Meet The Teams

Nicola joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in May 2023 as a Family and Childcare Solicitor.  

Nicola graduated with an Honours Law Degree in 2017 from Sheffield Hallam University. She went on to complete her Legal Practice Course (LPC) along with a Masters at BPP University part time, whilst working full time as a Paralegal in a firm in South Yorkshire. Nicola qualified as a Solicitor in March 2021. 

Nicola represents parents and family members in court proceedings involving social services as well as representing separated parents in relation to residence and contact disputes. Nicola also represents clients in non-molestation and occupation orders and is experienced representing victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable clients.  

Neal has 34 years of continuous experience, as a qualified lawyer, working in the criminal justice system. He has been a duty solicitor for 19 years and a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Criminal Proceedings) for 9 years.

He now specialises in Crown Court advocacy and has secured acquittals at trial, in the Crown Court, in cases as diverse as burglary, robbery, blackmail, conspiracy to supply drugs and child neglect. He has been junior to leading counsel in serious, lengthy trials, including murder and has appeared in the Court of Appeal.

Richard’s career began at Graham Stowe Bateson as Marilyn Stowe’s articled clerk in 1990. After qualifying as a Solicitor he remained with the firm for 20 years progressing to partnership.

During that time Richard represented clients in both the criminal and family courts and he also undertook work before Mental Health Review Tribunals.

After 5 years as a consultant to Zermansky and Partners, Richard returned to GSB in January of 2017, again in the role of consultant.

Richard now specialises in Child Care cases,  his approachable manner and strength as an advocate has allowed him to develop a strong practice representing both children and parents in proceedings.

A member of the Law Society `s children panel and criminal litigation scheme for almost 20 years, Richard also holds higher rights in the criminal and civil jurisdictions.

Ellie began her legal career back in 2019. She worked in the law department in one of the 3 High secure Psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales for a number of years following graduation from University with a 2:1 in Psychology. She then went on to secure a role at a Law firm in Leeds where she passed her Mental Health Accreditation within the year. 

Since then, Ellie has supported individuals detained under the Mental Health Act at a variety of hospitals across England and Wales. She has represented clients under both forensic and civil sections in low, medium and high secure as well as individuals in the community.

Ellie is passionate about her clients rights and ensures that they are protected and informed throughout their case. Ellie has successfully obtained discharges for clients at both Hospital Managers Meetings and Mental Health Tribunals. She has an excellent track record of obtaining statutory recommendations at Mental Health Tribunal hearings.

Ellie has a calm and compassionate approach to her clients ensuring that they feel at ease throughout the appeal process. Ellie ensures that all avenues are explored within a case to ensure the best possible outcome for them.

Chris enjoyed a career as an engineer working in Africa, the Middle East, Norway, Netherlands and on North Sea oil rigs before returning to university to study law in 1990.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1997 having worked at a major north east law firm for 5 years and has been a duty solicitor since 1998.

He has been a partner running two law firms in North Yorkshire since 2002 dealing exclusively in criminal defence work and has represented clients across the country in relation to matters ranging from murder to shop theft.

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 worked for Robert Moore Colleton Solicitors since 2003 and moved to Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2008 when the two firms merged.

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.

Amy studied Law (Exempting) Master of Law and Practice (MLP), incorporating LLB(Hons) and graduated with both an LLB Honours degree and a Masters qualification from Huddersfield University in 2017.

Having joined Grahame Stowe Bateson in 2017 to commence her training contract, Amy qualified as a Solicitor in September 2019.  Amy practiced in Family Law where she regularly represented parents and family members in legal issues surrounding domestic abuse and child contact issues, both in and out of Court.

Armed with this experience, Amy decided to commence a career in the Mental Health Department in January 2023, where she is committed to helping people detained under the Mental Health Act with her caring and friendly approach.  She ensures that her clients’ views and wishes are explored and thoroughly listened to. As a solicitor, she affords quality and concise representation at Hospital Manager review hearings, s117 meetings and CPA meetings.

Amy has an approachable manner enabling her to  provide support and assistance to vulnerable clients.

Andrew has over 25 years’ experience dealing with all aspects of criminal litigation and is Duty Solicitor Accredited. He specialises in road traffic law and has particular experience in representing clients who are at risk of discretionary disqualifications, having accumulated 12 or more penalty points. 

He also has many years experience of representing corporate clients who are being investigated and/or prosecuted by regulatory organisations, such as the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, the Health and Safety Executive, Trading Standards, the Environment Agency and Local Authorities. 

Andrew guides those clients through processes such as interviews under caution and is well versed in negotiations with Government Agencies, either as a preliminary or as an alternative to prosecutions.