Risk and compliance service
Our associate consultants
The list below provides an overview of some of the associate consultants that are available to work with when you use our consultancy services. For more information contact us at riskandcompliance@lawsociety.org.uk.
To read about how firms have benefited from this service visit the testimonials page.
Adèle Warchester
Qualified as a solicitor in 1977, Adèle Warchester has had many years experience setting up quality, compliance and risk management systems. As Risk Manager, Client Care and Managing Partner of a city centre practice in Manchester, she successfully took the firm through the Franchise, Investors in People and Lexcel accreditations.
Now an independent Quality Management Consultant, she advises firms on a national basis on all aspects of quality, professional compliance and risk management. In particular, she has helped many firms to manage operational risks associated with their case and file management and gain Lexcel accreditation to achieve the lowest possible professional indemnity cover. She lectures widely to the profession and has contributed various articles on risk management to publications including the LMS Risk Management Toolkit.
Bhavni Shah
As a consultant and trainer, Bhavni regularly advises firms on quality assurance and in particular, Lexcel and Code of Conduct compliance. Over the last three years Bhavni has assisted approximately 50 firms with the implementation of Lexcel and an additional 20 firms with Code of Conduct compliance issues. Bhavni was a Lexcel executive with the Law Society between 2003 and 2008. Her responsibilities included managing a portfolio of approximately 300 practices in the Lexcel scheme, providing expert advice to all key stakeholders on the application of the Practice Management Standards and Law Society Policy, delivering training to assessors and consultants and monitoring the application of the Practice Management Standards amongst third parties.
Bhavni continues to be the Principal external Lexcel trainer on behalf of the Law Society, delivering training to assessors, consultants, practices and other stakeholders. In addition, Bhavni contributes regularly to legal and management publications on quality assurance and management issues.
Bronwen Still
As a solicitor, Bronwen worked mainly on crime, matrimonial and conveyancing cases in a high street practice before joining the Law Society in 1980. Initially handling complaints, she went on to deal with interventions and prosecuting cases before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Subsequently, she led the development of the Professional Ethics guidance service, and headed the policy team responsible for drafting the current Code of Conduct.
Bronwen is now preparing the new regulatory regime for ABSs and outcomes focused regulation. She has also worked internationally, most recently advising the Vietnamese Government and legal profession on the drafting of a first national Ethical Code. She has recently set up Seven Hills Legal Training and Services Limited and is now working as a consultant on regulatory matters.
Catherine Poulter
Cath was admitted as a solicitor in 1979 and spent a number of years in private practice dealing mainly with family law and general litigation. She also spent 6 years working for the Law Society at Chancery Lane dealing with a wide variety of issues relating to professional conduct and client care before joining the Solicitors Indemnity Fund in 1987. In 1988 she moved to Bristol to establish SIF's first regional office which she managed for 14 years.
Cath is currently a Lexcel Assessor and Consultant, an Investors in People Assessor and Advisor and a Local Conciliation Officer for the Legal Complaints Service. Cath has also recently taken on a role as a Quality Project Consultant for a large commercial practice in Bristol.
David Gilmore
After graduating from Cardiff Business School, David started his career as a trainee branch manager for Abbey National, leaving to become a retail financial manager for Marks and Spencer and later he joined the Legal Aid Board (now the Legal Services Commission). At the Legal Services Commission, David's managerial roles included operations manager and franchise contracts manager. David left the Commission in 2000 to establish DG Legal services for lawyers.
Francis Dingwall
Francis is a partner in Legal Risk LLP. He has extensive experience of defendant professional indemnity litigation, having acted for law firms of all sizes, including US firms. He regularly advises on policy coverage issues. He also advises firms on regulatory issues, and represents them when they face action by the SRA. He uses his accumulated expertise and experience to advise law firms on risk management and compliance issues.
Francis is recommended as a leading professional negligence practitioner by Chambers UK. In the 2010 directory, he is noted as a key individual who 'offers consistently clear advice and has strong and robust negotiating skills'. Legal 500 describe him as 'impressive in grasping and explaining complex matters'. Legal Risk LLP is a firm of solicitors providing specialist legal advice on professional indemnity (risk) and professional regulation (compliance) to law firms and other professional practices.
Frank Maher
Frank is a solicitor with over 25 years experience defending major professional indemnity claims. His experience involves; conflicts, cross-border liabilities, fraud issues here and abroad, property, undertakings, financial services and consumer credit.
Legal 500 describe him as 'one of the leading lawyers in the field,' and 'knowledgeable in the solicitors regulation work'; Chambers UK 2011 (Professional Discipline): 'Clients praise his vast knowledge and his responsiveness'. Chambers UK 2011 (Professional Negligence): ' ... he has a brilliant mind, bordering on genius, and always seems to have everything at his fingertips. Clients praise his vast knowledge and his responsiveness.'
Frank is a member of the Association of Partnership Practitioners and advises firms on partnership law including litigation. Frank is author of Risk Management in the Legal Profession, now in its third edition, and co-author (with Sue Mawdsley) of The Money Laundering Reporting Officer's Handbook: A Guide for Solicitors. He is a frequent contributor to the legal and insurance press and a regular speaker at events worldwide.
Gabrielle Owen
Gabrielle is a director of BCL Knowledge, a Manchester based firm of management consultants. She has been an accredited practitioner for both Lexcel and Investors in People for several years and has guided many organisations throughout the UK towards the achievement and retention of these quality standards.
Gabrielle previously worked at Manchester Chamber of Commerce where she developed strong working relationships with a large number of firms ranging from sole practitioners to multi disciplinary practices employing over 1,000 staff. In 2001, she pioneered a joint approach to the simultaneous implementation and assessment of Lexcel and Investors in People - a model that has been very successful and widely used.
Gabrielle's areas of expertise include risk management, client care, complaints management, learning & development strategy, practice management and strategic planning. In 2009, Gabrielle was one of the consultants engaged on the Law Society's Client Care Consultancy Service.
John O'Sullivan
John is a director of BCL Knowledge, a Manchester based firm of management consultants. Over the last 15 years, John has worked with a wide range of organisations throughout the UK, spanning both the private and public sectors. John's areas of expertise include strategic planning, risk management, client care, complaints management and leadership development.
John has significant experience in the legal sector, having provided advice and training to small, medium and large firms. He has also developed a legal quality system that enables firms to achieve excellence in all key areas of practice management. John has been a speaker at a number of legal conferences and, in 2009, was one of the consultants engaged on the Law Society's Client Care Consultancy Service. He is an accredited practitioner for both Lexcel and Investors in People and has guided numerous organisations towards the achievement and retention of these standards.
Kristina Orton
Kristina is a solicitor and director of a consultancy business that offers general management advice and training on compliance issues, complaints resolution, Lexcel consultancy and risk awareness. She is Law Society consultant on client care and a Local Conciliation Officer.
She has extensive experience in professional indemnity, complaints and compliance, is a member of the Bristol Professional Negligence Forum, Member of the Bristol Risk Management Group and a mentor to law students. Kristina also practises as a Risk and Best Practice solicitor for Bevan Brittan LLP.
Mark Whittell
Mark qualified as a solicitor in 1982; he has been a partner at Cobbetts for over 20 years specialising in commercial litigation and insolvency matters. He is also a commercial mediator. Having been the practice area head for the Dispute Resolution Services Team for over 10 years, Mark took over as the firm's risk partner in 2009.
Mark's new role not only involves responsibility for regulatory compliance, AML and professional indemnity insurance but he devised a new risk management system for Cobbetts to enable the firm to analyse all the risks it faced, both internally and externally driven, and then to implement action plans to reduce the severest risks to an acceptable level. Mark is now a consultant to other law firms and lectures on risk management issues.
Michelle Garlick
Michelle qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and joined Weightmans as a partner in February 2008. Since qualification, Michelle has specialised in solicitors' professional negligence acting for both insurers and solicitor insureds in handling claims and complaints. Michelle heads up the Compl-i team at Weightmans advising law firms on regulatory compliance, claims and complaints handling, disciplinary representation, LEXCEL accreditation, AML and risk management issues.
She also assists firms with insurance renewal and offers in-house training to firms on a wide range of subjects including client care, complaints handling and risk avoidance. Other members of the team are able to advise and assist firms on proposed mergers and re-structuring/LLP conversion.
Michelle has been a Law Society consultant on client care and is a well known speaker on the subject of risk and compliance on the legal circuit.
Paul Leyland
Paul left the army as a Major in 1991, choosing a career in business management in the legal sector. Having held a multi-faceted appointment in Slater Heelis, he moved to Cobbetts, becoming immediately involved in quality and risk management issues; and was responsible for achieving the dual award of Lexcel and Investors in People. Heading the Internal Services Team for Cobbetts, Paul has developed his interest in risk management, passing the Institute of Risk Management examinations as a certificant and applying the theoretical knowledge gained to further develop the Cobbetts risk management framework.
Peter Johnson
After spending over 20 years in private practice in a mixed law high street practice Peter joined the Law Society as a specialist report writer investigating complaints of inadequate professional service by reference to solicitor's files. He managed a team of 12 investigators and was charged with creating a new complaints preventative team, leading to his appointment as Head of Compliance - later extended to include responsibility for all aspects of client care.
He spent the following eight years visiting firms to provide practical assistance in preventing complaints. This work involved implementing effective client care practices across the firm, and examining where current management and supervision systems could be improved.
Peter also focussed on internal complaints resolution with a strong emphasis on the business opportunities resulting from retaining satisfied clients and gaining from repeat business and client recommendations. Peter undertook a nationwide series of Client Care seminars based on Local Law Societies and was a major contributor to The Law Society's Client Care guide 'Keeping Clients - a client care guide for solicitors'.
Rob Pearson
Rob is a partner with Curwens LLP where he runs the Property Litigation department, working part-time. For 10 years he was Curwens' managing partner, responsible for their quality, risk-management and anti-money laundering policies. Rob remains the Risk and Compliance Partner and undertakes internal training in all the relevant compliance areas.
In addition, since going part-time (ostensibly to write a book on the French Army in the First World War) Rob has set up his own consultancy business, Compliance Consultancy for Lawyers which provides regulatory support for small and medium-sized firms. He is currently working on a book on Client Care in practice.
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary is a solicitor with 17 years experience of complaints handling and client care. After a period in private practice, she joined the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and was later a trainer with Central Law Training on effective complaint handling and client care and presented seminars to local law societies. She is a Local Conciliation Officer clarifying and/or conciliating solicitor/client complaints for the Legal Complaints Service.
Rosemary is also involved in similar issues in the health sector. She is an examiner of communication skills and a lay reviewer resolving concerns about the performance of individual surgeons or units, both for the Royal College of Surgeons of England. She is Chair elect of the Patient Liaison Group of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. She has been a member of the West Midlands Committee of the Department of Health's Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards and has worked with GP practices advising on patient experience.
Sue Mawdsley
Sue is a solicitor with Legal Risk LLP. She was previously a licensed insolvency practitioner. She has acted for many national accountancy practices and high street banks, as well as conducting high value, technical commercial litigation.
Sue advises many professional practices - from multi-national to high street firms - on risk management, compliance and, in particular, anti-money laundering. Chambers UK 2011 (Professional Discipline) says '[she] ... has an excellent reputation for her advice on money-laundering matters.' Sue has a diploma in anti-money laundering from the International Compliance Association, accredited by the Business School of the University of Manchester and is a Law Society accredited consultant for the Lexcel Practice Management Standard.
Tim Prior
Tim is a solicitor (non-practising), a Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management and a Lexcel consultant and assessor. Admitted as a solicitor in 1986, he has over 20 years' experience of solicitors' professional indemnity insurance and investigated many hundreds of negligence claims before becoming more heavily involved in risk management. Until May 2010 he was a senior risk management consultant with Travelers, a leading professional indemnity insurer, which he joined in 2000. Whilst there, he advised firms on risk and compliance issues and ran many in-house seminars and workshops for Top 100 firms.
He has lectured extensively since 1996 and in 2010 is the principal speaker at the Law Society's Professional Indemnity Insurance pre-renewal seminars. He now runs PNCR Legal which offers firms advice and training on all aspects of risk management.
Wendy Blunden
Wendy qualified as a solicitor in 1978 and became a partner in a Worthing law firm. At one stage in her long career she ran her own legal practice in Brighton and later in Worthing specialising in ancillary relief and conveyancing.
She has twenty years experience as a Local Conciliation Officer and the Legal Complaints Service has used her analytical skills over recent years to assist them with some of their more complex cases, involving the preparation of lengthy reports.
Wendy is also a Law Society consultant on Client Care and has been visiting firms of solicitors and working with them to provide practical guidance and support to enable them to improve their client care.