NEW HEAD OF CONTENTIOUS PROBATE ANNOUNCED

Mitra Mann, Head of Contentious Probate, commented: “I am delighted to join Sydney Mitchell which has a great reputation in the marketplace and a trusted firm with over 260 years in the legal arena.

What drew me to Sydney Mitchell is the firm’s focus on providing an excellent service to clients, career progression, maintaining a healthy work-life balance and ensuring that each and every employee feels they are a vital part of the business, all of which are key elements for a healthy and successful workplace.

Midlands Top Tier Award Winning law firm Sydney Mitchell LLP is delighted to announce that Mitra Mann has joined the firm as Head of Contentious Probate. Mitra joins the firm from Wright Hassall.

Mitra has over 17 years’ experience in dealing with litigation matters, including a wide range of contentious probate cases involving Will Disputes, Inheritance Act 1975 claims and disputed trusts and estates. She has also dealt with property disputes and professional negligence matters. In addition, she has extensive experience in Court of Protection matters and has assisted clients with a range of applications dealing with deputyship disputes, statutory Wills, financial abuse, restoring estates as well as health and welfare decisions.

Dean Parnell, Head of Litigation at Sydney Mitchell, commented: “We are delighted that Mitra has joined our excellent Contentious Probate team and there can be no doubt that with the addition of Mitra’s considerable legal expertise, enthusiasm and leadership we will continue to be seen as one of the best Contentious Probate teams within the region; this is such an exciting time for us.”

I very much look forward to working with my colleagues and contributing to the firm’s growing Contentious Probate and Court of Protection departments.”

Mitra is a recognised specialist author and has written several articles and is currently writing a book on “Gifting in the Court of Protection” which is due to be published by Law Brief Publishing Ltd by the end of 2023.

Mitra is also a trained Dementia Friends Champion dedicated to raising awareness on mental capacity issues locally and nationally. She has completed the ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists) training course and is a Member of the STEP Mental Capacity Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

With her wealth of experience, Mitra has delivered presentations to local care homes, has appeared as a guest speaker at the Care Show (NEC, Birmingham) and has delivered legal training courses organised by Certainty (The National Will Register) and MBL (Management, Business, Law) Seminars.

Immigration Team Expansion At Sydney Mitchell

community (both within and outside the UK). Rajvinder is fluent in Punjabi and can understand Hindi.

Rajvinder has a particular interest in business immigration assisting clients with Innovator visa, Skilled Worker visas, Health and Care Worker visa, Graduate visa, Youth Mobility Scheme and India Young Professional Scheme, Global Talent visa, to name a few.

Pro Bono Appointment For City Lawyer

A lawyer from Bevan Brittan’s Birmingham office has been invited to join a prestigious national committee.

Senior Associate and clinical negligence expert Elena Goodfellow has joined the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee of England and Wales as part of her role as Chair of Birmingham Law Society’s Pro Bono Committee.

The Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee meets twice a year in Parliament and encourages effective, collaborative, and coordinated legal pro bono work in England and Wales. Pro bono work is free legal advice provided in the public interest to individuals, charities or community groups who cannot afford to pay for legal help and cannot get legal aid or any other means of funding.

Elena’s invitation to join the national committee came from Solicitor General, Michael Tomlinson KC MP, who chairs the group. It also follows Elena’s recent shortlisting in the Pro Bono category of the Birmingham Law Society 2023 Legal Awards.

Bevan Brittan actively encourages its employees to undertake voluntary and pro bono work, while it also runs mentoring schemes with local schools and universities. In 2022/23 its lawyers undertook 350 hours of pro bono work, as well as 111 hours volunteering with law centres.

Sydney Mitchell LLP is pleased to announce that the team has expanded with the recruitment of Rajvinder Kaur, as an Associate Solicitor and Business Immigration Specialist. Rajvinder joins the firm from Axiom DWFM.

Rajvinder is a highly skilled solicitor with over 11 years’ experience in providing expert immigration advice. Rajvinder can advise on both personal and business immigration matters.

Having previously worked for a boutique Chinese law firm in Central Birmingham and London, Rajvinder has successfully assisted clients from a range of backgrounds with different circumstances in the Indian

Rajvinder has also been instrumental in making immigration advice easily accessible by holding a number of immigration clinics in many inner-city communities across the Midlands. She is adept at providing a safe space for people worried about their legal status to talk and follow the correct legal channels to help their case.

Commenting on her appointment, Elena said: “Pro bono work is something I really care about and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to represent Birmingham Law Society on this national group.

“As a lawyer I have gained the knowledge and skills to handle problems that may occur in day to day life and pro bono work allows me to share that experience with others who may not be able to afford to pay for legal help. I’m lucky to work for a law firm like Bevan Brittan that is so supportive and encourages us to give back to the community.”

ROLE- Birmingham Law Society Board of Directors vacancies

We currently have vacancies for directors on the Board of BLS, and further vacancies will arise at the AGM in September.

Key responsibilities:

The Board is collectively responsible for the success of the Company. The Board’s role is to:

1. provide leadership of the Company within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enable risk to be assessed and managed;

2. set the Company’s strategic aims, ensure that the necessary financial and human resources are in place for the

ROLE- Birmingham Law Society Joint Honorary Secretary – two voluntary positions

Joint Honorary Secretary positions –two voluntary positions available from September 2023 – 1 year term followed by possible re-election

The role of the Honorary Secretaries is to:

• Be responsible for ensuring support for the President and Council;

• Undertake and assist the office of the Society in making arrangements for the Society’s Annual General Meeting, and Extraordinary General Meetings and Council meetings;

• Assist the President, Vice-President and Deputy Vice-President at the meetings of the Officers and Council.

Company to meet its objectives, and review management performance; and

3. set the Company’s values and standards and ensure that its obligations to its members, customers, suppliers, lenders, creditors, and other stakeholders are understood and met.

The term is initially 3 years, subject to renewal, and involves appointment as a statutory director. There are no specific director roles (other than the finance director and chair) and all the directors work together to deal with the executive business of the society. As you may well know, this is a different role to that of being a member of council, which as a result of structural changes last year now exists as a committee of the board headed by the president.

We welcome expressions of interest from members of the society, or external candidates who have skills to offer.

Please let Ben Henry or Andrew Beedham know if you would be interested in a director role or would like to discuss it further.

Contact details: If interested in the positions, please contact Chair@ birminghamlawsociety.co.uk and CEO@ birminghamlawsociety.co.uk

Closing date: 31st August 2023

The Honorary Secretaries’ key tasks are to:

• Provide secretarial support for Council meetings, ensuring the agenda and minutes are produced on time;

• Provide support for the Annual General Meeting for the Society and any Extraordinary General Meetings;

• Provide secretarial and administrative support for the Officers’ meetings;

• Liaise with the Society’s staff, where appropriate;

• Actively contribute in Council and Officers’ meetings to assist with the aims and objectives of the Society;

• Attend other associated meetings, where possible, for example, Joint V meetings;

• Actively be involved in the Society’s initiatives;

• Plan the annual cycle of Council and Officers’ meetings with the President, Vice-President and Deputy VicePresident;

• Work co-operatively with the other Honorary Secretary, to share the workload, and to ensure that cover is provided for these tasks and duties where necessary; and

• Provide any written reports as requested by the President.

Closing date: Close of business on 31st August 2023

If interested in the position, please email becky@birminghamlawsociety.co.uk