Dean Wilson LLP’s reputation has been built upon our ability to deliver and exceed our clients’ expectations. For over 100 years our success has been founded upon our client focused approach, backed by the knowledge and expertise of our lawyers.
We aim to deliver outcomes and resolutions efficiently and cost effectively. So whether you need assistance with a business or personal matter we can provide a responsive service delivered to you with expertise and clarity.
Senior Paralegal, Dispute Resolution
Michaela is a Senior Paralegal in the Dispute Resolution team who specialises in Landlord and Tenant disputes.
Michaela graduated from the University of the West of England in 2014 and has nearly 10 years’ experience in the legal industry. Michaela joined Dean Wilson in January 2024 and has built her background in general litigation, including property litigation, personal injury, debt recovery and clinical negligence matters.
Michaela can be contacted by email: MCT@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 249250.
Managing Partner
James has over 20 years’ experience in the legal sector, with a strong focus on mergers and acquisitions, particularly within the estate agency and residential lettings industries. Having started his career at Dean Wilson LLP as a paralegal, James completed his training contract with the firm and qualified as a corporate solicitor. He has remained with the firm ever since and now leads as Managing Partner.
James is passionate about driving positive change, both within Dean Wilson and across the wider legal profession. He is committed to creating a more rewarding and efficient working environment for legal professionals, while ensuring clients continue to receive practical, commercially focused advice.
His leadership is underpinned by a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing modern law firms, and he brings a forward-thinking approach to both client service and internal culture.
James also serves as the firm’s COLP and MLRO.
James can be contacted by email: jc@deanwilson.co.uk or on his direct dial: 01273 249267.
Senior Associate Solicitor, Dispute Resolution
Daniel is a Senior Associate Solicitor who specialises in Property Litigation matters. Daniel has experience in dealing with landlord and tenant disputes for both residential and commercial properties, real estate disputes, lease extensions and enfranchisement. Daniel also deals with contractual disputes, debt collection, claims under the Consumer Credit Act, and takes a keen interest in taxi licensing having been instructed in the leading case of Kaivanpor v Sussex Central Justices (High Court).
Daniel can be contacted by email (djd@deanwilson.co.uk) or on his direct dial (01273 249232)
Trainee Solicitor
Christiana joined the firm in January 2025 as a trainee Solicitor and is currently undertaking her first training seat in Personal Injury and Medical Negligence.
Prior to Christiana joining the firm, she worked in the Residential and Commercial Property department at another local Brighton firm, gaining hands-on experience with drafting TR1 forms, filing SDLT returns, managing client communications, and handling initial case administration. This experience has enhanced Christiana's attention to detail and developed her organisational and client management skills.
Christiana is fluent in both English and Greek, which enables Christiana to communicate effectively with a diverse range of clients.
Christiana can be contacted by email: CRC@deanwilson.co.uk or on their direct dial: (0) 1273 032365.
Solicitor Apprentice, Personal Injury & Medical Negligence
Aibhlinn is an Solicitor Apprentice within our Personal Injury & Medical Negligence.
Having previous experience as a paralegal within our Corporate Commercial team, working on various aspects of corporate transactions, including company restructuring, share and asset acquisitions and disposals, and shareholders’ agreements. Some of Aibhlinn’s responsibilities include drafting legal ancillary documents, legal due diligence reports and carrying out research.
Aibhlinn graduated from the University of Oxford in 2024 with a BA in Jurisprudence.
Aibhlinn can be contacted by email: ALC@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 032335
Finance Director
Amanda is the Finance Director for Dean Wilson LLP and has over 20 years of experience in both this field and practice management. She is responsible for the overall financial management and performance of the firm. She enjoys looking at new and improved ways to make the financial process and reporting more efficient and seamless from both a management and fee earning perspective. She works closely with the James Chadburn, the Managing Partner in supporting the firm’s plans for future growth and development.
Partner & Head of Commercial Real Estate
Scott is a highly experienced solicitor and heads up the firm’s Commercial Real Estate team. With over 20 years of experience in the legal sector, Scott has established a reputation for providing excellent service, achieving positive outcomes for his clients and prides himself on taking a detailed yet commercial and pragmatic approach to his work.
Scott specialises in a wide range of commercial real estate transactions and the bulk of his day-to-day work involves working with property investors and landlords with considerable portfolios and dealing with the ongoing legal work that this typically involves.
Scott specialises in licensing too. Scott used to teach the BIIAB Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) at City College in Brighton and the Award for Licensing Practitioners (ALP) to Sussex Police and Sussex based Licensing Authorities. This experience allows Scott to act for a number of clients with licensed premises, advising them on not only the commercial property aspects, but also the licensing elements too. This places him in a unique position within the industry, specialising in both disciplines.
Scott is known for his dedication to his clients and his ability to provide clear and practical advice. He takes the time to understand his clients’ needs and works closely with them to achieve their goals.
Scott can be contacted by email: sg@deanwilson.co.uk or on his direct dial: 01273 249265.
Paralegal, Residential Conveyancing
Dimitris graduated from Sussex University, having studied Law with Mandarin. During his studies, he partook in various projects with international students based in China.
In his role as a paralegal in the Residential Conveyancing team, he assists fee-earners and Solicitors with sales, purchases, re-mortgages and transfers of equity, from the start of the transaction through to completion. He also assists on some transactions of a Commercial nature.
Dimitris is fluent in both English and Spanish, with some proficiency in Mandarin and Greek, enabling him to communicate effectively with a diverse range of clients. He hopes to sit the SQE1 in 2026.
Dimitris can be contacted by email: DFR@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 032370
Paralegal, Dispute Resolution
Vivien is a dedicated Paralegal in our Dispute Resolution Department, specialising in possession proceedings. She assists with rent mediation, as well as Section 21, Section 8, and Section 146 claims. Committed to delivering outstanding support, Vivien ensures her clients receive expert guidance throughout the legal process.
Vivien has just over a year of Legal Assistant experience supporting with drafting and legal research in Canada, prior to joining us at Dean Wilson.
Solicitor, Dispute Resolution
Samantha has recently qualified as a solicitor in June 2025 within the Dispute Resolution Department. Samantha works closely with Claire Whiteman on Property Litigation, Enfranchisement and General Litigation cases.
During Samantha's training contract, she undertook the following seats:
First seat was in our Personal Injury & Medical Negligence team, assisting Alex Brown, head of the Personal Injury department with claims in relation to severe and life changing injuries resulting in Brain Injury, Birth Injury, Severe Orthopaedic Injuries and Spinal Cord Injury.
Second seat was in the Private Client department undertaking a range of work including Wills, Probates and Trust work under the supervision of Julian Potter.
Third and final seat was in the Dispute Resolution Department working on Property Litigation, Enfranchisement and General Litigation cases.
Samantha previously worked as a Paralegal in the Dispute Resolution team running her own possession claims assisting landlords recover their residential property along with any rent arrears owed and a successful Judgment for their legal costs.
Samantha worked closely with a well-known local managing agents to help clients achieve the best possible outcome. She also assisted senior members in the team with more general litigation matters.
Samantha can be contacted by email: slb@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 249298.
Partner and head of Private Client
Jonathan has recently joined us as Head of the Private Client Department, following 25 years at his previous firm.
Jonathan is able to deal with all types of private client work, whether you require assistance with Wills, Estate Planning, Inheritance Tax, Lasting Powers of Attorney or administration of estates. Jonathan is experienced in dealing with the most complex cases, which often involve tricky family dynamics.
Jonathan has acted for many of his clients for many years, which is testimony to his passion, which is for exceptional, communication-led, client service. Jonathan has managed and grown, high performing teams with regular communication at the heart of everything.
Jonathan also has a background in property work, contentious probate and Court of Protection matters, and therefore has a good working knowledge of how different areas can interlink. Being able to recognise nuances, and the interrelationship between different aspects in cases, Jonathan believes, is hugely beneficial to providing proactive, joined-up, advice.
Paralegal, Dispute Resolution
Ethan is a recent law graduate and a paralegal in the Dispute Resolution team: He specialises in Landlord and Tenant Possession claims, including but not limited to Section 8 & Section 21 proceedings of the Housing Act 1988. Ethan is currently managing his own caseload of Possession Claims.
Ethan can be contacted by email: EJB@deanwilson.co.uk or on his direct dial: 01273 249245
Solicitor Apprentice, Corporate Department
Fatima is a Solicitor Apprentice in the Corporate Department having commenced her first 6 months in the Dispute Resolution department, while undergoing her SQE to qualify as a Solicitor.
Prior to Fatima commencing her Solicitor Apprenticeship, was previously a paralegal within the Residential Conveyancing Department assisting Siobhan Cox on Residential Conveyancing and Commercial Property matters.
Before joining Dean Wilson Fatima worked for HMCTS. Her primary role was as Clerk to the Circuit and District Judges.
Fatima has a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Sussex and hopes to be completing a Master’s degree in the near future. Away from work and studies, Fatima enjoys traveling and badminton.
Fatima can be contacted by email: FYH@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 249209
Senior Associate Solicitor, Commercial Property & Real Estate Department
Sinead is an associate solicitor with over 5 years of experience in the Real Estate team. Sinead has experience in all aspects of commercial property with a focus on land development and the strategic land sector.
Sinead acts for both regional developers and landowners on a wide range of transactions including major land acquisition, land promotion, residential new build estate set ups and plot sales. Sinead’s wide scope of work has given her the experience and expertise to provide a comprehensive service and advise longstanding clients on multiple transactions to assist their ongoing business needs.
Sinead is proactive in her approach and works closely with her clients to achieve their goals in a timely manner.
Sinead works closely with the team which comprises David Hodge (Partner), Amy Edwards (Solicitor), Isabelle Svendsen (Paralegal), and Beverley McLoughlin (Assistant). The team always look for solutions and take a flexible and pragmatic approach – the team are proactive, not reactive and the culture is “how” can we make this deal happen when obstacles are presented. The team are experienced in acquiring land (often site assembling) and taking the development through to the sale of individual units and we deal with developments comprising single units to in excess of 150 units. The team are also experienced in land trades and are not fazed in dealing with sites with a GDV in excess of £100m .
Sinead can be contacted by email: sjd@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 249270.
David’s email is dh@deanwilson.co.uk or on his direct dial: 01273 249 249.
Amy’s email is ae@deanwilson.co.uk and her direct dial is 01273 249 268.
Isabelle’s email is ixs@deanwilson.co.uk and her direct dial is 01273 249259.
Bev’s email is bm@deanwilson.co.uk and her direct dial is 01273 249 242.
Paralegal, Commercial Property
Kobe is a recent first-class law graduate from the University of Portsmouth and is at the beginning of his legal career. In his first role with Dean Wilson, he assisted with a range of Landlord and Tenant matters, including possession proceedings under Section 8 and Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 in the Dispute Resolution team. Kobe has since moved into the firm’s Commercial Property Department, where he continues to develop his legal knowledge and practical experience.
LLB Law Graduate from the University of Portsmouth
James can be contacted by email at KJD@deanwilson.co.uk or on his direct dial 01273 032377.
Partner, Commercial Property
Melissa has over 10 years of experience helping clients complete matters efficiently and effectively.
Melissa acts on a wide range of commercial transactions including;
Melissa works with a range of clients and is known for her proactive approach to transactions. Clients value her straight-talking advice, responsiveness and focus on commercial outcomes.
Melissa can be contacted by email: mrr@deanwilson.co.uk or on her direct dial: 01273 032375
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