Lawyers in England

Sophie O'Connell

Sophie O’Connell is a Partner in the Mental Capacity Team. Sophie works with clients, their families and support network to manage their property and financial affairs. She mainly works with clients who have sustained brain injuries as a result of accidents or negligence. Sophie is experienced in making applications to the Court of Protection for property and affairs, personal welfare deputies and statutory wills. She also advises clients on health and social care funding.

Wilsons

Sophie Phillipon - Thomas

Partner

Davitt Jones Bould

Sophie Smith

Supervising Solicitor

GT Stewart Limited

Sophie Tracey

Sophie is a Principal Associate real estate litigation lawyer with experience of acting for landlords, tenants and portfolio holders. She has substantial estate management expertise, spanning both private and public sectors, as well as experience of dealing with a broad range of property disputes whether negotiating a settlement or resorting to court proceedings. Sophie’s approach is typified by providing clear and concise legal advice with a focus on achieving clients’ commercial objectives. Her recent experience includes advising: Two of the country’s leading shopping centres in relation to all aspects of estate management including debt recovery, insolvency, dilapidations, service charge and forfeiture; A major investment fund in respect of its large portfolio of office, retail and industrial properties, notably with regards to tenant management and default; A global telecommunications company in relation to its telecoms mast sites, including strategic advice in relation to the Telecommunications Code and the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954; Private and public sector commercial landlords and tenants in relation to the operation of lease break options and lease renewals in the context of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954; A national institution in relation to a rates dispute with the valuation office agency. Sophie takes a keen interest in pro bono activities, most recently supervising Manchester University students in giving legal advice to the general public.

Shoosmiths LLP

Sophie Tyler

Sophie is a Principal Associate in the banking and finance team based in the Thames Valley. Sophie undertakes a range of debt finance work, including general corporate lending and leverage and property finance, acting for both borrowers and lenders. Sophie has experience advising on regional, national and cross border transactions (with a particular emphasis on Africa).

Shoosmiths LLP

Sophie Vanhegan

Sophie is a Partner at GQ|Littler and has extensive experience in both High Court employment litigation and cross-border M&A transactions. Sophie is experienced in all aspects of employment law and specialises in complex employment litigation. She regularly advises on restrictive covenant, breach of confidentiality and team move matters which involve High Court injunctions and subsequent trials, as well as bonus disputes and high-value discrimination claims. Many of the cases she works on have cross-jurisdictional elements. She has worked on some of the most complex employment litigation matters and specialises in tailoring a strategic approach to her clients’ risk and litigation appetite. Her clients include businesses in the financial services, technology, partnership and LLP sectors. Sophie’s recent client experience includes advising a FinTech company on enforcing a non-compete restriction against a former senior employee who had joined a competitor; defending a financial services firm in a multi-million pound discrimination dispute with a former employee; advising a bank on a protracted financial misconduct investigation involving a regulated person; and advising a major financial services client on a restructuring of its bonus deferral arrangements. She has also advised a range of clients on reopening their workplaces following the COVID-19 lockdown. Sophie is also a co-founder of the firm's Women's Leadership Initiative.

Littler

Sophie Voelcker

Sophie is a partner in Kingsley Napley's Private Client team. Sophie focuses on advice to UK resident and/or domiciled clients regarding wealth structuring, estate planning and trusts, with a particular interest in any cross-border taxation and succession issues for clients with international assets or who have relocated abroad. Sophie also has experience providing such advice in the context of matrimonial disputes and pre-nuptial agreements. Sophie is included in the Private Client Global Elite Directory 2025 and received a Gold award for “Lawyer of the Year – Partner” in the Citywealth Future Leaders Awards 2021. She has been recommended in the Legal 500. She is also included in the Legal Pages 2025 directory.

Kingsley Napley LLP

Sophie White

Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP

Sophie Wood

Partner

Kingsley Napley LLP

Soshana Day

Soshana is an Associate in our Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. Her broad-ranging client base spans global corporations to high-net-worth individuals and start-ups, and she assists with contractual disputes, partnership disputes and commercial litigation. She joined Acuity following previous roles at Child & Child and Bolt Burdon. Prior to qualification, Soshana studied Law at Oxford Brookes University and completed her LPC at BPP University.

Acuity Law

Spencer Grimshaw

Spencer has specialised in commercial property for over 35 years and has a broad spectrum of experience in this area. He advises landowners, developers, active landlords, and tenant owners/occupiers on all aspects of buying, selling, leasing, and developing property.

Keystone Law

Spencer Summerfield

Partner, Head of Corporate Spencer has a broad corporate practice but his principle area of work is M&A, IPOs, corporate joint ventures and general corporate advice. His clients include a number of large quoted and private companies, based in the Uk and overseas and infrastructure funds.

Travers Smith LLP

Stacey Hall

Stacey is a partner predominantly focusing on corporate transactional work and is well experienced working for serial acquirers, owner-managers and investors. She advises on a range of corporate law areas, including business disposals, acquisitions, re-organisations, joint ventures and share buy backs, as well providing general company law and governance advice. Stacey advises both listed and private companies, as well as advising on private equity transactions and investments. She is well known in the North East deal community and is member of the regional CBI Emerging Leaders' Board. She was highlighted in 2020 as a "rising star" in the Legal 500 and won the Insider Media Emerging Dealmaker of the Year award 2020/2021. She was also shortlisted for Corporate Lawyer of the Year at the North East Insider Media awards in September 2021.

Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP

Stacey Jones

Partner

Broadfield Law UK LLP

Stacey Mabrouk

Commercial Director & Solicitor

Olliers

Stacey Nevin

Partner

Kingsley Napley LLP

Stefanie Sahla-Jones

Partner

Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP

Stefano Ruis

Stefano Ruis is a partner in the civil department. He is an acknowledged expert in police law who conducts actions against the police, including public law challenges as well as related human rights and data retention issues. Stefano has a strong track record of successful challenges to warrants, arrests, police cautions and decisions to disclose non-conviction information on DBS certificates. He also advises clients on the deletion of data retained by the police following a criminal investigation and currently acts for category M core participants in the Undercover Policing Inquiry. His caseload also includes matters involving witness protection and related civil claims. He has acted in a number of cases where arrests/prosecutions have arisen from protests/demonstrations. Stefano’s expertise includes a broad dispute resolution practice, where he acts for both individuals and businesses involved in commercial litigation. This work includes civil fraud, civil liability arising from criminal investigations and maters involving contempt of court.

Hickman & Rose

Steffan Baker

Steffan Baker is an experienced lawyer who acts on behalf of individuals and corporates across a broad range of fraud, white-collar crime and regulatory matters. Steffan has advised clients on investigations and prosecutions by a wide range of bodies, including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), National Crime Agency (NCA), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). His cases frequently involve serious allegations such as fraud, insider dealing, money laundering, false accounting, bribery and corruption, and anti-competitive behaviour. He was part of the team that successfully defended a former Managing Director of Tesco UK, who was acquitted at trial of allegations of fraud and false accounting arising from an alleged £250million overstatement of profit. He has also represented individuals in connection with the SFO’s investigations into Unaoil, Serco, Libor and Euribor manipulation. Many of Steffan’s cases have an international element and involving parallel investigations in the UK and overseas, including the US and Europe. He has advised on cross-border investigations and extradition proceedings. He often works alongside lawyers based in other jurisdictions.

Hickman & Rose

Steph Pye

Steph is a senior associate in the employment team who offers legal advice with a commercial and practical approach. She advises on both contentious and non-contentious employment law matters to a range of clients including national retailers, engineering, and logistics companies. Steph’s previous experience includes: bringing and defending employment tribunal proceedings, including unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing claims; conducting the advocacy in the employment tribunal in relation to those claims, including at preliminary and final hearings; advising on a range of HR topics including disciplinary and grievance procedures, policies and employment terms and conditions; drafting and advising in relation to settlement agreements on behalf of employers and individuals; delivering client-specific and national training sessions; advising on business immigration matters, including right to work checks and the EU settlement scheme. Steph started as a paralegal with Shoosmiths in 2016 and has since completed her period of training with the firm, qualifying as a solicitor in March 2020.

Shoosmiths LLP

Stephan Seigel

Stefan joined the patent profession in 2017 and specialises in the filing and prosecution of patents related to electric engineering, semiconductors (e.g. 3D integrated circuits, advanced-note integrated circuits in processor and memory fields), software, cleantech and general engineering. Stefan has a breadth of experience in several jurisdictions and can advise on global filing strategies. Some of the jurisdictions in which Stefan has directly worked with include Europe (at the European Patent Office), the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Korea and China. Stefan previously worked for Maucher Jenkins between 2017 and 2021, before returning in 2024. In his time away from Maucher Jenkins, Stefan worked at two leading IP firms, including a top US-IP firm where he provided international filing advice to a large multinational licensing client. Stefan has extensive ties to the Middle East, having spent the formative years of his life living and integrating in Kuwait. He maintains his ties in the Gulf and Levant Region and is actively working on his Arabic skills. Stefan’s client work spreads from individual inventors and SMEs to large multinational corporations. Stefan enjoys meeting with innovators in all fields and has a keen eye to discover the next best IP including Patents, Trade Marks and Designs.

Maucher Jenkins

Stephan Smoktunowicz

Partner

gunnercooke LLP

Stephanie Biden

Stephanie is a Partner in the Charity and Social Enterprise team at Bates Wells and is the joint lead on all the firm’s work with faith-based organisations, with a particular interest in working with International NGOs and environmental organisations. Stephanie’s day-to-day work involves dealing with the Charity Commission on registrations, consents and regulatory compliance cases, governance advice, supporting charities with collaborative working and mergers. She also advises on contracts, grant-making (including overseas), fundraising and trading, intellectual property, social franchising, equality and discrimination, and corporate philanthropy. Her recent work includes advising CAFOD, the official international development agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, on its incorporation; advising the McCall MacBain Foundation, a grant-making organisation, on a £75m donation to the Rhodes Trust; and advising on the registration of the Marriage Foundation as a charity and the conversion of StreetBank CIC to a charity (both of which had previously were initially refused charitable status).

Bates Wells

Stephanie Brigg

Stephanie Brigg is a Legal Director in Howard Kennedy's Corporate Real Estate team and advises UK and international clients on a range of private and public corporate transactions. Stephanie is a solicitor with a broad sector experience covering mainstream corporate transactions including public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, private equity investments and joint ventures. She additionally acts on hotel and commercial property special purpose vehicle acquisitions and disposals. Stephanie advises a range of clients including entrepreneurs, owner managers, developers, publicly quoted companies, property funds and private investors.

Howard Kennedy LLP