Council Members

Marie is the Managing Partner at Richard Nelson LLP, where she specialises in defending healthcare professionals and teachers in fitness to practice investigations before regulatory bodies. She is based in Nottingham but has a nationwide client base.

Marie is also a school governor at South Wilford Primary School, which her son attends.

Many years ago Marie sat on the Council of Nottinghamshire Law Society as the Young Solicitors Group representative, as it was called back then. She is pleased to re-join the Council in 2019 as the Local Constituency Member for Broxtowe.

Drew is a Solicitor at Knights PLC and the Resolution Member for the Nottinghamshire Law Society Council. Drew was Chair of the Nottinghamshire Junior Lawyers Division between 2020 and 2022, having previously served as Secretary.

As a Nottingham boy, Drew completed his undergraduate degree in European Politics prior to completing his GDL and LPC at Nottingham Law School, prior to qualifying as a Solicitor. Outside of work, Drew is a musician and sportsman who can normally be found in the bar!

Aldijana Hoad joined the Nottinghamshire Law Council in May 2023, as the Sole Practitioner Representative. Aldijana heads immigration firm, ABEC Legal, which is focused on delivering high quality and tailored immigration advice to individuals and businesses.

Lauren studied Law at the University of Birmingham and thereafter completed her legal qualifications at the then College of Law in York. Lauren went on to work as a paralegal at a national firm and after two years, she moved to Nottingham after having secured a training contract at another national firm. Lauren qualified in 2014 and has specialised in Court of Protection welfare disputes and public law matters ever since. In September 2018, Lauren became Director and joint owner of her own firm, MJC Law. In what was a big year for Lauren in 2018, she was also awarded the Solicitor of the Year accolade at the Nottinghamshire Annual Awards Dinner and later on in the year was crowned Junior Lawyer of the Year at the national Law Society Excellence Awards.

Through her work, Lauren has always been passionate about fighting for the underdog and now, as co-chair of the Equality and Diversity committee, is keen to do the same for underrepresented groups within the legal profession.

Jeremy is a specialist Partner of Wills, Probate and Trusts at the Nottingham office of Rotheras.

Jeremy has been the Honorary Treasurer of the Society for many years and has supported many Presidents' in their role in developing the Society's objectives.

Kathryn is a Past President of Nottinghamshire Law Society and she was our fifth female President for the Presidential year 2017/2018, as well as one of the youngest.

Kathryn is Joint Chair of the International Sub-Committee of the NLS Council coordinating the connections with the twinned bars of NLS, Ghent in Belgium and Karlsruhe in Germany.

In Kathryn’s current role she acts as a representative of the International Sub-committee keeping Council updated on upcoming events and feeding back to the Committee the work of Council, ensuring both work in harmony.

Kathryn’s involvement with NLS began as a committee member of the former NLSS (Nottinghamshire Law Students Society) acting as national representative to the national TSG (as was), later becoming Chair of the YSG in Nottinghamshire and continued to sit on the National YSG Council as representative for Nottinghamshire. Kathryn was involved in the national working party, under the Chairship of Fiona Woolf CBE, which merged the national TSG and YSG to create the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) in 2007/2008. Kathryn also oversaw the creation of the Nottinghamshire JLD and was its first Chair in October 2008.

Kathryn trained and qualified at Ashton Bond Gigg Solicitors in Nottingham and has been a Partner since 2010. She specialises in employment law advising businesses, locally, nationally and internationally working closely with Senior Executives and HR Managers on most aspects of employment law.

In her free time Kathryn can be found planning holiday (now that we can travel again), practising yoga or otherwise running or training somewhere around Nottingham.

Elliot studied Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, before turning his attention to residential property law in 2014. He is a Senior Paralegal at Landsmiths Solicitors and currently finishing his exams to become a Licensed Conveyancer.

 In his role as co-chair of the Equality and Diversity committee Elliot is passionate about ensuring everyone working in the profession feels welcome, bridging gaps for those who feel unrepresented, and to ensuring that all firms, whatever their size, have access to the resources needed to understand and support their staff.  

Ian Boddy came to Nottingham in September 1987 and in September 1988 established Ian Boddy Solicitors. In September 1989, Ian Boddy Solicitors became the first criminal defence only firm in Nottingham. In 1990 the Johnson Partnership was formed, with a merger to follow in 1992 and Ian became Senior Partner. (A title Ian very rarely refers to)!

Ian's next step was to became a member of the Criminal Sub Committee under the chairmanship of Ash Bhatia. This committee was established to be THE forum for the Criminal Justice Service in Nottinghamshire.

The Criminal Committee became very quickly the venue for all sections to attend and exchange ideas out of which developed many innovations for operating the court service.

When Ash stepped down Ian was honoured and delighted to be elected Chair and since then has tried to extend the attendance at committee to other sectors such as Victim Support.

Even during this crisis Ian has chaired meetings with court managers, CPS, LAA and defence via CVP to bring about the introduction of virtual court hearings for bail cases which we now hope to start next week 

The committee has gone from strength to strength and has become effectively the Criminal Justice Users Group for all participants in the criminal justice system.

Helen Fanning is Practice Manager at MJC Law, and provides advice and guidance on issues such as SRA and Legal Aid Agency Compliance, Quality Standards (SQM) and various other areas across the firm.

Helen's legal career began as a secretary, moved on to a fee-earning capacity and then went on to management and administration due to her love of compliance, contracts and all things technical.

In addition to being in legal practice for 17 years, Helen is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a qualified HR Practitioner. Helen is a member of the Legal Aid Practitioner's Group (LAPG) Advisory Committee and is passionate about Legal Aid and Access to Justice for all.

In April 2022, Helen was awarded 'Practice Manager of the Year Award' at the Nottinghamshire Law Society's annual awards.

Outside of work Helen is a keen amateur entomologist and a Member of both the Amateur Entomologists' Society (AES) and British Arachnological Society (BAS) and can often be found hunting for arthropods with her children in the garden.

Shama’s roots are in Nottingham and after qualifying in 1988 with a general high street practice in London, Shama worked as a property Solicitor with Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills), then became a Senior Lecturer in Law on the LPC for 10 years and is currently in the Diversity & Inclusion Ambassador as well as working in the risk and compliance team at Freeths LLP.

Shama enjoys promoting the legal profession and giving back to the local legal community through her role as a long standing former member of the Nottinghamshire Law Society’s Education & Training Committee from 2010 to 2018 and the Honorary Secretary since 2018 to 2022. Shama has also been involved with the national Law Society since 2016, as a Social Mobility Ambassador as well as a member of the Disabled Solicitors Network, the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, the Professional Standards & Ethics Committee and the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee. In March 2020, Sharma was elected to be The Law Society Council Member for the Nottinghamshire and, since 2021, also for Derbyshire & East Staffordshire.

Lauren is a Solicitor and partner at longstanding Mansfield based firm, Bryan and Armstrong. Lauren has been with the firm for over 20 years having commenced her legal training as a paralegal and police station representative within the firm’s criminal department, and qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive in 2012. Following this Lauren then moved on to specialise in private client law and qualified as a Solicitor in 2016. She is also a fully accredited member of the Association for Lifetime Lawyers providing legal advice to vulnerable clients.

Lauren was delighted to be invited to join the Nottinghamshire Law Society Council as Mansfield Constituency member in 2024.

Outside of work Lauren can be found spending time with her husband and young children, and enjoying holidays when time allows!

Natalie is a Family Partner at Geldards LLP and has been practising Family Law for over a decade.

She grew up in Nottingham and went on to study Law at The University of Nottingham and the LPC at Nottingham Law School.

In 2024, Nottinghamshire Law Society awarded Natalie with the prestigious Solicitor of the Year award.

Natalie has, over the years, worked with the Widening Participation Teams and Career Teams at local universities to increase the representation of underrepresented groups within the higher education setting and specifically within the legal profession. This is something that Natalie feels passionate about not least because she, herself, was the first in her family to go to University.

Outside of work, when not running around after her two young boys, she loves good food and can be found eating her way around Nottingham!

Daniel is Nottinghamshire born, bred, educated and trained and now an Legal Counsel at with John Pye Auctions, which is headquartered in Nottingham.

Daniel is Chair of the International Committee having joined the committee off the back of a thoroughly enjoyable twinning trip when he was newly qualified in 2008. He is living proof you do not need to be a linguistics expert to get involved with the International Committee having failed to get past anything but a basic level of German. He is determined to learn another language one day but has been saying that for nearly a decade.

The International Committee’s primary role is to facilitate, maintain and advance the twinning between the Bars of Ghent, Karlsruhe and Nottingham including arranging the hosting of our international guests as part of the twinning programme.

Tom is a civil barrister at Ropewalk Chambers in Nottingham. He has a broad practice dealing with personal injury & industrial disease cases, property & construction disputes and commercial and local government matters, including education law.

As chair of the Civil Litigation Committee, he hopes to build links between local solicitors & barristers, encourage the use of ADR and coordinate responses to Government consultations. In this latter connection, he has co-authored a Nottinghamshire Law Society position paper on ‘Jackson II’.

Before coming to the Bar, Tom studied chemistry and he maintains an interest in all things scientific. He also enjoys current affairs, food and hiking. For a number of years he has volunteered at his former primary school in Beeston, where he is now a school governor.

Kathryn is a Past President of Nottinghamshire Law Society and she was our fifth female President for the Presidential year 2017/2018, as well as one of the youngest.

Kathryn is Joint Chair of the International Sub-Committee of the NLS Council coordinating the connections with the twinned bars of NLS, Ghent in Belgium and Karlsruhe in Germany.

In Kathryn’s current role she acts as a representative of the International Sub-committee keeping Council updated on upcoming events and feeding back to the Committee the work of Council, ensuring both work in harmony.

Kathryn’s involvement with NLS began as a committee member of the former NLSS (Nottinghamshire Law Students Society) acting as national representative to the national TSG (as was), later becoming Chair of the YSG in Nottinghamshire and continued to sit on the National YSG Council as representative for Nottinghamshire. Kathryn was involved in the national working party, under the Chairship of Fiona Woolf CBE, which merged the national TSG and YSG to create the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) in 2007/2008. Kathryn also oversaw the creation of the Nottinghamshire JLD and was its first Chair in October 2008.

Kathryn trained and qualified at Ashton Bond Gigg Solicitors in Nottingham and has been a Partner since 2010. She specialises in employment law advising businesses, locally, nationally and internationally working closely with Senior Executives and HR Managers on most aspects of employment law.

In her free time Kathryn can be found planning holiday (now that we can travel again), practising yoga or otherwise running or training somewhere around Nottingham.

Bindiya Patel is a Director and Solicitor at Actons Solicitors in Nottingham, specialising in all aspects of Wills, Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection, Probate, Trusts and Estate Planning work. Bindiya qualified as a Solicitor in 2013 with another Nottinghamshire based law firm, before joining Actons in 2016. She was promoted to Associate in 2018 and latterly to Director in 2021, and has been named consecutively as a Rising Star in the Legal 500 Directory from their 2019/20 publication to date.

Bindiya is Chair of the Private Client Committee having joined as an Associate Solicitor in 2018. Their role is to offer a forum to discuss topical issues affecting Private Client practitioners across the county, and to enable them to support each other in day-to-day practice. The Committee is dedicated to organising bi-annual seminars for practitioners, with guest speakers from organisations such as DWP, HMRC and the Probate Registry.

Laura was President for the year 2018/2019 and has been closely involved with the Society for over 10 years, initially representing the Junior Lawyers Division on Council and then going on to Chair the Education and Training Committee. She is currently the Academic Representative for Nottingham Trent University, alongside Jenny Chapman.

Laura is Head of Nottingham Law School’s, Legal Advice Centre which is a teaching law firm. The Centre is an Alternative Business Structure, fully regulated by the SRA and the first of its kind in the UK. The Centre plays a vital role in inspiring the next generation of legal professionals and provides Nottingham Law School students with unique opportunities to develop their technical and practical skills. The Centre also provides access to justice to those who are unable to afford or access much needed legal advice. The Centre works closely with local firms, advice agencies, voluntary sector organisations and schools to offer legal support to the local community. The students gain real life experience of working within a professional law firm. They have the opportunity to run their own cases, including conducting their own advocacy, under the supervision of qualified solicitors. Laura is also a member of Nottingham Law School’s Senior Management Team.

Laura was previously a partner at national law firm, Cartwright King, and has over 15 years of experience in private practice specialising in serious fraud, confiscation and restraint cases. Laura was also a member of the senior management team with operational responsibility for over 200 staff and was head of department for both crime and immigration.

Away from the office, Laura enjoys walking her “boisterous” rescue dog, Badger, and spending time with friends and family. 

Alan is a Partner at Browne Jacobson and former President of the Society. On Council, his particular interests are the interaction between the SRA and the Law Society at local and national level, the Compensation Fund and indemnity insurance rules. He assists the Council in its lobbying on these matters and responses to consultations around regulation. When not at work, Alan attends numerous courses to play golf or watch horses

Yasmine specialises in family law matters. She is an Associate at Sills & Betteridge LLP, where she focuses on pre-nuptial agreements, the financial aspects of divorce and assisting unmarried couples who are separating. Yasmine takes a constructive and people-focussed approach to her work. She was named as a Leading Associate in the 2025 edition of the Legal 500.

In addition to her role as an Independent Committee Member, Yasmine is also a member of the Nottingham & East Midlands Resolution Committee.

Yasmine grew up in Nottingham and returned to the city after completing her degree in Law with International Study at the University of Exeter. In her spare time, she enjoys finding new coffee shops, dog walks and lifting weights.

Sarah is an NQ Solicitor at Rotheras Solicitors LLP specialising in Private Client work incorporating Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Estate Administration and Trusts.

As a career changer coming into the profession with a background in Equality & Diversity work and Legal & Regulatory Compliance, and an LLM in International Human Rights Law, Sarah is deeply committed to work around increasing diversity and inclusion within the legal profession for the mutual benefit of its clients, legal professionals and firms.

Sarah is also a member of Nottinghamshire Law Society’s NJLD Committee and the Society’s Education & Training Committee. 

In terms of marketing, Ben’s role is to advise on website development, social media, future events/courses, increasing membership, increasing advertising opportunities and increasing awareness of the benefits of the joining the society.

He is focussing on refreshing the look and feel of the society, whilst keeping in line with its professional and historical origins. Part of the role also includes looking at the way in which the society interacts with its diverse membership and the correspondence that is sent out.

Members can get in touch with Ben to discuss events, general ideas, PR or marketing opportunities for discussion at council meetings.

Selina completed her training at Larken & Co and is a Partner in the firms residential conveyancing team.

Selina also has experience in dealing with individuals and companies investing in the buy to let property market, shared ownership, help to buy, as well as the buying and selling of your home.

Selina is the Council representative for Newark and District.

Out of the office, Selina spends time with her family travelling the country in her retro restored VW camper. Having a toddler and a cocker spaniel at home, means she gets little time to herself but when she gets time she loves to relax with a cup of coffee, chocolates and a good book!

Steven arrived at chambers practicing in all areas of law, and has since specialised exclusively in family law for over a decade. By originally having such a diverse practice background, Steven has the unique skills to be able to understand and appreciate how the different areas of law can often overlap and intersect. Steven has a very strong reputation in all areas of children law, particularly in relation to complex public and private law matters.

Steven is Public access accredited and also forms part of chambers pupillage committee, within which he is an accredited pupil supervisor.

Steven joined the Nottinghamshire Law Society Council in May 2023, in the new Council Seat as Family Bar Representative.

Professor White re-joined the School of Law at the University of Nottingham in 2009 as Chair in Public International Law. Prior to that he held the Chair of International Law at the University of Sheffield from 2005-2009, and the Chair in International Organisations at the University of Nottingham from 2000-2005. He has held an academic post in Law since 1987, and gained his doctorate from Nottingham in 1988. He gained a BA (Hons) in Jurisprudence from Oxford in 1982. He has served as Head of the School of Law at Nottingham and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Sheffield. He is currently Deputy Head of School with responsibility for research and knowledge exchange. His recent publications include a book entitled: Military Justice: The Rights and Duties of Soldiers and Government (Elgar, 2022).