Here at Keoghs we pride ourselves with providing professional and friendly legal services to our clients. Our experienced team of solicitors cover many diverse areas of law including wills and trusts, housing, family law, personal injury, litigation and immigration.
Private Client Department
Michael Sandler
Qualified: 1979
Partner: 1984
Experience: Michael was originally articled to Allen and Co in Chorlton in 1970 but transferred to Oliver Harris at Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris the next year. He has spent his professional career acting for clients on a wide array of private client matters and as such is hugely respected within the Cheshire community.
Key areas: Wills and Probate, Trusts, Tax planning, Life Time Planning, Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection
Karen Leach
Qualified: 1985
Joined us: 2011
Experience: Karen specialises in estate and trust administration, powers of attorney, wills, and court of protection matters and continues to develop a strong reputation in private client work.
Key areas: Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning; Lifetime Planning
Nicola Lloyd
Qualified: 2006
Joined us: 2006
Experience: After completing her training contract with Watsons Solicitors in Warrington, Nicola joined Keoghs later the same year and assists the senior partner in many aspects of private client work and advises clients on a range of lifetime planning issues.
Key areas: Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning; Lifetime Planning,
Zoe Raynes
Qualified: 2004
Joined us: 2006, became Partner in 2008
Experience: After training with Isherwood and Hose Solicitors, Zoe has gained a wealth of experience across residential property related matters, including buying and selling property, mortgages, residential tenancies and lease transfer.
Key areas: Buying and Selling Property; Transfer of leases; Re-mortgages
Linda Knight
Qualified: 1981
Joined us: 2009
Experience: Linda has spent her 30-year career covering many aspects of general practice including family law, wills and probate, with the focus now on residential conveyancing. She was equity partner in Holland and Knight Solicitors for almost 20 years until their merger with Gregorys Solicitors in 2009.
Key areas: Buying and Selling Property; Transfer of leases; Re-mortgages
Family & Childcare Department
Helen Thompson
Qualified: 1993
Joined us: 2002
Experience: After completing her training with Manchester law firm George Davies, Helen has almost 20 years of experience as a family solicitor and is an accredited resolution specialist. Her specialisms include divorce, separation, financial settlements, dissolution of civil partnerships and child contact/residence disputes.
Key areas: Divorce; Separation; Dissolution of Civil Partnerships; Residence/Contact Disputes
Housing and Civil Litigation
John Gorner
Qualified: 1984
Joined us: John Gorner joined the firm in 2005 and became partner in 2006
Experience: John is head of our civil litigation department which includes specialist housing (landlord and tenant) and community care law teams. John acts predominantly for individuals battling against authority and his client demographic are children, the socially and economically disadvantaged and those with mental impairment. As such he often acts for the Official Solicitor.
Key areas: Community Care; Housing Disputes; Debt; Clinical Negligence; Judicial Reviews, Litigation
Helen Dent
Qualified: 1996
Joined us: 2007, became Partner in 2010
Experience: Helen specialises in social welfare law and acts for tenants in all manner of disputes including; housing disrepair, rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, possession and eviction. Helen works almost entirely for clients eligible for Legal Aid and attends court daily on behalf of her clients and is a Legal Service Commission supervisor on housing matters.
Key areas: Community Care; Anti-social Behaviour; Housing Disputes; eviction, rent arrears.
Mohammed Yasser
Qualified: 2006
Joined us: 2006, became Partner in 2010
Experience: Mohammed specialises in all landlord and tenant housing disputes and is a Legal Services Commission supervisor in housing matters. Many of his clients are socially and financially disadvantaged.
Key areas: Immigration; Housing Disputes; Rent Arrears; Anti-social Behaviour.
Louise Murphy
Qualified: 2006
Joined us: 2006, became Partner in 2011
Experience: Louise completed her training contract with Stephensons Solicitors and then joined Keoghs, focusing on providing legal services to clients who are homeless, have been threatened with eviction from their landlord/housing association and those who have disrepair issues in their rented accommodation. She is also a Legal Services Commission supervisor in housing matters.
Key Areas: Community Care; Housing Disputes; Eviction; Rent Arrears; Anti-Social Behaviour
Sarah Allison
Qualified: 2012
Joined us: 2011
Experience: Sarah studied Law at Keele University and continued on to the Bar Vocational Course initially intending to become a barrister. After qualifying she worked as a County Court Advocate throughout the North West Courts Service specialising in possession actions, personal injury, insolvency and contract law. Sarah has recently passed the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test and qualified as a solicitor in March 2012.
Key areas: Housing Disputes; Anti-Social Behaviour; Rent Arrears
Habib Rahman
Joined us: 2010
Experience: Habib was one of the few students selected to work at the Northumbria University’s Student Law Office where he advised clients on housing issues, moving on to work for Oldham Law Centre advising clients on housing and employment matters. He undertakes a variety of litigation work including immigration, housing disputes and debt.
Key areas: Immigration; Debt; Housing Disputes
Talat Jabin
Qualified: 2001
Joined us: 2012
Experience: Talat has over 12 years work experience all areas of Immigration/Asylum including all the point based applications (tiers) and in the Human Rights field. She has represented in appeals from the First Tier Tribunal through to Judicial Review. She is a Law Society accredited immigration/asylum solicitor and supervisor and a veteran in the changing immigration laws. Talat speaks fluent Punjabi and Urdu.
Key areas: Immigration/Asylum, Human rights, Housing disputes and Welfare Benefits
