Heather began her career over 30 years ago after a law degree and the Sweet & Maxwell prize for her year, with Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester, qualifying as a corporate solicitor.
Thereafter, a move to Birmingham beckoned and further post qualification corporate experience followed at Pinsent Masons. Buying and selling companies was her forte but various excursions into due diligence, led to a burgeoning interest in litigation.
At the time, a number of Heather’s commercial clients were private companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. Unravelling the many conflicts and difficulties these businesses faced sharpened Heather’s skills in contentious commercial work and led to a career focusing solely on litigation resolution and avoidance.
Over the next 10 years, Heather acted for some of the country’s biggest insurers whilst developing her commercial client base. This led to numerous high profile cases often involving catastrophic injury and large commercial claims arising from transport, work, product and construction matters, many with numerous litigants and parties. Heather’s personal injury experience subsequently extended and also encompassed motor racing and executive jet/private aviation accidents. Her insurer clients also retained her in relation to professional negligence claims, resulting in a number of successful defences for accountants, architects and surveyors.
As her commercial litigation practice expanded she became involved in claims with a foreign element including:
- A copyright claim in Paris against a subsidiary of an English computer software company.
- Taking evidence in Italy involving product liability issues in the U.K. and on one occasion giving evidence in the U.S.A. whilst dealing with an executive jet contract battle against U.S. conglomerate aircraft manufacturer.
Nearer home, she handled numerous company and partnership disputes, dissolutions and business problems for clients as diverse as widget makers and racehorse owners. She has even acted as a consultant (with flyleaf credit!) on a client’s successful fictional novel involving a legal battle.
Heather then joined forces with Peter to set up a specialised litigation practice, a very novel and ground breaking concept in 1995. This enabled them both to embrace the new landscape of litigation after the court reforms of 1998. Importantly, it enabled them to expand alternative methods of funding and cost effective dispute litigation or resolution as it is now termed.
“No win, no fee” agreements were introduced on a limited basis in the mid 1990s and they saw the future benefit of “no win, no fee” commercial litigation for clients. A commercial “no win, no fee” agreement requires a solicitor to make an early assessment and decision on each case by considering how the other party will respond to the litigation and tactical thinking as far ahead as the strengths of the case at trial and how it will evolve.
As many clients have come to appreciate, Heather’s background and extensive know how enables Bell Lax to offer “no win, no fee” agreements for a variety of successful commercial claims and alleviated certain of the worries associated with litigation by reducing part of the risks involved.
During her career, Heather has been asked by business clients and contacts to assist them in their relationship disputes. Her objective nature and business experience has been well received and valued, particularly with the established case law that requires equal division of joint assets for marriages of some length. Equality has, however, a broad horizon to consider and investigate, which will regularly mean bringing an inventive approach to matters as client’s situations and business / commercial assets are always different.
This relationship dispute work has led Heather to these cases for not only existing but also now entirely new clients wanting such help in divorce or separation matters. Furthermore, the firm through its experience of different funding arrangements has given Bell Lax a more contemporary understanding of client needs for flexibility with payment arrangements for relationship disputes, than the frequent substantial payments before work begins and as it progresses demanded by most other firms.
Clients and fellow professionals alike respect and welcome Heather’s sound judgment, varied expertise and experience which form the base from which she works and results in many repeat instructions from existing clients and recommendation to new clients.
Personal interests
Heather lives in Warwickshire and is divorced with 2 daughters, now grown up, which has enabled her to find time for all things equestrian especially her one day event horses, along with country pursuits generally.
