Our Senior Leadership Team
Daniel Couchman, Director & Head of Legal Services
Head of Litigation
Called to the Bar in 2003, Daniel has a wealth of experience in Employment Law and Civil Litigation. Having obtained dual qualification to practice as a Solicitor in Central London, Daniel has continued to have a strong following in advocacy and has developed a well-established reputation in Company and Commercial law.
Louise Kilty
Practice Manager
Louise is our Practice Manager and uses her paralegal expertise in our family department . Louise is based at our Crowthorne office, but regularly works in our other offices too.
Emily Yeardley
Director & Head of Employment Law
Emily advises employees and businesses on a broad range of employment-related matters from raising issues regarding performance or conduct to pursuing or defending employment tribunal claims.
Karen Marsh
Finance Manager
Karen heads up the Accounts Department and looks after the financial side of the company.
Paul Marcus
Commercial Director
Marketing and Community Engagement Specialist
Paul is well-known from his time at Eagle Radio. His role is to help develop strong relationships within the community, an essential part of being a trusted local business.
Our Solicitors and Legal Executives
Charlotte Avens
Head of Residential & Commercial Property
Charlotte leads our Property Law Department looking after residential and commercial sales and purchases and commercial property leases.
Leon Flavell
Head of Company and Commercial
Leon brings a wealth of experience to his role as Head of Company and Commercial.
Nikki Lynch
Head of Family Law
Nikki is our expert lead looking after our family law clients. She brings a sincere understanding and empathy for her clients who are facing separation, divorce, child arrangements and financial arrangements and is therefore sensitive to their individual needs.
Jayanthie Moodley Private Client
Jayanthie is a Solicitor in our Private Client Department. She specialises in the preparation of Wills and Lasting Power of Attorneys. Jayanthie has passed the Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Certificate in Trusts and Estates with Distinction, and has been a qualified solicitor since 2010 having first qualified as a lawyer in South Africa.
Varinder Bhandal
Dispute Resolution Litigation
Varinder is a Dispute Resolution Solicitor specialising in Civil Disputes.
Rosanna Leist
Residential Property
Rosanna is a Senior Solicitor based at our Crowthorne branch with more than fifteen years’ experience, specialising in Residential Conveyancing.
Mike Brown
Commercial Property
Mike is one of our consultant solicitors specialising in commercial property.
Melissa Walker
Commercial Property and Private Client
Melissa has experience across Commercial Property and Private Client work.
James Ambrose Head of Private Client
James joined Couchman Hanson’s Private Client Department on 1st March 2022. He brings a wealth of experience in Private client and other non-contentious areas of legal practice, having qualified as a Solicitor in 1982.
Natalie Benton
Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Disputes: Wills, Trusts & Inheritance
Natalie is a Senior Solicitor in the Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team and has over 20 years’ experience in this area. She also heads the firm’s Contentious Probate department.
Michelle Scott
Employment Law
Having qualified as a solicitor in 2009, Michelle has practised criminal law for many years, and has more recently moved into specialising in employment law.
Clare Veal
Commercial Law
Clare is one of our consultant solicitors specialising in commercial contracts, intellectual property, data protection and anything media and marketing related.
Gavyn Simpson
Family Law
Gavyn is a member of Resolution which is the largest membership organisation of family justice professionals in England and Wales. He brings his expertise and compassion together to help his clients.
Julie Summers
Family Law, Wills & Probate
Julie has significant experience across the whole range of family and matrimonial matters and can also advise and assist on Probate and Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and applications for deputyship.
Anila Veseli
Residential Property
Anila is a dedicated solicitor specialising in Residential Property Law.
Sarah Watts
Family Law
Sarah is a Senior Chartered Legal Executive and has practiced exclusively in the field of Family Law for all her career. Sarah joins Couchman Hanson from a firm in Godalming and has many links to the local area.
Our Trainee Solicitors and Legal Executives
Jim Turner
Trainee Solicitor, Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Jim is a Trainee Solicitor who works in our Litigation department. He is based out of both our Crowthorne and London offices.
Bethany Gray
Trainee Solicitor
Bethany is a Trainee Solicitor who works in our residential conveyancing department based out of the Crowthorne office.
Ambreen Mehmood
Trainee Legal Executive
Ambreen has worked in the legal sector for over 6 years, providing support across a number of areas of law including Family Law, Private Client and Conveyancing.
Emily Rampton
Trainee Legal Executive
Emily is an Advanced Paralegal with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) specialising in family and employment law. Emily is currently working towards the final stage of becoming a Chartered Legal Executive.
Vicki Henderson
Trainee Solicitor
Vicki is based in our Haslemere office as a Trainee Solicitor, assisting the Company Commercial team and other departments.
Our Paralegals
Sue Porter
Private Client Paralegal
Sue has been working in the legal sector for over 30 years. We are delighted that she has joined our talented and friendly team at the new Couchman Hanson Haslemere office.
Ayshea Kaa
Employment Law Paralegal
Ayshea is based in our Farnham office as a Paralegal in the Employment Law team.
Holly Sheldrake
Residential Property Paralegal
Holly is based in our Camberley office as a Paralegal in the Residential Property team.
Helen West
Residential Property Senior Paralegal
Helen has lived in Haslemere for most of her life and has worked in the legal sector since she left school. She brings more than 35 years experience with her and is a member of ILSPA.
Kelli Northcott
Residential Property Paralegal
Kelli has over 15 years’ experience in Residential Property.
Tracy Donovan
Family Paralegal
Tracy is a highly experienced Paralegal at Couchman Hanson working within the Family department.
Nadine Ronan
Residential Property Conveyancing Executive
Nadine has been working in residential property since 2010 and qualified as a Cilex Advanced Paralegal in 2014.
Gemma Mace
Residential Property Paralegal
Gemma has 20 plus years’ experience working in residential property.
Our Support Staff
Abbie McGlone
Finance Assistant
Abbie carries out daily bookkeeping and financial reporting, as well as helping to ensure clients are warmly welcomed and helped with their enquiry.
Georgie Smith
Legal Assistant
Georgie is based in our Haslemere office working as a Legal Assistant. She assists in various departments but especially in Residential Conveyancing.
Becky Smith
Legal Administrator
Becky shares the Reception role at Haslemere, carries out a variety of marketing and administrative tasks and is learning to support our Private Client team.
Caroline Swinden
Client Relationship Manager
Caroline is our Client Relationship Manager and works across all our branches supporting business development and marketing.
Dani Payne
Legal Assistant
Dani is based in our Crowthorne office as a Legal Assistant, assisting specific departments and covering reception.
Iqra Mehmood
Book-Keeper and Legal Secretary
Iqra is part of our Accounts Department and also works as a Legal Secretary, where she enjoys working in all areas of law.
Lucy O’Donoghue
Legal Administrator
Lucy is based in our Camberley office and has joined the firm as a Legal Administrator. Lucy assists our solicitors across several departments.
Our SRA Diversity Data is available here.