Description: Wilkin Chapman's Family Department is headed by Partner John Peacock who undertakes the majority of private work.

The department can advise on:
? Divorce
? Judicial Separation
? Cohabitation
? Child Care
? Domestic Violence

The firm has a separate Family Law Centre in Town Hall Street, Grimsby offering advice and help on the whole range of family law matters. Solicitor, Helen Hornsby, Legal Executive, Sue Lacy and Family Executive Cathy Bennett-Ryan are based at this office.

Partner Mark Carlton has moved to the Beverley office to establish family work in the area. Mark has been specialising in family law for 20 years and is an Advanced Member of the Law Society's Family Panel. He is on of a small number of lawyers in the country who achieve this status.

The family department has six partners, and five qualified solicitors who together with a number of other highly trained fee earners offer a comprehensive family law service to the Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire communities.

The Department has seven members on the Law Society's Family Law Panel, two of which are Advanced Members, four members on the Law Society's Children Panel and two Accredited Specialists of the Solicitor's Family Law Association.

Wilkin Chapman have been awarded a contract from the Legal Services Commission which allows us to give help and advice in family matters to those clients who may not be able to privately fund the matter.

The firm was founded in 1900 when two sole practitioners, Mr. James Whiteley Wilkin and Mr. Ernest Benjamin Chapman merged their practices. Mr. Ernest Benjamin Chapman was born in 1872 and in 1897 he started up his own practice. Mr. James Whiteley Wilkin's birthdate is unknown, however, he also had his own practice. He occupied part of a house in 47 Victoria Street which he used as his office.

In around 1902 the two amalgamated and carried on practicing from Mr.Wilkin's offices in 47 Victoria Street. It is unknown as to the length of time they were in this building, but by 1914 they had moved next door into the Prudential Chambers. In 1958 the firm moved from Prudential Chambers to New Oxford House and have been there ever since.

About 35 years ago the firm started to expand substantially partly as the result of an increasing private clientbase and partly to service the needs of one particular client, the Ross Group. The company's expansion fuelled the recruitment of specialist Company and Commercial partners at Wilkin Chapman. Consequently expertise was developed which might be considered unusual in a provincial practice but which formed the basis for the firm's future success.

Wilkin Chapman is the largest law firm in Lincolnshire with 206 staff and 32 partners. The firm has a total of seven offices in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire with the largest office situated in Grimsby. The firm also has a dedicated Family Law Centre in Grimsby and the other offices are located in Lincoln, Cleethorpes, Louth, Horncastle and Beverley.

In 1998, Wilkin Chapman merged with Lincoln law firm, Gilbert Blades and with another law firm in Lincoln, Epton & Co in 1999, to become Wilkin Chapman Epton Blades as the Lincoln office of the firm is known. The Lincoln office has a total of 52 partners and staff and is Wilkin Chapman's second largest office. The office has recently been extended into the premises next door to accommodate the increase in staff. In April 2005 Wilkin Chapman merged with Cooper & Wright Solicitors in Beverley. This is the firms first office outside their natural boundary of Lincolnshire, and is situated in good radius of other offices.

The partners have made a substantial commitment to quality standards across the practice. The firm has been awarded the new Lexcel quality mark by the Law Society and is the first firm in Lincolnshire to receive the new standard. The Lexcel mark means that Wilkin Chapman has successfully implemented the Law Society's Practice Management Standards, which are designed to help firms improve client care and efficiency within the office. In 1995, the firm was accredited as an Investor in People and holds the Legal Aid Franchise for all offices. As one of the first 19 law firms in the country to gain liP, Wilkin Chapman now benefits from the Law Society's recognition of this standard in terms of monitoring exemptions and CPD allocation. The firm also employs a Quality Auditor to audit and maintain quality standards.

Category: Lincolnshire

Url: http://www.wilkinchapman.com/

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