We have expanded our South Yorkshire Family and Child Care Law departments in a move that sees Keebles’ Sheffield-based family law team joining our business.

Senior solicitor Joe Bartlett, solicitors Emily Abbey, Emma Stamp and Rebecca Crofts, paralegal Sarah Nixon, and secretaries Julie Steade and Nicola Green will now be based at our office on Paradise Square in Sheffield.

They will work alongside associate solicitor and child care specialist Jennifer Heckingbottom, who is relocating from York to Sheffield; solicitor Abigail Duffy; and family solicitors Toby Netting and Alison Kitchman. Together they will form a 10-strong family and care team based in South Yorkshire, with the support of a further 21 family and care lawyers from across the wider group. 

Joe Bartlett led the family law department at Keebles and says Switalskis is a natural home for the team:

“There are very few firms that can offer the full range of family law services, whether acting on behalf of children or their guardians in care proceedings; victims of domestic  abuse, dealing with high-net-worth litigation disputes; or using Alternative Dispute Resolution methods such as collaborative family law and mediation to resolve issues between separating couples. Switalskis is one of those firms.

"Switalskis’ team has an excellent reputation for family and child care law. There is also a genuine focus on client and staff welfare throughout the firm and a real dedication to clients, which is shared by my team. I am looking forward to working alongside such talented and respected solicitors.”

Ruth Coneron heads the Switalskis child care law department. She says:

“I am thrilled to welcome the Keebles team to Switalskis. Adding Keebles’ respected lawyers, who are well known for their guardian work, and support staff to our existing team in Sheffield will enable us to significantly expand our care and family provision in the area.

"I believe that by coming together we are creating a force to be reckoned with in South Yorkshire, and I’m looking forward to Switalskis being a significant player in the area for care and family services.”

The Switalskis group employs around 400 legal professionals and other staff in 12 locations across Yorkshire and is one of the fastest-growing law firms in the region. Switalskis completed the acquisition of Doncaster’s largest solicitors’ practice Atherton Godfrey in January this year, and specialist York-based claimant firm Pryers in April. The group now sits just outside the largest 100 law firms in the UK, according to The Lawyer magazine’s UK 200 rankings.