Member Article

Further expansion for Simpson Millar family law team with triple hire

Leading national law firm Simpson Millar has furthered its ambitious expansion plans with the appointment of three new hires to its family law team.

Experienced lawyer Meera Shinh joins from London-based Weightmans as a Senior Associate, while solicitors Farah Naz and Lowri Walters join from Legal 500 recognised Essex-based firm Jeffries, and Welsh-based commercial law firm Morgan La Roche respectively.

Bolstering the firm’s ‘national network of top-quality lawyers’, as well as its private client offering across the country, the move is reflective of Simpson Millar’s ambitions to ‘open’ up the law to make it easier for people to get legal help and support when they need it.

Commenting on the expansion David Lister, Partner and National Head of the Family Law team, said: “Our framework for growth in 2021 aligns very much with the firm’s overall evolution strategy. Our collective aim is to be the people-centred legal solution provider of choice.

“We want to make the law less complicated and to open up the process of separation and family breakdown. Finding lawyers who can do that, alongside being technically excellent, is key.

“The people we are bringing on board and those due to arrive in the coming months have shown that they can deliver more - both from a technical legal perspective, but also from a personable perspective - making what they and the existing team offer inimitable.”

Joining from Legal 500 Firm Jefferies in Essex, Farah Naz was responsible for the management of the family team and was named in the Legal 500 as a Rising Star in the Essex Region. She speaks English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Commenting on her new role she said: “Being part of a national network of top-quality lawyers has long been an aspiration of mine.

“When I heard about the plans that David and the team have, and the calibre of people set to join the department in the coming months, it was quite easy for me to see how committed Simpson Millar is to becoming a key player.”

Fluent in Welsh, Lowri joins the family law team from Morgan La Roche where she has spent five years supporting its traditionally commercial client base with advice on complex family law issues.

Commenting on her new role at Simpson Millar, she said: “Before Covid, family lawyers were limited by geography and office location. In turn, so were clients. Simpson Millar’s flexible and far-reaching model tells me that the firm focusses on what it’s lawyers can do, not where they can do it from.

“For me, they are ahead of the curve. Not only has it opened up a gateway for me to join a multimillion-pound national law firm, but it also opens the doorway for clients to get the best possible advice, wherever they are in the UK.”

Alongside the two new solicitors, Meera Shinh joins as a senior associate from Central London firm Weightmans.

Meera will support fellow Senior Associate Maya Bhatiani with the growth of the London Team, which includes recently qualified Solicitor, Sarah Rose, a former Trainee at the Firm, and experienced Litigation Executive, Chrissy Lightfoot, who joined the department from Child & Child in January alongside Partner, Lorraine Harvey.

On joining, Meera said she was ‘really excited to join such an exciting department with such a refreshing approach’.

On the arrival of the three newcomers, David Lister added: “We are delighted to welcome into the team three very talented, ambitious lawyers.

“Each has their own unique quality but what ties them together and to us is their demonstrable commitment to client care. Each of them has a real warmth about them that cannot be taught. In a time when everyone is feeling the chill – following a very trying and testing year - that’s more important than ever.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hannah Butler .