Happy Birthday: We are now 5 years old.

We are celebrated the 5th Birthday of Ian Walker Family Law and Mediation Solicitors on Friday with a small drinks reception at East Devon Business Centre in Honiton.

It was so nice to catch up with some old friends who have supported us with our journey.

We enjoyed a selection of lovely cakes and a glass of fizz.

I was reminded it was Groundhog Day. Having enjoyed the movie, I was very relieved not to wake up the next day and find myself back at day one; in a room all by myself, armed with a computer, legal expertise and some good ideas.

5 years of progress

And what a five years it has been.  My first business plan anticipated that I might have had a couple of colleagues by this point. Instead I have been lucky enough to be joined by (in order of joining) Karen Elliott, Carrie Meikle, Kim Stradling and Stef Hinde.

On Friday we bade temporary goodbye to Stef who is now on maternity leave, but I was delighted to announce that we will be joined by the very experienced  and respected Sandy Powell.

Sandy deserves a separate post and that will follow shortly.

We will also be joined (as a consultant) by former CAFCASS Officer/Children’s Guardian/Independent Social Worker and trainer; Julie Cornwell.

Julie is going to assist our Mediation practice by assisting in taking children’s wishes to assist the mediation process. Julie will do the same in support of my Child Law Arbitration practice. More to follow.

Exeter and Taunton

Since we started we have gained our own office at Exchange House in Taunton, and most recently at the Senate, Southernhay Gardens, Exeter.

We have spent the last few weeks getting our office in the Senate ready.

Our main base will remain in Honiton.

New Faces

We also have some more new faces in the pipeline.

Sadly Beth and Hannah have left us for personal reasons, but this has allowed us to revamp and expand the backroom team. More news to follow, but it is all very exciting.

We also hope to expand our legal team further during the next year, but I cant talk about that yet…

Thanks

Thanks so much to my team, and to our clients and to all those who have helped us along the way.

Here’s to another 5 years