The advisory committee supports the development of the future strategy of the Leadership and Management Section and enhancement of the services already offered to members.
Andrew Allen
Andrew is a partner at PKF Francis Clark, a Top 20 UK accounting firm.
He leads the firm’s national legal sector team and advises over 100 law firms across the UK, ranging from Top 100 firms to sole practitioners.
Over the last 20 years, Andrew has developed a national reputation for his practical and specialist advice to the law sector.
Ben Bennett
Ben is a senior executive with over 20 years’ experience.
He has been a partner, chief operating officer and held senior strategic and operational roles in leading firms in each of the legal, accountancy and property sectors.
He originally qualified as a solicitor, before obtaining an executive MBA at Henley Business School.
Ben brings deep cross-sector experience and an understanding of the business, dynamics and mechanics of professional service organisations.
Paul Bennett
Paul is a solicitor, mediator and arbitrator who advises on SRA regulatory, anti-money laundering, employment and partnership law in the specialist professional practice law firm Bennett Briegal LLP.
Paul’s work is national and his experience includes advising hundreds of law firms from high street to City and US law firms on legal issues and regulatory investigatory and enforcement matters.
The business of law, including mergers and regulation, is his core client work with accountancy and private equity clients making up the balance. Paul has written a number of books on legal regulation.
Paul chairs the Leadership and Management Section committee, having previously chaired the Small Firms Network committee in 2015, having previously been a managing director who sold the successful niche law firm he had started.
Sue Bramall
Sue has been helping lawyers and law firms with their marketing since 2000, having previously worked in accountancy and management consultancy.
She understands the fee earner’s perspective and ensures that marketing works alongside business development to deliver tangible results and a return on investment.
Sue set up Berners Marketing in 2004 and has worked with law firms of all shapes and sizes in the UK and overseas.
She is particularly interested in the crossover between marketing and other management disciplines, such as technology and human resources, and the interplay between a firm’s reputation and its progress in regard to environmental, social and governance issues.
James Brown
James is the managing partner and co-founder of Hall Brown Family Law. The firm began trading in 2016 and has since grown into one of the largest specialist family law teams in the country.
It is ranked in the top tier of Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners and listed as one of the Times’ Best Law Firms. The firm has also been named by Best Companies as one of the top five law firms to work for in the UK.
Alongside his management role, James is a specialist family law ranked as a leading individual in Legal 500 and in the top tier of Chambers and Partners.
His reported cases include the Supreme Court case of Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60 and Giggs vs Giggs [2017] EWHC 822.
David Gilmore
David founded DG Legal in 2000. It is one of the largest providers of strategic and compliance services operating in the legal sector only in England and Wales.
David has advised various governments and political parties on various matters including access to justice, funding legal charities and wider government strategy.
He has also designed software in the areas of practice management, encryption, large file transfer and email delivery receipts.
Anna Hart
Anna is the head of the legal and company secretariat department at the Bank of China.
As the bank’s senior legal adviser, Anna is responsible for managing all legal risk relating to the bank’s operations in the UK.
Anna advises the board and management committees across all aspects of the bank’s business, including retail, corporate and wholesale.
Before taking up her current role, Anna worked in private practice at White & Case LLP and Skadden Arps LLP and specialised in litigation, regulatory matters and internal investigations.
Anna takes a very keen interest in promoting good leadership and management practices within the in-house legal sector.
She is focused on establishing a healthy culture in the workplace, and creating an inclusive and diverse environment in which all employees can thrive.
Sharon Jenkins
Sharon is the Head of Legal Innovation at CMS, with over 7 years’ experience in legal project management, process improvement, innovation and testing/implementing legal tech solutions.
She was a commercial Real Estate lawyer for 15 years in the city before switching careers in 2016, firstly to support on establishing the Legal Project Management function at CMS following the three way merger (between CMS Cameron McKenna, Nabarro and Olswang). Since then, she has held a number of operational roles within CMS and was awarded the Estates Gazette digital rising star award in 2021 for her work with the Real Estate practice.
She now holds a firmwide innovation role supporting the practice groups with their innovation & digital transformation strategies.
Andrew King
Andrew is managing director of Lennons Solicitors, a leading Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire-based law firm. He began his career at Lennons in 2006, becoming managing director in 2021.
Andrew is an experienced solicitor who has specialised in litigation matters for over a decade, with a particular focus on high-value personal injury and clinical negligence claimant work.
Andrew is accredited as a senior litigator by APIL, joint coordinator of APIL’s Transport Group and is ranked in both Chambers and Legal 500.
Nicky Lloyd
Nicky is COO of Streathers Solicitors LLP. She has worked in the legal profession for over 15 years.
Nicky has worked at Freshfields and Simmons & Simmons, both in marketing and business development and as chief operating officer.
Having spent time in large and smaller firms as well as being based in head office and in branch offices, Nicky has a unique perspective on the industry.
She is passionate about enabling diversity in the legal industry and embracing technology rather than fighting against it.
Chris Marston
Chris is the chief executive of LawNet, a network of more than 70 law firms in the UK and Ireland, comprising more than 3,000 lawyers and almost £500m of annual fees.
Chris speaks and writes regularly on law firm leadership, management and finance issues. He was previously UK head of professional practices at Lloyds Bank.
He has a postgraduate certificate in legal practice management from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Chris chairs the leadership group of Eurojuris International, a network of more than 6,000 lawyers in Europe and beyond.
Kerstin Morgan
Kerstin is a Partner and Director of Practice Transformation at Mishcon de Reya, with over 10 years’ experience in process improvement, legal tech deployment, change management and legal project management.
Kerstin and her team shape the practice of law at Mishcon by remodelling legal processes and helping lawyers adopt tools to deliver their services better and faster.
Via the litigation and transaction support hubs, her team delivers in-house legal support services and provides seamless access to the firm’s specialist and technical support.
Working closely with MDR LAB, and the data science team, practice transformation strives to maximise opportunities to automate relevant tasks and processes and drive the use of legal tech across Mishcon de Reya.
Kerstin’s function also includes a team of legal project managers who ensure high complexity matters are delivered on time and on budget.
David Pester
David is Head of Strategic Growth at TLT.
He plays a critical role in the firm’s strategic development, working across the firm to understand client need and market opportunity and charting a course for sustainable growth.
He works closely with the leadership team to deliver a strategic growth programme grounded in client insight and market analysis.
He is responsible for driving greater collaboration across TLT sectors, groups and locations, and is instrumental in developing a clear brand proposition.
He advises on client requirements for ongoing programmes at TLT, such as the firm’s FutureLaw innovation programme and its international strategy, as well as new service lines and capabilities.
David was previously managing partner at TLT for nineteen years and is regarded by market commentators as the driving force behind TLT’s exceptional growth, impressive client wins and strong financial performance over these two decades. He has also been commended by independent legal guide Chambers UK for his “strong leadership skills”.
A corporate finance specialist by trade, David is recommended as an expert by Legal 500, the independent guide to the UK legal sector. He speaks regularly on management issues and is a national committee member of the Managing Partners Forum and a member of The Law Society Leadership and Management Section.
In July 2019 David was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of England for his contribution to business and the law.
Sarah Sargent
Sarah is an partner at Lupton Fawcett LLP. She was called to the bar in 2003, before later taking the conversion course to become a solicitor.
She is head of the residential property team at Lupton Fawcett, dealing with a wide variety of cases.
Her management focus is business development and staff development.
Clive Thomas (co-opted)
Clive is the managing partner of South Wales law firm, Watkins & Gunn, specialising in personal injury work.
He is a former winner of the Leading Wales Award for Leadership in the Private Sector.
Clive is a past president of Cardiff and District Law Society, Monmouthshire Incorporated Law Society and ASWLS (the Association of South Western Law Society
Abby Winkworth
Abby Winkworth is COO of Doyle Clayton, Workplace Law experts and an Employee-Owned Trust, operating across London and the South East.
Abby has long and deep experience in commercial roles within professional services firms, both accountancy and law. She focuses on strategy, growth, productivity and is deeply interested in supporting the next generation of legal professionals: lawyers and the many new roles that are becoming essential to the industry.
