Elish Porter, Solicitor - Family/Care work
Bramley office
I am an experienced family law specialist. I deal with divorce and domestic violence cases. As a member of the Law Society Children Panel, I have a particular speciality dealing with cases involving children.I have extensive experience advising on complex contact, paternity and residence disputes including those with a foreign element.I am also skilled at representing both parents and children in public law care cases.I also advise on step-parent adoption and advice grandparents on contact and Special Guardianship cases.
Rosanne Brady, Family Solicitor
Leeds office
Rosanne qualified as a solicitor in 2007 and Rosanne joined the family law team at GSB in March 2011.
Rosanne has experience in all areas of family law but has recently chosen to specialise in children matters and is in the process of applying to join the Law Society Children Panel.
Rosanne is a member of Resolution and is committed to resolving family disputes in a non - confrontational manner.
Scott Mulligan, Conveyancer
Meanwood office
I left secondary school at the age of sixteen to start as an office junior in a Solicitors practice which specialised in property law. After a few months I was quickly promoted to Assistant Conveyancer then trained up to commence work on all aspects of conveyancing.
Wanting to broaden my skills and progress in my career I decided to move to Grahame Stowe Bateson in March 2007.
Our Conveyancing team epitomise the very essence of what Grahame Stowe Bateson stands for - progressive and dynamic, making the best use of what technology has to offer, but still offering a personal and quality service to both client and the referrer.
I have recently started studying CLC course to become a Licensed Conveyancer to enable me to progress my career even further
Richard Crowther, Solicitor - Wills/Probate
Harrogate office
Richard joined the firm in 2007 having obtained an MBA from the University of Leeds in 1996 and then studied Law at the College of Law in York qualifying in 2006. Richard has15 years management experience and has run his own company while completing his legal studies and now specialises in probate, wills and trusts work.
Sarah-Jayne Birch, Solicitor - Family
Leeds office
Sarah-Jayne qualified as a solicitor in 2006. After having focused heavily on Family Law throughout her training, upon qualification Sarah-Jayne continued to specialise in this field and joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2008.
Sarah-Jayne has experience in all areas of family law matters, with particular expertise in matters of Domestic Violence and Children matters. Sarah-Jayne has a passion for her work and prides herself on her client care.
Sarah-Jayne is a member of Resolution and is committed to encouraging and assisting clients in dealing with their matter in a constructive and helpful manner.
Karen Davey, Conveyancer
Middleton office
I started at Grahame Stowe Bateson in 1994 as a Conveyancing Secretary in the Residential Conveyancing department of the firm and progressed to a Conveyancing Executive in 2000. Over a period of 15 years I have developed experience in dealing with all areas of conveyancing. For the last 7 years I have been based at the Middleton Office of the firm and have built up a well established conveyancing department. During my time at the Middleton Office I have established a familiar and comprehensive knowledge of the South Leeds area and like to think, I offer a friendly and efficient service to all of my clients.Whilst I may work in the Leeds area, my interests out of work, involve a keen and some say obsessive interest in Castleford Tigers and Rugby related sports. I am a “young” mum and enjoy spending time with my little boy.
Andy Hollas, Solicitor - Crime
Leeds office
Andy Hollas qualified as a criminal lawyer in 2000 having spent 18 years as a BT engineer. Holds a Batchelor of Arts in economics and politics, and an MA from Leeds University in Politics.
Former Chairman of Leeds North East Labour Party and activist in the labour movement before entering the legal profession. Embarked on the conversion course to a Law Degree in 1985 before becoming a solicitor.
Andy specialises in ALL areas of criminal law; represents clients initially at the police station and the magistrates courts representing defendants in minor offences of all types to very serious allegations which are finally dealt with in the Crown Court. Specialises in road traffic offences and running trials with a successful track record.
Andy Joined the firm when Moore Culleton merged with Grahame Stowe Bateson Solicitors in 2008. Runs a free legal advice clinic every Wednesday from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at our office based in Chapel Allerton (184 Harrogate Road), near Leeds.
Gary Hesp, Police Station Representative
Leeds office
Gary started his legal career in 1985 as a clerk at Walker Morris. As the Police and Criminal Evidence Act came into force he started regularly attending police stations to give advice to clients under arrest and became an accredited police station advisor in 1998.
Gary had worked for Robert Moore Colleton Solicitors since 2003 and moved to Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2008 when the firm merged with GSB.
Throughout this time Gary has mainly run the police station department, whilst also attending prisons and conducting civil actions against the police. He has undertaken thousands of police interviews and maintains a client base who knows that they will be given the right advice.
Georgina Fletcher, Conveyancer
Meanwood office
Georgina started working for GSB in 2008 and she is currently a Conveyancing Fee Earner.
Her role is to deal with the legal aspect of buying and selling residential property including Re-mortgages and Transfers.
Unlike a lot of conveyancing firms GSB promotes a personal touch to all conveyancing files whereby the same fee earner deals with the case from start to finish making sure the clients know who they are dealing with all the way through the process.
John Raj, Solicitor - Crime
Bramley office
John Raj joined Grahame Stowe Bateson, Leeds in 2005. He is a Criminal Lawyer and is in addition a duty solicitor on the Leeds Duty Scheme. He currently works within GSB's Bramley Branch, near Leeds and regularly represents clients in Leeds and other Courts in the West Yorkshire region. John also undertakes a considerable amount of specialist road traffic work on a private basis.
Areas of work include putting forward arguments for exceptional hardship, special reasons and drink driving mitigation. John Raj was born in Malaysia but has lived in Leeds for many years. John is multi-lingual and speaks Malay, Indonesian, Tamil and English of Course.
Malcolm Grainger, Conveyancer
Bramley office
Malcolm joined the legal profession in 1970 and qualified as a Legal Executive in 1980. He joined the Firm in 1986 and is based at Bramley Office specialising in Residential Conveyancing. Malcolm and Colleagues strive to provide an efficient fixed price and friendly Conveyancing service (house Sale/Purchase, Transfer of Property, Re-Mortgages, Shared Ownership and also Equity Release transactions) embracing modern technology to facilitate a fast track completion.
Simone Taylor, Police Station Respresentative
Leeds office
Simone commenced employment at GSB in February 2006, following achieving a year's work experience with the firm.
She initially started as a Crown Court Clerk which involved the preparation of Crown Court cases, attending with Clients, briefing and assisting Counsel, attending with clients who are in custody, dealing with Proceeds of Crime matters, ensuring that relevant deadlines are adhered to, in keeping with orders of the Court, etc.
In January 2008, new regulations and procedures came in to force in relation to the billing of Crown Court cases upon conclusion and Simone then began billing the Crown Court files thereafter.
In June 2010, she went on to become an Accredited Police Station Representative for the firm
Simone Voss, Mental Health worker
Harrogate office
Simone has been working for Graham Stowe Bateson Solicitors since 2008 in the North West Region and is based in Altrincham.
Before entering the legal field Simone qualified and worked as nurse in Germany for over 10 years. She decided to change career and studied Social Work and completed her Diploma at Manchester Metropolitan University.
During Simone's social work practice she was soon attracted to the work of Independent Advocacy in mental health and worked for a number of years for MIND in Rochdale, which gave her and initial insight into legal work.
It was some years later when she took the opportunity to work at a law centre in Manchester as a caseworker dealing with mental health matters.
Simone obtained her Mental Health Tribunal Panel Membership in 2002 whilst at the law centre and continued to work as a Mental Health Law Practitioner representing clients' views and wishes at Tribunals as well as Hospital Managers Hearings.
Within the last few years Simone has become more involved with the new mental capacity legislation.
Adam Hall, Solicitor Criminal and Family Law
Adam joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2006. He practices both Family and Criminal Law. Adam has undertaken high level Public Law cases representing children, parents and Local Authorities. Adam is also extremely experienced in Private Law Children Act matters. Adam attends police stations and appears regularly in the Criminal Courts. He specialises in cases where clients face criminal charges and require assistance with related family matters.
Toni Waterhouse, Solicitor in crime
Toni started work at GSB in 1999 she completed her studies and graduated from Hull University with Honours and commendation in Law specialising in Criminology. Toni qualified as an accredited police station representative and fulfilled her life long ambition to qualify as a solicitor in crime. Toni has worked in most branches but then was given the opportunity to join our Middleton branch in 2010.
Toni has a strong interest and duty to ensure the rights of the most disadvantaged members of society are upheld and they are provided with access to justice whilst ensuring their best interests are upheld regardless of what charge they may face. Toni deals with a wide range of matters, from road traffic to those matters of a more serious and complex nature, specialising in Criminal Damage, Theft, Assaults, Robbery, Public Order offences, Harassment, Fraud, Police Powers and much more.
Toni has specialist knowledge in road traffic matters. We aim to ensure you preserve your licence and in order to do so Toni provides representation to persuade the courts that there are special reasons not to disqualify you from driving or not to impose penalty points. These take the form of contested special reasons arguments.
If you accumulate 12 points and are to be disqualified under the totting up procedure Toni provides specialist advice to preserve your licence. If you would suffer exceptional hardship if you were to be disqualified Toni will represent you to persuade the courts that you shouldn't be disqualified owing to the potential exceptional hardship you would encounter. Whatever your circumstances we tailor our service according to your needs and objectives.
Toni deals with youths along with those who have the most serious mental health disorders to general members of the public who have never come before the courts - all sharing the same need - to ensure their interests are protected and their right to a fair trial is upheld.
Toni is an accredited police station representative and a member of our 24 hour rota service providing clients with legal advice 24 hours a day. Anyone who is to be interviewed by the police is entitled to free legal advice and should take advantage of the opportunity at the most crucial point of the case. Toni represents clients from the outset - at the police station, and through to trial. Toni also provides a free criminal advice clinic.
Sam Sansoya, Family Solicitor
After leaving Guildford College of Law, Sam joined GSB on a Training Contract in 1995 and became fully qualified in 1997.
He currently handles all aspects of family law including ancillary relief cases, divorce, adoption, injunctions, pre-marital agreements (inc. same sex couples)and seperation agreements (inc. same sex couples).
Sam is also a Member of Resolutions (formerly the SFLA).
Rosemary Bell , Mental Health Law
Leeds office
I have a BA and LLM and am an experienced practitioner in the field of mental health law. I specialise in civil cases and have experience also with forensic areas of work. I provide advice to and represent patients at hospital managers hearings and mental health review tribunals, and I have been a member of the Law Societies Mental Health Review Tribunal Panel for 6 years now.
Daral Beebe , Mental Health Solicitor
Middleton office
Daral worked for 8 years for the Mental Health Review Tribunal and was also a Mental Health Hospital Manager before joining Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2010.
Daral is a qualified Mental Health Advocate and has experience of conducting Hospital Manager Review and Appeal hearings for both the NHS and Private Hospital Facilities.
Her role at Grahame Stowe Bateson is to represent clients detained under the Mental Health Act from initial advice and support through to representation at both Hospital Manager and First Tier Tribunal Appeals.
Daral represents clients in Yorkshire and the North East.
Kevin Fullerton , Child Care Solicitor
Middleton office
Kevin obtained his law degree from the University of Warwick in 1977 and has been a solicitor for more than 30 years. He has specialised in child care work since 1986, initially working for Doncaster Council before moving into private practice and becoming a member of the Law Society Children Panel in 1989.
Since then, he has worked for a number of firms in South Yorkshire where he developed and maintained good working relationships with Judges and Magistrates, Children's Guardians, other Panel solicitors and social workers whilst representing hundreds of parents and children. He has also continued to represent local authorities from time to time and so has extensive experience of acting on all sides in care proceedings.
He joined the Leeds Family Law and child care team of Grahame Stowe Bateson in May 2011, based at the Middleton office. He provides advice and representation to children, parents and other family members before and throughout child care, adoption and related proceedings, appearing as advocate in both the Family Proceedings and County Courts. He also represents children in private law residence/contact proceedings, on the instructions of their Children's Guardians, and has a comprehensive working knowledge of all aspects of the Children Act.
Judith Campbell, Solicitor
Harrogate office
I hold a BD (Hons) from London University - gained when I originally left school I then worked for a number of years in sales, selling electronic components into industry.
After living in Australia and the USA whilst having my family, we returned to the UK and I did a Law Degree with the Open University to keep me occupied when my youngest child started Nursery.
I started work in Harrogate CAB, where I was a volunteer for many years, eventually representing clients at Welfare Benefits Tribunals; I won every case I represented!
I joined Grahame Stowe Bateson, Leeds in November 2008, and became a trainee in January 2009, qualifying as a Solicitor in January 2011.
I work in Grahame Stowe Bateson's Harrogate branch, specialising in Criminal Law, Family law and Mental Health. I enjoy advocacy, and have represented clients at Tribunal and County Court.
The most enjoyable part of the job is working with clients. I cover all aspect of family work - including divorce, contact, residence, and school appeals. I have also organised a number of parenting and marriage courses in the local Harrogate & Leeds community
Outside of work I cycle. I also ride a tandem with my longsuffering husband - have cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End, and ski, recently completing the Piccard Rallye in Obergurgle (Austria).
Julia Rollinson, Conveyancing
Chapel Allerton office
Julia started working in conveyancing in 1989 as an assistant, working up to being appointed as a fee earner. She qualified as a Licensed Conveyancer in 2002.
Julia's current role is to act for buyers or sellers of residential property (freehold and leasehold), dealing with Transfers of Equity and Re-mortgages.
She works from the Chapel Allerton office dealing with all aspects of the conveyancing transaction from taking instructions to post-completion matters. Clients appreciate the fact that they can speak directly to her throughout the transaction and enjoy the personal touch.
Robert Kelly, Commercial Property / Conveyancing
Harrogate office
Aged 50, Robert Kelly joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2010, joining the commercial property and conveyancing division of their Harrogate Office.
Robert acts for a number of Yorkshire-based and national retailers in their freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals. He also acts closely with specialist lenders and brokers in the residential property market.
Whilst Robert has joined the Harrogate office as a Commercial and Residential Property solicitor, he will also be responsible for Commercial Property matters across all of Grahame Stowe Bateson's six branches.
Robert's success has very much been down to his ‘can do' attitude, which he believes has become particularly important in the current climate. Robert added, "The current state of the property market means that clients are looking for solicitors who can be proactive and supply effective solutions to problems and those who act closely with property owners and their other advisors".
Jonathan Smail, Conveyancing / Wills / Probate
Harrogate office
Jonathan qualified as a solicitor in 1992. Before joining Grahame Stowe Bateson he was a partner for 12 years at another Harrogate firm of solicitors.
He specialises in property law and has extensive experience in dealing with all aspects of residential and commercial property. He also has a wealth of experience dealing with wills and probate.
In his spare time Jonathan is a keen tennis player having played to a high standard and is a qualified tennis coach.
Guy Faber, Conveyancing / Wills / Probate
Harrogate office
Guy Faber started Faber Solicitors in Harrogate in 1970 and was the senior partner for many years. Now working part-time with Grahame Stowe Bateson his workload consists mainly of Wills, Probate, Powers of Attorney and Conveyancing.
Outside the office Guy was a Govenor of a well known Harrogate school for some years. He has chaired NHS Complaints Procedure panels. He has always been actively involved in National Hunt racing - first as an amateur rider and then as an owner and Jockey Club judge. But his principal leisure time activity has for some years been speechwriting, mainly for weddings (it is interesting that there is an increasing trend for brides to make a speech at their weddings) and other special occasions as well as for sportsmen starting out on the after-dinner speaking circuit.
Cathy Hodge, Solicitor - Family and Childcare Law
Leeds office
Cathy Hodge joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in September of this year from Murray's Solicitors in Bradford. She has been a member of the Law Society Children Panel for 10 years and has over 20 years of experience in Childcare Law.
She trained and worked in London before moving to Bradford in 1991.
Cathy also has considerable experience in Criminal Law. She is a duty solicitor and worked attending at Police Stations, and appearing in the Magistrates and Youth Courts.
Cathy acts for children, parents and other family members in cases involving the Local Authority or between family members. She has experience of representing individuals where there have been serious allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.