeare Company productions.
Lynne's late husband, Simon Lord, was a founding partner of the practice.
Born and bred in Lancaster, Michael is a Trainee Solicitor at Wright & Lord, joining the firm in June 2022, having finished his studies at Lancaster University.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys swimming with his local swimming team, as well as volunteering to coach the next generation.
Natalie is an experienced Conveyancer dealing with all aspects of residential and investment properties including sales, purchases and mortgages.
Since 2002, after concluding her formal education at Heysham High School and Lancaster & Morecambe College, Natalie worked for a local solicitors practice in the areas of litigation and personal injury. She joined Wright & Lord Solicitors in 2009 and since then, has built on her legal experience and knowledge in the conveyancing sector. As a valuable member of the ever expanding conveyancing team Natalie has helped to develop the business and the friendly, personal client care that she and the company have become known for.
She lives locally and has a busy and rewarding domestic life with a husband and two young sons to look after. Natalie also enjoys cooking & reading in her spare time.
Rachel is originally from Rotherham and studied Music at Lancaster University. After working for 16 years as a fundraiser at Lancaster, she fancied a complete career change and is loving it!
Rachel enjoys having a go at new things, baking bread and going on adventures with her husband Fred and their two little girls.
Job Titles:
- Trainee Chartered Legal Executive
Since joining the firm in 2006, Sarah has rapidly progressed her practical and academic learning and is well on the way to qualification as a Chartered Legal Executive. She works alongside Stephen Wright in our commercial department and deals with all aspects of commercial law.
Sarah was born, raised and educated locally, attending Carnforth High and then Lancaster Girls' Grammar School.
In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking, walking her dog and spending time with family and friends.
Born and raised in Lytham St Annes, Sophie joined Wright & Lord in 2019 and is the secretary to Natalie Goulding in the Conveyancing Department. Sophie enjoys the conveyancing administration work very much and loves providing a service to people. Sophie has a passion for all things equine and any spare time she has is given to her horse Bunty, a 4 year old Irish Cob. Sophie spends as much time talking about her horse as people do talking about their kids!
Stephen was a founding Partner in Wright and Lord Solicitors. He grew up and was educated in the Morecambe area until leaving to study for a law degree at Leicester and then his professional qualifications at Newcastle.
He returned to Morecambe to complete a training contract in a local firm of solicitors where he qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and later became a partner in 1995. He left to create a brand new practice in the town with Simon Lord in January 2001.
He has covered many different areas of law since becoming a solicitor. However, his main areas of work now are business and estate planning.
Stephen has lived in the Milnthorpe area for quite a number of years with his wife and two children. He is an avid football fan, still thinks he can play a bit but is probably now better suited to golf.
Job Titles:
- Private Client Practitioner
Sue was born and raised in Morecambe, educated at Morecambe High School and has worked in Morecambe thoughout her career. Sue has specialised in wills, probate and elderly client services for over 12 years and, in 2010, qualified as a Paralegal in Wills, Probate and Estate Administration.
Outside of the office Sue enjoys walking the family dog, going to the theatre and spending time with my family and friends. Last year she and her 12 year old daughter completed the Moonlight Walk for St. John's Hospice.
Job Titles:
- Private Client Practitioner
Zoe joined Wright & Lord in September 2007. She is a Director for the firm and undertakes elderly client work including wills, trusts, powers of attorney and probate.
Educated at Lancaster Girls' Grammar School, Zoe obtained a First Class Honours degree in Law at Lancaster University in 2006, followed by her postgraduate degree in Law at the University of Central Lancashire in 2007 in which she obtained a ‘Distinction' grade. She was awarded the Lancaster, Morecambe and District Law Society Prize in 2006 for her outstanding degree results.
Zoe is a full member of STEP (Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners) having passed the STEP diploma in Trusts and Estates with distinction in 2017 and being accredited as one of the highest achieving students in the year.
Zoe enjoys spending her spare time with her husband and young son and daughter, as well as participating in and watching musical theatre.