Two New Partners for JMW’s Private Client Services Teams

JMW’s Family Law and Wills, Trust & Estate Planning Teams have been joined by two new Partners in Manchester.

In a unique move, Nicola Wilburn-Shaw joins both the Family Law and Sports teams, from national firm Shoosmiths LLP where she was based in both London and Manchester. She brings with her her significant experience and expertise across both the family and sports disciplines, having acted for high profile individuals operating within the sports, media and entertainment industries. She also has considerable international experience, having handled numerous cases involving overseas assets and jurisdictional issues such as habitual residency for international sports persons; to date she has been engaged in cases concerning those jurisdictions of Spain, Portugal, Austria, The Netherlands, Israel, Dubai, Singapore, Australia, New York and Los Angeles in the United States. She is also an acknowledged industry expert in legal matters which cover surrogacy and fertility treatments, including IVF, and has been published in a variety of academic journals on this complex subject.

Nicola Wilburn-Shaw said of the move:

“I believe my appointment to this new role with JMW is a genuine opportunity for us to further cement the firm’s reputation for its forward-thinking approach to the law. There are many opportunities inherent within the two teams of sports and family to work together across a number of key issues which impact our clients. It is particularly refreshing to be part of a firm which acknowledges the talent and experience of its people to the demonstrable benefit of its clients and has the vision to develop its offerings into new and exciting areas like this cross-offering. I really look forward to building on this exceptional opportunity and being part of such a dynamic and already highly established and respected firm as it continues to grow in all practice areas at a truly impressive rate”.

Ruben Sinha recently also joined the Family Law team in Manchester from Miles Preston, a boutique family law firm in London.

Maria Lonergan joins JMW’s award winning Wills, Trust and Estate Planning department from KBL Solicitors in Bolton where she was a Partner and Head of Wills, Trusts, Tax and Probate. Maria specialises in all areas of estate planning including wills, trusts, tax, Powers of Attorney and post-death administration. She acted for the Claimant in the case of Lomax v Lomax, an Inheritance Act case, which served to set legal precedent for civil litigation generally. JMW’s Wills, Trust and Estate Planning team recently won Private Client Team of the Year at the Manchester Legal Awards in June and have just been ranked in Chambers and Partners High Net Worth Guide as a leading law firm in the Northwest for Private Wealth Law.

Maria Lonergan, Partner in the Wills, Trust and Estate Planning team at JMW said:

“JMW is a dynamic, forward-thinking, entrepreneurial firm with some of the best lawyers in the country and I am excited to be joining the Wills, Trust & Estate Planning team at a time when the niche expertise offered is in more demand than ever. The chance to work with Joe Cobb in particular, who leads the field in the area of private client law, was irresistible. I am looking forward to practising alongside with a young, enthusiastic, sophisticated team and to working hard to realise exciting opportunities, with existing and new contacts, to develop the department further.”

Commenting on the 2 new Partner appointments for JMW, Senior Partner, Joy Kingsley said:

“We have been fortunate to be able to recruit like-minded individuals such as Nicola and Maria who are committed to working towards the success of JMW and their departments, Family Law and Wills, Trust & Estate Planning. They will both help their respective teams develop further. Nicola and Maria are further examples of us attracting great legal talent to JMW.”