Neil is the Managing Partner of the Firm and has a wide range of legal experience covering both contentious and non-contentious matters, also holding Higher Rights of Audience.

In addition to the work at Southerns, Neil holds a number of other posts including:
The Law Society’s Chief Assessor for the Mental Health Accreditation scheme.
Assistant Coroner in Lancashire.
Hospital manager in the Manchester area.
National committee member of the Mental Health Lawyers’ Association and is involved in delivering training nationally.

Rachel specialises in cases before the Mental Health Tribunal and Court of Protection.

Rachel is a longstanding member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Accreditation Scheme and has extensive experience representing clients detained under the Mental Health Act. Rachel regularly represents clients before the First-Tier Tribunal and at Hospital Managers Hearings.

Rachel provides advice in relation to the Mental Capacity Act, the deprivation of liberty safeguards and deals with a variety of cases in the Court of Protection. Rachel is an Assessor for the Law Society’s Mental Capacity (Welfare) Accreditation scheme, a member of the Court of Protection Practitioners Association (CoPPA) and Mental Health Lawyers Association (MHLA).

Anita is a Legal Executive working in our Criminal Department, based at our Hargreaves Street office in Burnley. She specialises in Criminal Law, with a particular emphasis on Crown Court cases.

Jeanette heads the Wills, Probate and Trusts Department and is an Associate Solicitor who works from our Bank Parade Office. Jeanette advises on wills, inheritance tax planning, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, deputyship applications, probate and estate administration. She also advises on elderly client issues.

Peter is a Consultant with Southerns, undertaking commercial and civil litigation. Peter has over 20 years experience as a solicitor practising in the areas of commercial and insurance litigation, with particular expertise in the field of professional indemnity/negligence law. His experience ranges from small claims to multi-million pound disputes.

Francesca joined Southerns in December 2018 after working as a paralegal for a number of years at another Burnley law firm. She deals with personal injury, medical negligence and general claims. Francesca prides herself in her client care and gaining the maximum return for her clients during any claims process.

Tim is an experienced specialist Crown Court Caseworker. He defends those facing prosecution for the most serious offenses. He works closely with Counsel and instructed experts to ensure cases receive the highest level of preparation required for success. He is diligent and considered in his approach and as a result he consistently develops positive relationships with those involved in his cases. He is also an extremely experienced and competent police-station lawyer. He holds the formal PSA accreditation since 2008

Cathryn works as a Criminal Solicitor and mainly covers work throughout Lancashire from our different offices, dealing with Magistrates Court, Crown Court, Youth Court, Prison Law, and is also a fully Accredited Police Station Representative and Duty Solicitor. Cathryn can provide advice in all Criminal matters from Murder to Driving Offences.

Sue joined the firm from Hampson Hughes in Liverpool where she undertook serious injury work for Personal Injury and Medical Negligence matters. Sue prides herself on giving a straight forward and first rate service to clients.

Clare joined our Private Client team in July 2019, advising clients on wills, powers of attorney, deputyship (Court of Protection) and estate administration. Clare qualified as a Solicitor in 2010 and previously worked at a firm in her home town of Chorley.

Info to follow…

Emma is a Paralegal based at our Bank Parade office. She offers advice and representation in respect of Mental Health Tribunal applications.

Lucille joined Southerns in March 2017 after working as a paralegal for a number of years at another Burnley law firm. She is part of the litigation department and deals predominantly with personal injury cases. Lucille prides herself in her client care, progressing her cases efficiently with attention to detail and having a friendly, positive attitude so that her clients feel comfortable with the claims process.

Chris is an Solicitor based at our Bank Parade office, while also covering the whole of the Yorkshire area. He specialises in Mental Health and Public law. Chris is an accredited member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Tribunal panel and provides advice and representation to clients in all aspects of Mental Health law. He regularly represents clients before the Mental Health Tribunal and at Hospital Managers Hearings. Chris has considerable experience in representing both civil and forensic client’s in all levels of security, including extensive experience representing those detained in High Secure Special Hospitals. Chris has represented client’s across the whole of England and takes a special interest in appeals against decisions of the Tribunal.

Info to follow…

Lynn has worked in the legal profession for 30 years and is a Mental Health Law specialist. She has been a member of the Law Society Mental Health Tribunal Panel from its inception. Lynn regularly advises and represents clients at hospitals across the North of England at hearings and appeals, and has experience of a wide range of civil and forensic cases. Lynn is a Trustee of a Mental Health charity and has previously provided training to medical professionals on the Mental Health Act.

Info to follow…

Iram is a Private Client Paralegal based in our Burnley office, having joined the firm in October 2017..

Siobhan will be working within our Conveyancing Department as Commercial Property Executive.
Siobhan has joined us from and JMW Solicitors and has been working within the profession since 2003.

Info to follow…

Ashleigh is an accredited member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Tribunal Panel and whilst she predominantly works within the Mental Health Department, also assists the abuse claims / actions against public authorities department having a number of years experience in this area. Ashleigh is based at the Burnley Bank Parade office and represents clients throughout the North West.

John is a Consultant and former Senior Partner of the firm whose practice is all aspects of criminal law including matters at the police station, Magistrates Court and Crown Court.

John is regularly instructed to defend allegations of fraud, serious crime and sexual offences and will leave no stone unturned in working with all his clients so they are fully prepared and understand the criminal process. John also holds an in depth knowledge of motoring law matters.

Over the years of practice, John has forged working links with the some of the Country’s top QCs and barristers and is able to provide access as required.

Mark is the Head of our Criminal department and has over 25 years of experience in working in the Criminal law field, previously being a Partner and Senior Partner of the firm.

Mark is able to deal with cases from their inception through to trial and has considerable experience in dealing with money laundering matters, fraud, cybercrime and serious crime.

Mark also holds a position of Assistant Coroner in Lancashire.

Nicola joined Southerns after working as a paralegal for a number of years at a large Lancashire law firm.

She is currently undertaking her training contract with the firm.