Reading: Shoosmiths grows wealth protection team

National law firm Shoosmiths has expanded its wealth-protection team with the appointment at the Reading office of Melissa Maple as a partner and Louise Nelson as an associate, complementing other specialist hires in Southampton, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

Both join the firm from Oxfordshire-based Hedges Law where Maple was a director and head of private client. She is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and she has been praised in The Legal 500 for her “attention to detail, intelligence and delightful interpersonal skills which win her high praise and loyalty from both her clients and colleagues alike”. 

The new appointees bring considerable experience and expertise in advising wealthy business leaders and professionals on their personal affairs including trusts, wills, inheritance tax planning, creation and registration of lasting powers of attorneys, Court of Protection work and the administration of high-net-worth estates.  

Both were attracted by Shoosmiths’ cross-border and cross-jurisdictional capability and its links with the World Services Group.

Maple commented: “Clients demand that their legal advisers demonstrate a high degree of commercial acumen, sensitivity and the ability to transcend borders as well as having specialist legal knowledge. I believe that no firm is better placed than Shoosmiths to deliver precisely that service.”