Wood and Richards take control of Family practice

With the appointment of Eleanor and Jim to joint Heads of practice, Lawrence Stephens reaffirms its commitment to continuing its high level of integrated legal advice to a diverse range of clients including high-net-worth and high-profile individuals, foreign nationals, non-domiciles, UK nationals living abroad, and multinational families.

Commenting on the new appointments, Steven Bernstein, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Lawrence Stephens, said: “We are delighted to announce Eleanor and Jim’s appointment as Heads of our Family department. This appointment marks our continued dedication to providing the very best service for our clients, and to growing our fantastic team.”

Ranked as a ‘Key Lawyer’ in The Legal 500 and an Associate To Watch’ in Chambers & Partners respectively, Eleanor works closely with clients on complex family issues, with a particular interest in Children Act matters, including cross-border relocation, change of residence applications and internal relocations, as well as divorce and matrimonial finance work, including the division of businesses and high-value properties.

Jim, who has over 15 years of extensive experience, specialises in a range of areas of family litigation involving a number of different assets and jurisdictions, particularly financial settlements and children cases. He was also previously a member of the Law Society Children’s Panel, working on complex cases where the children were parties to the litigation.

Working closely with the firm’s other departments on connecting matters such as sale of property, wills and probate issues, inheritance planning, dispute resolution and business restructuring, the Family practice will continue to offer a coherent and broad level of service to the Firm’s existing clients whilst drawing on the strength in depth of expertise across the team.

Eleanor Wood, Head of Family, commented: “I am thrilled to be heading up Lawrence Stephens’ Family practice. Working closely with the other fantastic departments at the firm, Jim and I look forward to continuing to provide first-class service to our loyal clients.”

Jim Richards, Head of Family, commented: “It is a pleasure to be joining Eleanor as Head of Family at Lawrence Stephens. Servicing the changing needs of our clients across a wide range of service, we pride ourselves on our collaborative approach and expertise.”