The Team
Wendy Alison Bailey - Solicitor, Family Department
Qualified in 1993.
Completed her training contract with a firm in Barnsley
Worked previously in Leeds and Rotherham
A Family Law specialist dealing with all aspects of Family Law, including divorce, children, ancillary relief, cohabitee disputes etc
Joined Best Solicitors in October 2006 as a Family Solicitor
An advanced member of the Law Society Family Law Panel
An Accredited Resolution Specialist.
A member of Resolution.
Wendy is a trained Collaborative Lawyer.
Previously sat on the Committee of the South Yorkshire branch of Resolution.
Stephen Taylor - Solicitor
Stephen Taylor A family law specialist dealing with relationship breakdown, financial matters, children act applications and injunctions.
Joined Best Solicitors as a trainee solicitor and qualified as a solicitor in May 2006.
Graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2002.
Studied for a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Sheffield & graduated in 2003.
Stephen is a Member of Resolution.
Jill Eddison - Legal Executive
Jill Eddison An extremely experienced Legal Executive.
Worked as a Legal Executive in Sheffield for a number of years.
Has a wealth of knowledge & experience in property matters.
Helen Shepherd - Solicitor, Criminal Department
Helen qualified as a solicitor in September 2001 and became a criminal law practitioner. After 4 years of practising criminal law, Helen became a lecturer on the LPC at BPP Law School and held the position of National Module Leader for Advanced Criminal Litigation. Helen returned to practice and joined BEST Solicitors in September 2008. Helen continues to specialise in criminal law and deals with the entire spectrum of offences from murder to motoring matters.
Shetal Gudgeon - Solicitor, Family Department
Qualified in November 2003
Shetal specialises in all aspects of family law work relating to married, unmarried and same sex couples including problems with financial matters, children disputes and injunctions. She has also represented extended family members such as grandparents in children disputes.
Shetal is a member of Resolution. She works with an emphasis in assisting people in resolving their relationship breakdown during an often stressful and emotionally difficult time. Shetal is known for providing her clients' with clear and practical advice in order to achieve solutions to her clients' problems in an efficient and effective manner.
Shetal graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 1999 and completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Sheffield in 2001. She trained at a firm in Barnsley and then moved to a firm in Manchester for 5 years until returning to Sheffield.
Up until joining BEST Solicitors, Shetal was involved in a phone-in legal radio show to help keep the local community informed of their legal rights. She is also involved in local events such as completing the Legal Walk 2008 and 10km runs in Manchester.
Ben Strelley – Solicitor, Criminal Department
Ben graduated from Hull University in 2006 and completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at Sheffield University in 2007.
Ben qualified as a solicitor in October 2009 having completed his training contract with Best Solicitors, which he started in September 2007.
Ben’s interests lie within criminal law and he has qualified into the Criminal Defence team. Ben is an accredited police station representative and has experience in both minor and major matters.
Adam Houlding – Legal Assistant, Civil/Personal Injury Department
Adam graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2003 and subsequently undertook a Masters degree in Real Estate at the University of Reading before working in the commercial property sector for a number of years.
Adam lived for a couple of years in Sydney, Australia where he completed the Graduate Legal Diploma and gained admission as a Lawyer in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in December 2008.
Adam joined Best Solicitors in 2009. Adam deals with all aspects of Civil, Personal Injury and Debt work.
Adam is now in the process of gaining the practical experience required to enable him to be admitted onto the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales.
Tom Tilbrook – Trainee Solicitor
Tom graduated from the University of Leeds in 2007 with a BA (Hons) in Classics. He then completed the Graduate Diploma in Law in 2008 and the Legal Practice Course in 2009. Both of the Post Graduate courses were undertaken at BPP in Leeds.
Tom is currently a first year Trainee Solicitor and joined Best Solicitors in September 2009.
Tom has a number of hobbies, including rugby and boxing. He also involves himself in charity work. Currently Tom is raising money for the Antony Nolan Trust through running the London marathon in April 2010.
Martyn Wood – Trainee Solicitor
Martyn joined Best Solicitor as a Trainee Solicitor in September 2009.
He graduated from the University of Liverpool with a LLB (Hons) in 2006.
Martyn then travelled round Thailand, Australia and New Zealand during 2007-2008.
On returning to the UK Martyn completed his Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School in Leeds in June 2009.
