Five new lawyers bolster Coodes Solicitors’ Family team

Coodes Solicitors has appointed five new lawyers to its Family team. The expansion of the department, across its network of offices, will help the South West law firm meet growing demand for its specialist legal services.

Based across Cornwall and Devon, Coodes Solicitors’ Family team advises on a broad range of legal matters relating to divorce, financial settlements, domestic abuse and arrangements for children as well as mental health and community care cases.

Solicitor Victoria Walters is based in the firm’s Penzance office and brings 17 years’ experience of family law, including providing expert advice on matrimonial matters and financial settlements. With a particular specialism in legal issues relating to children, she joins from Stephens Scown.

Paralegal Elizabeth Ellis originally trained as a Legal Executive with global law firm Eversheds and joins Coodes’ Truro office with 12 years’ experience.

Also based in Truro, Anna Barrick has been with Coodes for 15 years, starting out as a secretary. Now promoted to a Paralegal, she will work closely with Solicitor Karen Pritchard, advising clients on financial matters and divorce.

Working in the firm’s St Austell and Liskeard offices, Paralegal Iynaiya Afzal advises on all family law matters, particularly cases involving social services, domestic abuse and children law. Having grown up in Cornwall, she previously worked for local firm Penderlaw and is studying the Legal Practice Course LLM.

Megan Eaton is a trainee solicitor in the Family team and is aiming to qualify in family law, having been with Coodes since 2019. Based in the firm’s Truro office, she is providing support across a broad range of family law cases.

Sarah Evans, Partner in the Family team, said: “We warmly welcome these five new members of our Family team. Their appointments, which are part of our continued growth and development, significantly bolster the Family team, ensuring we continue to provide the high quality service for which Coodes is known.

“We are experiencing increasing demand for our services, particularly in relation to care cases. Many of the matters we deal with are urgent and rely on us having the right people available to deal with them quickly, sensitively and expertly. Working alongside longstanding members of our Family team, these new recruits will ensure we have a strong team to respond to high demand for our excellent legal expertise.”