People: Law firm appoints head of family team; Two recruits for Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth; and more

Solicitor Harjit Rait has joined LCF Law where she will lead the family law team in Bradford.

Rait has spent the last 15 years working at other well-known regional legal firms specialising in all areas of family law including divorce, separation, pre-nuptial agreements and matters relating to children.

She joins LCF Law as an associate.

Rachel Spencer Robb, head of family law at LCF Law, says: “We’re always keen to attract the best talent to our team and Harjit immediately stood out as being a high quality operator within this specialist arena.  She has a solid reputation across all areas of family law and has delivered a wide range of positive successes for clients, which makes her a superb addition to LCF Law.”

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Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth has hired senior associate Nazia Nawaz to join the wills, trusts and estates disputes team at the firm’s Leeds office, while Kelly Wharin joins the same department in Sheffield as an associate solicitor.

Nawaz is an experienced dispute resolution and litigation solicitor. She will be handling complex disputes between executors and trustees, contested wills and proprietary estoppel cases as well as disputes involving financial abuse and maladministration.

Paula Myers, national head of wills, trusts and estates disputes at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, said: “Our team has gone from strength to strength in recent years, which has been reflected with high rankings in the independent legal guides. Nazia joining our first-tier team shows our commitment to recruiting high-quality and talented specialists so that we can help more clients resolve their disputes.

“Nazia’s expertise in helping clients in disputes involving wills, trusts, estates, and financial abuse claims will further enhance the department’s wide range of experience for clients across the North.”

Wharin has a decade of experience in litigation, having  started her legal career at HLW Keeble Hawson as a trainee in 2005. Her previous work in insolvency disputes and commercial litigation supports her experience in contentious probate work.

Myers added: “Kelly’s arrival to the Sheffield team really demonstrates our commitment to building a strong team across the country with the strength in depth to resolve any legal disputes involving wills, trusts and estates.  Our team is growing fast and getting great feedback from our clients and we are pleased to have Kelly on board.”

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Architects Andrew Chapman and Russell Barlow.

Leeds based Brewster Bye Architects has made two senior promotions, with Andrew Chapman and Russell Barlow becoming associates.

Architect Chapman and architectural technologist Barlow are both highly experienced with a wide range of technical expertise

Chapman, who used to work at Space Architecture, has been with Brewster Bye for four years. He works predominately in the commercial and residential sectors, with a focus on student and professional accommodation, hotels and leisure, the private rental sector, offices, general housing and high density city centre mixed use developments.

Barlow has also been with Brewster Bye for four years and previously worked for AFL Architects specialising in the healthcare sector.

During his time at Brewster Bye, he has mainly worked in the residential property sector on a range of projects including general housing, social housing and extra care developments.