Vincents appoints private client department head

Vincents Solicitors has promoted company director Lisa Lodge to head of its private client department.

Lisa has been a member of the senior management team for seven years and has worked under Chris Mathews, who has been head of the department since 2013. He has stepped down from the position as he looks towards retirement. 

Lisa is also head of the Garstang branch, heads up the firm’s Court of Protection work and is the senior court appointed Deputy and Professional Attorney.

Chris will continue to work from Vincents’ Lytham office on a part-time basis as he plans for retirement in the coming years.

Phillip Gilmore, Vincents managing director, said: "We have an extremely successful and growing private client department which has flourished under the joint leadership of Chris and Lisa. I’d like to thank them and acknowledge the tremendous contribution Chris has made to the firm over the last nine years, and we are delighted that he will still be available to clients as a valued member of the team for some time to come.

“Happily we are in the fortuitous position of having an extremely robust succession plan and Lisa’s promotion was a mere formality. A superb legal practitioner and highly knowledgeable expert in court of protection and estate planning work, she is an exceptional resource for our clients and a great manager for her team.”

Lisa will lead a team working across each of the firm’s locations in Preston, Garstang, Lytham, Chorley and Penwortham. These include experts specialising in Wills, Trusts and Probate, Contentious Probate, Lasting Power of Attorney and Court of Protection work.

She will continue in her capacity as a Professional Attorney and Deputy, directly managing the health and welfare, and property and financial affairs of clients who have lost their capacity due to illness or injury.

Lisa will also remain a key mentor and resource for the Private Client’s in-house training programme, and is embarking on a social media campaign to raise awareness of legal issues affecting people’s everyday lives.

Lisa said: “I’m thrilled to be leading this fantastic team and must thank Chris for all of his support, we really are delighted he’s staying around for a while longer. Private Client work can be a very sensitive area of the law but is one we enjoy working in and find enormously satisfying when we help people through particularly difficult times."

Pictured: Director Lisa Lodge with Chris Mathews (centre) and the Vincents Solicitors private client team