Chair: Luke Williams (he/him)
Luke is a trans man and solicitor at NGA Law, the UK’s first fertility law firm. He joined the LGBT+ Lawyers Division committee in November 2019 and became chair in October 2021.
Vice chair: Paul Maddock (he/him)
Paul is a senior associate at DWF, specialising in a range of commercial disputes including commercial contracts, shareholder matters, professional negligence claims and contentious trusts and probate.
Vice chair: Laura Thomas (she/her)
Laura is an openly gay adult social care and education solicitor for Wigan Council in Greater Manchester, having completed her training contract at a local authority in 2020. She has previously worked in the personal injury and insurance sectors.
Chris Barkley (he/him)
Chris Barkley is a senior associate at Russell Cooke LLP and is a commercial property lawyer.
Chris has a broad range of experience in development, investment, property finance and landlord and tenant work. He has worked on a number of diversity initiatives during his career and was admitted as a solicitor in 2010.
Anna Casey-Woodward (they/them)
Anna is a non-binary lesbian associate at Royds Withy King. Their specialism is in tax and trusts, with experience in tax planning, trust creation and administration and estate administration.
Anna is passionate about LGBTQ+ representation and firms moving towards genuine belief in the benefits of diversity and away from tokenism and performative allyship.
Netanya Clixby (she/her)
Netanya Clixby is a managing associate in Sidley Austin’s derivatives and structured finance practice.
She advises clients on a range of derivatives and securities trading documentation, including ISDA master agreements, prime brokerage documentation, master confirmations, and repurchase agreements.
She is also co-founder and co-chair of the London Bisexual Network and sits on the board of Open For Business, a charity that uses data and financial markets research to present the economic case for LGBT+ inclusion across the globe.
Netanya has been shortlisted as a finalist for a number of industry awards, including the Inspirational Women in Law Awards (Under 35 Category) and the Law Society Awards (Junior Lawyer of the Year). Netanya is also a judge for the FT Advisor’s Diversity in Finance Awards
Bridget Garrood (she/her)
Bridget practices as a consultant solicitor and as an accredited collaborative family lawyer. She was admitted as a solicitor in 1994 and as a member of the UK and Ireland LGBT Family Law Institute in 2019.
Bridget specialises in the financial, property and pension aspects of family breakdown and family formation, queer or straight, including prenuptial and post nuptial agreements; divorce; civil partnership; and cohabitation.
She has a national following as a champion of progressive LGBTQ legal reform and as an ally of trans and non-binary clients seeking specialist legal expertise.
Scott Halliday (he/him)
Scott Halliday is a family law associate at Irwin Mitchell, specialising in complex children law issues and financial matters on separation.
He has published on LGBT+ family law and human rights law issues. He is recognised in leading legal directories Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 as an expert in LGBT+ family law nationwide.
Scott also has notable experience of appeal work in the High Court and Court of Appeal on family law issues.
Sam John (he/him)
Sam is an associate at Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice in Cardiff. Sam specialises in all aspects of family law, including divorce and dissolution, matrimonial finances, cohabitee disputes, separation, prenuptial and cohabitation agreements, private children matters and injunctions.
Sam has provided legal advice on a pro bono basis to LGBTQ+ people in Cardiff and is passionate about creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. Sam became a member of the committee in October 2021.
Tom Ketteley (he/him)
Tom is an assistant director in the appeals, litigation and admin review directorate at UK Visas and Immigration. He is also the training principal and responsible for supporting legal career pathways for staff based across the country.
Tom trained and practiced at Bates Wells Braithwaite specialising in immigration law before joining a public law litigation team at Government Legal Department.
Kirsty Limacher (she/her)
Kirsty is a consultant solicitor with nexa law, specialising in private client matters, and the director of Sherlock Legal Consulting Ltd, a company she established in 2022 to provide a safe space for members of the community and our allies to access advice on wills, lasting powers of attorney, estate administration and other private client matters.
She is a fully accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly, an affiliate member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and joined our LGBT+ Lawyers Division committee in March 2020.
Benedict Maguire (he/him)
Benedict is an employment solicitor at DAC Beachcroft where he gets involved in a range of diversity initiatives.
Benedict primarily advises commercial clients from the healthcare and financial sectors and deals with a range of complex employment disputes.
Prior to joining DAC Beachcroft, Benedict was an active member of the LGBT+ committee at his previous firm and has worked in the UK parliament and US Senate.
Eoghan McArdle (he/him)
Eoghan is a solicitor who has been working at the Bank of England since 2013. He currently works in the enforcement and litigation division, where he conducts financial services enforcement investigations.
He is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and Ireland, and as a New York attorney.
Helen Randall (she/her)
Helen Randall is a consultant and the former head of diversity at Trowers & Hamlins LLP, where she specialises in public sector corporate and commercial law.
She is also the chair of Stonewall Housing, a specialist LGBT+ housing charity, and works part time in the Bank of England's Legal Directorate.
Jonathan Wheeler (he/him)
Jonathan is the managing partner of niche litigation practice Bolt Burdon Kemp which specialises in bringing compensation claims for seriously injured people.
Jonathan sits on the Law Society Council representing LGBT+ members and he is a Stonewall ambassador.
Jacqui Rhule-Dagher (she/her)
Jacqui is a litigation solicitor at Hogan Lovells International LLP, with a particular focus on white collar crime, fraud and investigations.
Jacqui has worked on a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout her career, and is especially keen to raise awareness surrounding intersectionality. She has written for a leading LGBT+ publication in order to encourage LGBT+ university students to enter the legal profession.
Jacqui became a member of the LGBT+ Lawyers Division committee in February 2022.