A LEADING North East law firm is set to expand its growing Newcastle office by establishing a new family law team.
Gordon Brown Associates, which has its commercial headquarters in the city after opening new offices earlier this year, will handle a wide range of family law work from its Newcastle base.
The new team, which will hit the ground running at the start of the New Year, is headed by Helen Holmes and Ian Lawson both of whom are resolution members, promoting a constructive and conciliatory approach to resolving family disputes.
The team will focus on growing the firm’s private client base in the Newcastle and Tyneside areas. It will handle work including divorce and separation, finance, arrangements for children, prenuptial and cohabitation agreements and domestic violence.
Uniquely, it will also offer an extended out-of-hours service for family clients where required and a 24-hour emergency number for domestic violence cases – 0191 389 5113.
Helen explained: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to be heading up the new team alongside Ian. I’m excited about the future and really ambitious about what we can achieve in Newcastle.
“We’re looking to extend our private client base around Tyneside and the expertise we can offer to clients through the family law team will help us to achieve this.
“I’m really passionate about making our services as accessible as possible for clients. People’s family lives don’t just fit into a nine-to-five structure and we have to be able to respond to this.”
Helen, a Durham University graduate, specialises in private law work and domestic violence, working closely with several community and voluntary organisations around the region.
Ian is a vastly experienced family law practitioner who is accredited as a specialist with resolution and a member of the Family Law Panel. He focuses on divorce and ancillary relief, resolution and collaborative law. He is also chair of the South of Tyne Collaborative Family Law group – a growing practice area nationally for dealing with family disputes.
The addition of the family law team continues the growth of GBA’s Newcastle office. The law firm, formed in 1981, has already increased its presence in Newcastle by setting up a specialist commercial property team at its Hadrian House base.
Gordon Brown, senior partner, added: “We opened our new city centre offices at Hadrian House earlier in the year and the addition of the family team here continues the expansion of the office. We have two extremely skilled practitioners in Helen and Ian and look forward to them building a very successful team.”
