Meet the Team
We are people you want to talk to.
Our Legal Team

Jill Chamberlain
About Jill
Head of Haddletons Business
Solicitor - Qualified 1989
Legal Areas of Expertise:
- Commercial Contracts
- Data Protection & Cyber
- Risk and Compliance
Bio:
Jill is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with a successful track record in business. With substantial in-house legal experience, working as Legal Counsel in the telecommunications/IT, financial services and distribution sectors. Jill heads up Haddletons Commercial and Business Support and is responsible for the strategic business growth of our comprehensive suite of business support services.

Dawn Coupe
About Dawn
Matter Expert - Non-Solicitor
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Risk & Compliance
- Health & Safety
- Trading & Advertising
Bio:
Awaiting content

Simon Cox
About Simon
Solicitor - Qualified 1980
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Corporate Advisory
Bio:
Simon is a highly respected and experienced corporate lawyer. Simon has advised on a wide range of UK and international corporate projects.
Simon’s work has included both IPO’s and secondary market equity issues as well as issues of convertible and non-convertible debt securities.
Moreover, Simon has extensive experience advising boards on corporate governance compliance as well as advising on relationships with major shareholders and on reacting to shareholder activism.

Jason Curtis
About Jason
Solicitor - Qualified 2004
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Risk & Compliance
Bio:
Jason is a senior commercial solicitor with over 20 years’ experience, mostly gained working in-house. He has worked in the travel and retail sectors and is a former Legal & Compliance Director at Mamas & Papas. Jason is experienced across the range of commercial legal matters from consumer terms and conditions to large, complex agreements, taking a commercially pragmatic approach to the work that he undertakes. He also provides training on dealing with commercial legal matters and compliance issues and strategic legal advice to businesses small and large.

Karen Eckstein
About Karen
Solicitor - Qualified 1990
Chartered Tax Accountant
Legal Area of Expertise
- Tax Disputes
Bio:
Karen has 30 years experience of defending claims against professionals, mainly solicitors, accountants and tax advisers and has acted for firms from sole practitioners through to magic circle and global firms, gained at national market leading firms. She is also a Chartered Tax Adviser and has a national reputation in the taxation field. As well as acting in contentious tax matters across the whole range of taxes, Karen frequently advises professionals about risk management and is a published author on the topic as well as having passed the IRM exams.

Karina Gaertner
About Karina
Solicitor - Qualified 2012
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Corporate Advisory
- Risk & Compliance
Bio:
Awaiting content

Hugh Goulbourne
About Hugh
Solicitor - Qualified 2004
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Corporate Advisory
- Data Protection
- Risk & Compliance
Bio:
Hugh is a Senior Commercial Solicitor with 14 years legal experience In House and in Private Practice. Having qualified with a top ten international law firm, Hugh has extensive experience in data protection, commercial contracts and corporate governance across a range of sectors including energy, entertainment, financial services and insurance. Hugh’s excellent legal skills are enhanced by his experience of income generation, strategy development and team management in a range of senior leadership roles since 2011.

Bryony Green De Barros
About Bryony
Trainee Solicitor
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Data Protection & Cyber
- Disputes
- Intellectual Property
- Risk and Compliance
Bio:
Bryony is a trainee solicitor at Haddletons. Prior to commencing her traineeship, Bryony spent eight months in the firm’s Business Services Team providing corporate governance and company secretarial support to clients. Prior to joining Haddletons, Bryony gained in-house legal experience working as a paralegal at a digital marketing agency where she assisted on commercial matters. Bryony is bilingual and is fluent in Portuguese.

James Haddleton
About James
CEO
Solicitor - Qualified 1994
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Data Protection & Cyber
- Risk and Compliance
Bio:
James worked for 25 years at two major commercial law firms and then as Group Legal Counsel and Company Secretary at an AIM-listed pharmaceutical company. There, he developed a legal team and led projects to reduce risk and improve the quality and efficiency of its contracting, governance and compliance systems.
James is CEO of Haddletons, as well as a senior lawyer.

Keith Jackson
About Keith
Professional Advisor
Legal Area of Expertise
- Boardroom Support
Bio:
Keith, a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Director, is a successful senior executive with a wealth of experience in CEO, Executive Director, Interim and Non-Executive Director roles. The Institute of Directors UK Director of the year 2016, he has a proven history of vision, strategic foresight and strong governance that has enhanced board performance. Keith deploys his expertise to help your board develop and effectively manage the governance cycle, looking at aspects such as foresight, strategic thinking, supervising management and accountability to stakeholders. He will work with you to enhance board performance and make board meetings much more strategically focused.

Shereen Lloyd
About Shereen
Solicitor - Qualified 2003
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Property
Bio:
Shereen has over 15 years' commercial property experience, having worked in both private practice and in-house. She advises on a wide range of commercial property transactions across a broad range of sectors. Shereen will work with you to deliver pragmatic, commercially viable solutions to all of your property needs.

Debbie Mactaggart
About Debbie
Solicitor - Qualified 1984
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Disputes
- Employment
Bio:
Debbie has over 30 years’ experience as a trusted advisor and a solicitor working in-house and at several large, commercial law firms. She spent 4 years as head of a commercial legal team. Debbie deals with commercial disputes and employment issues. Her particular strengths include good relationships with her clients, empathy and people skills. She has experience of developing and delivering training for clients and lawyers covering complex legal issues in an accessible way.

Helena Orwin
About Helena
Solicitor - Qualified 2005
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Data Protection & Cyber
- Risk & Compliance
Bio:
Helena is an experienced commercial and IT lawyer with over 14 years’ experience in both private practice and in house. Having spent 6 years at one of the Big Six private practice law firms, Helena moved into an in-house legal role at a world leading engineering company. There, Helena’s role included leading the compliance function as well as dealing with a wide range of commercial matters. Having widened her expertise beyond legal and into sales and operations, Helena headed up the service and repair division of the UK business giving her senior executive experience. More recently, Helena has acted as legal counsel at a Leeds based award winning IT consultancy.

Ailsa Pemberton
About Ailsa
Solicitor - Qualified 1999
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Intellectual Property
Bio:
Ailsa is a highly experienced solicitor, specialising in Commercial and Intellectual Property law. Ailsa advises businesses on matters such as IP agreements, IP audits, trademark registrations, confidentiality agreements and is also an expert is matters of contentious IP.

Sarah Podesta
About Sarah
Solicitor - Qualified 2000
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Competition Law
- Risk & Compliance
Bio:
Sarah is a solicitor with 20 years’ experience in commercial and competition law, mostly gained in-house with large multi-national businesses. Sarah has industry experience in many sectors including retail, FMCG, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Sarah is experienced at advising and collaborating on solutions at all levels of an organisation, including the Board. Her focus is on using legal, compliance and risk management tools to solve problems and maximise value for your business.

Helen Roberts
About Helen
Solicitor
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Commercial Contracts
- Risk and Compliance
Bio:
From her experience as GC for Sanofi, Novartis and Head of Legal for Abbott EMEA, Helen has significant life sciences and compliance experience in legal risks associated with launch and exclusivities of medicines and their supply chain.
She also has a strong expertise in Product Lifecycle Contracts, digital marketing & apps for Pharmaceutical Products & Devices in Europe, and regulation & reimbursement of Orphan Indications & Medicines.
As a past member of a UK regulatory authority, she has first-hand experience of compliance & penalties for Promotion of Medicines & Devices and in risk management of online promotion.

Rowena Summers
About Rowena
Solicitor - Qualified 1998
Legal Areas of Expertise
- Employment & HR
Bio:
Rowena is an employment solicitor with over 18 years experience gained at three large, commercial law firms and on secondment as part of an in-house employment legal team. Rowena provides commercially focused advice, representation and project support. She is an experienced presenter and has had a number of articles published in legal and industry journals.
Our Business Services Team

Claire Ashcroft
About Claire
Business Services Manager
Bio:
Claire brings over 25 years' of high level business services experience to the team. With a proven track record of providing expert support for her clients, Claire worked as in-house company secretary, as well as providing PA services to the directors, for an international bank for the last 19 years. Claire combines a thorough and insightful knowledge of business with clear and practical advice for her clients.

Lesley Haigh
About Lesley
Business Services Executive
Bio:
Lesley's background is as a Legal Assistant in commercial law practices. With over 20 years’ experience in the legal sector she has a deep and detailed understanding of what her clients need. Lesley's particular areas of expertise have been predominantly in finance and restructuring but more recently she has been working on matters of professional negligence and risk management. Lesley maintains a high level of customer service to all her clients.

Sarah Johnson
About Sarah
Business Services Executive
Bio:
Sarah brings with her 10 years' experience in residential property as a sales negotiator and PA to the director. This experience has proved to be a great platform for her work at Haddletons. As well as providing a valuable range of business services for our clients, Sarah is responsible for client take-on procedures and providing vital support to the legal team. It is Sarah's extensive experience across various business sectors that drives her goal for optimal client service provision at Haddletons.

Rachael Schofield

Michelle Smith

Alex Telfer
About Alex
Business Services Executive
Bio:
Alex joined Haddletons in 2020 as an apprentice in the Finance and Accounts team. He works for a number of our Business Services clients, providing mainly company secretarial services as well as support to business team as a whole. Alex has a passion, enthusiasm and a rising track record of providing first-class support and advice to clients.
Our Linchpins

Erica Hill
About Erica
Communications & Relationship Manager
Bio:
Erica has over 25 years' experience of working across a variety of industries; including financial, education and technology. She has a broad background in design, marketing, communications and IT.
In her role as communications and relationship manager at Haddletons she does pretty much exactly that. Builds relationships with our clients and develops our communications - whether that is through the website, social media, digital print or simply by talking to people.

Suzanne Ibson
About Suzanne
Team Administrator
Bio:
Suzanne has over 12 years' experience as a director, resourcer and administrator. She has assisted start-ups & high growth companies and has hands on experience of the day-to-day running of a small business. Suzanne is the team administrator at Haddletons, she is a key linchpin in the smooth running of our dynamic working environment.

Susie Marshall
About Susie
Operations & HR Manager
Bio:
Susie brings over 25 years’ experience of business and HR administration to the Haddletons team; having worked in both large and small organisations previously. Before joining Haddletons she worked in the public sector, the construction industry and the charity sector. She is highly organised and an adept problem solver.
Join Our Team
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