Who's Who
The Tees Valley Law Society covers an area from the southerly outskirts of Durham City down to Northallerton, from Peterlee down to Whitby on the coast, and inland up the dales as far as Hawes.
Council comprises one represntative from each of the 6 Consituencies, 6 general membes, the President, Senior Vice President and Junior Vice President. The Chair of the Education and Training Committee and the Press/PRO officers are co-opted each year, along with a trainee representative.
| The President of the Society Nicola Neilson |
Originally from Lancashire, Nicola moved to the North East in 1996 to study for both her Bachelors and Masters degrees. She subsequently qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and has been a partner at Latimer Hinks in Darlington since 2007. Nicola specialises primarily in commercial property but also deals with more complex residential property matters. She has been involved with the Tees Valley Law Society in various roles since 2001 and is currently a member of the Education & Training Committee. Nicola lives with her husband and young daughter in Stockton-on-Tees, As a a qualified Guider she has been running a local Rainbow unit for almost 10 years. Nicola loves watching football and is a longstanding season ticket holder at Burnley FC. When she finds the time, she also likes going to the theatre. |
| Senior Vice President and member for Stockton on Tees Joanne Lavery |
Joanne qualified as a solicitor in 1997, and is currently an associate in the corporate team of Dickinson Dees LLP. After completing her training contract with a firm in Belfast, she subsequently practised in the company/commercial departments of law firms in Jersey (Channel Islands) and Perth (Western Australia), before joining Dickinson Dees LLP in its Tees Valley office in 2001. Joanne also sits as a Magistrate and is involved in a number of local community projects (including acting as an independent visitor with Barnardos to form lasting relationships with young people in long term care, and helping out at the John Paul Centre in Middlesbrough at the weekends to serve the homeless a hearty meal). Joanne has two dogs (Fergus, a border terrier and Meg, a cocker spaniel) , two budgies and three ferrets and enjoys keeping fit by running, going to her local gym and practising karate. Joanne's claim to fame is that her grandmother's cousin (Peter Doherty) took Northern Ireland (as their football manager) to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden....no mean feat for such underdogs! |
| Junior Vice President | Vacant |
| Immediate Past President Elizabeth Foreman |
Liz is a Member of Archers Law LLP, specialising in employment law, and has been a member of the Tees Valley Law Society since 1999. |
| Member for Middlesbrough, Gt Ayton & Stokesley Colin Vaux |
Colin qualified in 1966 and is a partner with Punch Robson in Middlesbrough. His main area of practice is commercial property. |
| Member for Hartlepool and Peterlee Philip Mitchell |
Phil was elected at the AGM 29.6.10 to serve the balance of the term, following Tony Winfield's decision to stand down. His details will up added shortly |
|
Member for the Borough of Redcar & Cleveland |
Matthew qualified in 2006 after studying at Newcastle University and attending the legal practice course at the College of Law, York. He completed his two years training with Askews in Middlesbrough, where he now works as an associate in the litigation department. |
| Member for County Durham, excluding Darlington | VACANT |
| Member for the Borough of Darlington and the area bounded by and including the towns of Northallerton, Richmond, Leyburn & Hawes | VACANT |
| General Members | |
| Alison Barker |
Alison qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and spent a number of years in private practice in Darlington, doing a mixture of commercial and residential property. She joined the Durham Office of the Land Registry as an Assistant Land Registrar in 1997 and deals with some of the most complex and contentious work, including disputes, indeminity claims and complaints. |
| Helen Booth | Helen grew up in the Tees Valley area before moving to Nottingham to study Law at Nottingham Trent University. She joined Latimer Hinks Solicitors in Darlington as a Trainee Solicitor in September 2005 and completed her Legal Practice Course during weekends at College of Law, York, qualifying as a Solicitor in March 2008. She remained at Latimer Hinks where she is an Assistant Solicitor in their Private Client department. Helen was formerly a Trainee Representative on the Tees Valley Law Society Education and Training Committee and she continues to sit on the Education and Training Committee. Helen’s interests include Skiing, running and hiking in the Lake District |
| Simon Catterall |
Simon was born in Darlington and educated at St Francis in Acklam and Mount St Mary’s College in Sheffield until he left school at 18 to join in the legal department of Stockton Borough Council. He subsequently moved to London where he worked in marketing and as a full time musician in Covent Garden before attending Chester College of Law and qualifying as a solicitor in 1985. A former police prosecutor Simon has been a partner and Head of Crime at Jacksons solicitors for 20 years. |
| Leanne Nash |
Leanne studied law at Teesside University and then the College of Law in York. She has worked in the Commercial Department of Archers Law since 2005, specialising mainly in employment law. She also a varied case load and has extensive experience in commercial litigation. Leanne also lectures degree and ILEX students as a visiting lecturer at Sunderland University and the law department at Hartlepool Sixth Form College, the first sixth form college in the country to offer the LLB course. |
| There are vacancies for a further two general memebers | |
| Chair of Training & Education Committee Geoff Cruickshank |
Geoff is a Teesside lad born and bred. He qualified in 1979 and is a partner in Punch Robson in Middlesbrough. His main area of practice is claimant personal injury, although nowadays most of his time is spent on finance, administration, in house education & training, money laundering, debt recovery, professional indemnity etc etc. His interests outside work include angling ( Director of Stockton Angling Ltd, Vice Chairman Assoc Teesside & District Angling Clubs ), motorcycling ( Triumph Daytona for anyone interested), golf, gardening and walking. |
| Press/Public Relations Officer Rachel Donald |
Rachel was appointed as PRO in January 200. She qualified as a solicitor in August 2008 after graduating with a degree in Law from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and completing the LPC at the Collage of Law, York. She grew up in Yarm and is delighted to be given the opportunity to promote Tees Valley Law Society in her current role. Outside of work Rachel loves music and spends her spare time playing piano and is a cellist with Teesside Symphony Orchestra which performs locally twice a year. |
| Trainee Representative | To be co-opted by Council at its first meeting following the AGM |
As well as the Council, the day-to-day administration of the Society is undertaken on a part-time basis by Helen Crute. Helen is an experienced Administrator, and although not a lawyer, has been married to one for over 40 years. She has worked in the voluntary sector for many years, and prior to that ran her own business. Her interests include photography, collecting all sorts of things (including thimbles and stamps), needlework and she is an avid reader. Her "day job" was, until recently, Regional Administrator Co-ordinator for Age UK, and is now a Clinical Administrator at the Butterwick Hospice in Stockton