A Local Service
TMC and its clients benefit from having grown from, and remaining part of, Nowell Meller Solicitors and its Family Law Service. This Stafford-based firm is known particularly for its family law practice in public and private law, as well as mediation in which it has a national reputation. The firm also handles personal injury claims, wills, probate and trusts and residential conveyancing while for business clients it provides commercial property services.
Nowell Meller began serving Stafford and Staffordshire in 1956 as a partnership, forging strong links with the local community and business world. In the last five years the firm has grown steadily at between 15% and 20% per year in turnover as well as staff numbers. The practice moved to its current premises in March 2001 and in November 2005 it incorporated as Nowell Meller Solicitors Limited (Reg. in England and Wales No. 5536577), the new company taking over the established business of the legal partnership of Nowell Meller, formerly Nowell Meller & Nowell.
The aims to provide a caring service that meets the real needs of our clients in our chosen areas of work and believe that this customer focus is a major strength differentiating us from a number of our competitors and influencing the manner in which we conduct our work. We believe that we have achieved a balance between the technical skill and expertise of our specialist lawyers and a caring service providing value for money. We have a reputation for being forward-thinking and innovative and make good use of information technology. We are widely regarded as an employer of choice.
A Quality Service
- In 2002 we were awarded recognition as an Investor in People and which recognises the importance that we place on staff development and training.
- In 2005 we became one of the top 5% of law firms to be awarded the Law Society's Lexcel Quality Mark, recognising the excellent service that we provide to our clients.
- We continue to hold the Specialist Quality Mark awarded by the Legal Services Commission recognising our role within the Community Legal Service.
- Our training courses are accredited by The Law Society and the U.K. College of Family Mediators
- In 2006 we became one of the Legal 500
Very few other family law firms or mediation services hold all of these awards. This reflects our commitment towards continuing improvement in all aspects of our work.
You can therefore rest assured that our quality systems and levels of service are regularly audited by a number of independant external bodies and that we continue to meet the high standards that they require.
About The Mediation Centre
'We certainly wouldn't still be talking
to each other now if it hadn't been for
your Mediation Service'
A Local Service with a national reputation
The Mediation Centre is known nationally as one of the most successful in the family arena and Neil Robinson, the centre's director, has published a number of articles in Family Law Journal. Established in 1997, The Mediation Centre organises events and training on a regional and national level and has seen the volume of its work increase by over 50% in the last 12 months.
We offer privately and oublicly funded mediation across the West Midlands. Mediation is mainly offered at our main office in Stafford and our outposts in Hanley and Lichfield, or, in the case of civil mediation, in Solicitors’ offices or Courts, but we can also arrange appointments across the region where required – see contact us
Both the law firm and mediation service have built up strong links within our local community and business world. We aim to provide a caring service that meets the real needs of our clients in our chosen areas of work. We believe that this customer focus is a major strength differentiating us from a number of our competitors and influencing the manner in which we conduct our work.
A Service based on experience and expertise
Our cases are all mediated by one or two mediators with substantial experience of the Family Justice system.. This multi-disciplinary model gives the best chance of achieving a cost effective outcome. Because we are backed by our Family Law Service and Advisory Board (see below), this means that any options and proposals are examined with realism and sensitivity, providing impartial legal and other information for consideration. Because of our depth of experience, we can provide a service which is robust enough to manage cases of high conflict and complexity, where costs savings can be the greatest.
Regulatory Matters
Our service is provided by Solicitors of England and Wales and we are therefore regulated by The Law Society of England and Wales. You can access the Society's rules from their website at www.guide.lawsociety.org.uk |
A Specialist Service
'I was impressed by the process and particularly by the empathy, professionalism and tenacity of the mediators. There is no question that without attending this process progress could not have been without considerable cost and acrimony.'
If you instruct us, your case will be handled by one or more members of a qualified team of mediators and support staff under the supervision of the Director of Mediation in accordance with our documented quality and client management procedures.
All of our mediators are members of specialist panels established by the Family Mediators Association, Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association), ADR Net, the Association of Midland Mediators, the Law Society and other professional bodies with considerable experience in their chosen specialism of mediation.
A flexible Service
- The Mediation Centre is part of the Family Law Service at Nowell Meller Solicitors. The Family Law Service deals with all aspects of divorce and separation, matters relating to children including residence, contact and child-care, cohabitation and civil partnership issues, financial issues, adoption, care proceedings and the representation of children in private law proceedings, pre-nuptial and pre-partnership agreements, domestic violence and emergency matters.
- Steve Kirwan has recently qualified as one of the few Collaborative Family Lawyers in Staffordshire adding to the growing number of Alternative Dispute Resolution solutions offered by the practice.
- At your free initial assessment and planning meeting we can discuss whether mediation is indeed the most effective service we can provide. Our experienced lawyers, all members of Resolution (formerly SFLA), can offer representation, support and advice. We also offer other related services in-house, including Benefits help and counselling. Where we can't help, we will refer you to other colleagues in the Community Legal Service. See our range of services.
An Effective Service
Our national reputation in family mediation is based on the quality and sensitivity of our service and the outcomes reached, as well as our hospitality and personal attention. Of all the couples mediated in the 10 years we have been operating, over 80% reached a set of mutually acceptable proposals on all issues, even though many of these were couples who had not initially volunteered to attend, many of whom were in high conflict. These outcomes are substantially better than any other published national or regional research. Our most recent outcomes can be found here. This is supported by very positive client and solicitor feedback, examples of which can be found throughout this site. We are keen to receive suggestions for ways in which we might improve our service.
We are a growing mediation service with eight mediators and three managers/ administrators:
'I could not praise the mediators enough for their understanding'
Our mediators
Neil Robinson (Director) - Mediation, Child Care and Family Lawyer (1980)
Robina Boydon - Family Law (Solicitor, 1989)
Judith Pugsley -
Nicola Watson -
Nettie Walding -
Ann Henshaw -
Cherry Maguire -
Nicholas Fitzmaurice - Litigation (Solicitor, 1983)
Our Management Team
Emma Turner – Mediation Manager
Gerry McPherson – Development Manager
Carole Stanley – Appointments Secretary
Laura Woodhams - Administrator
Our Advisory Board
Prof. Chris Barton (Family Law/ Social Policy Research)
Gwenyth Benson MBE (Counselling and Spirituality)
Toni Brisby (Consultancy, Drugs and Alcohol)
Dr Rahim El Sharief (Consultant Child psychiatrist)
Caroline Baker (Specialist family law counsel)
Steve Kirwan (Managing Director, Nowell Meller Solicitors Limited) - Family Law, Collaborative Law (Solicitor, 1988)
Right Rev. Gordon Mursell Bishop of Stafford
Lisa Parkinson (International family mediator and trainer)
Beverley Sayers (Mediator and consultant)
Jenny Stevenson Consultant Child Psychologist)
The other Directors of Nowell Meller Limited
John Langford (Chairman) – Solicitor 197
Andrew Hall (Director) - Family Law (Solicitor, 1994)
For more details of the law firm, click here |
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