Howes Percival has strengthened its Family Law practice with two senior appointments. Based in the Leicester office, family law partner Justine Flack has been promoted to become the new national Head of the firm’s Family Law department, while Melanie Westwood has joined the Leicester team as a senior associate.
Justine has been part of the Family Law team in the Leicester office since it began in 2010 and, as Head of Family Law, will have responsibility for the ongoing development of the family team across the whole firm.
Melanie joins Howes Percival from Brethertons Solicitors LLP and specialises in all areas of family law including separation, divorce, financial proceedings, arrangements for children and cohabitation matters. She is a member of Resolution and strives to achieve the best outcome for her clients using a conciliatory approach.
Justine Flack commented;
“I am delighted to welcome Melanie to Howes Percival, she’s a really strong addition to the team, particularly with regard to high net worth divorces. Melanie brings a great deal of experience, as well as strong technical skills and a great reputation for her work. She is very client focused, which is important to the work we do and the way we like to look after our clients.
“Our primary work is financial remedy on divorce, particularly for high net worth individuals. We tend to manage cases with more complex assets, representing business owners, farmers, entrepreneurs and professionals or their spouses. We also actively promote wealth preservation via pre-nuptial agreements and work with families taking a strategic approach to family wealth.
“We continue to see a steady increase in instructions, which pre-dates the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Our plan is for the team to continue to grow across our regions and Melanie’s appointment is part of our expansion programme.
“I think we’ve yet to see the full impact of Covid-19 on relationships and whether it will bring about the anticipated rise in divorces as a result of the financial and emotional stresses of lockdown. It has certainly made people consider their relationships and what’s important to them in life. As we head into recession, the importance of wealth management is likely to grow as parents may find themselves providing more financial support to their adult children so they need to be aware of the impact of a divorce upon their children’s financial arrangements. All of this is likely to affect divorce settlements and how we structure them depending on how businesses, investments and the property market are affected.”
Howes Percival’s Family Law team provides a fully integrated and comprehensive service for high net worth individuals and family businesses. The team works closely with other legal experts within the firm to advise on all aspects of relationships and family matters, including those relating to children, property, family and farming businesses, estates, wills, probate, trusts and tax.
All Howes Percival family lawyers are members of Resolution, a national organisation of family lawyers and other professionals committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes. Whilst the team will strive to get the best result for clients by agreement, they are also experienced litigators and will represent clients’ interests in Court robustly when necessary.
For more details on Howes Percival’s Family Law team, visit: https://www.howespercival.com/services/family-services/
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