B P Collins in Gerrards Cross will end a successful year by promoting seven of its lawyers on 1 May 2017. Maria Mowberry and Martina Razaq will become partners in the property practice; Claire Filer and Fran Hipperson will become partners in the family team. The Wills, Trusts and Probate team will see Sharon Heselton and Dominic Ibbs becoming senior associate and associate respectively. Finally, partner Gary Kiely, whose views on private client issues are regularly sought by the national media, will join the firm as the Head of the Wills, Trusts and Probate team.
Maria Mowberry trained at B P Collins and qualified as a solicitor in 2006. She specialises in commercial real estate including issues of freehold and leasehold acquisitions, residential developments, complex commercial lease transactions and corporate support for the corporate and commercial team.
Martina Razaq joined the firm in 2012 as a residential property lawyer and handles high value complex property transactions. Her expertise allows her to provide solutions to transactional property issues in an efficient and friendly manner.
The promotions in the property practice come after a really positive year with the team being shortlisted for Thames Valley Property Law firm of the Year – the winner will be announced on 11 May. They have advised global corporates looking to expand in the local area and also acted for major shopping centres and leisure developments across the UK.
When Gary Kiely joins in May, he will handle a full range of private client work including probate and dealing with a variety of estates from nominal values to multimillion pound estates. He advises high net worth clients, directors of blue chip companies, lottery winners, actors and writers.
Claire Filer joined the firm in 2013 after working for an international law firm in the City known for its work on high profile divorce cases. Claire uses her extensive experience to advise clients on divorce, the dissolution of civil partnerships and child-centred disputes revolving around contact and residence applications, as well as relocation overseas.
Fran Hipperson has extensive City law firm experience with Payne Hicks Beach and regularly acts for high net worth individuals, whose cases frequently involve complex jurisdictional, trust, business and tax issues.
Sharon Heselton has been with B P Collins for 11 years and specialises in probate applications and estate administration. Dominic Ibbs joined in 2016 and advises on wills, trusts, estate planning, powers of attorney, deputyships and other applications to the Court of Protection, and the administration of estates.
These latest round of promotions come after B P Collins announced last month that Simon Deans – who has been with the firm for 20 years and is currently practice group leader of the Corporate and Commercial team – will be promoted to senior partner. Alex Zachary will become their practice group leader.
Simon Deans, partner, said: “These promotions coupled with the two announced last month show the strength of expertise in the firm. With the wealth of experience amongst our lawyers, clients can be safe in the knowledge that will always receive considered, strategic advice to help them achieve what they want in life or business.”
