This year she’s celebrating 15 years with CooperBurnett LLP and says the time has ‘whizzed by’.
“However, thinking about it, my whole life has changed during that time,” she adds. “The day I joined CooperBurnett was the day I qualified. Back then, I was still living at home with my parents. Now, here I am married with two children!”
Katie says she always knew she wanted to be a lawyer, apart from initially thinking about following her Mother into teaching.
“I’m not sure where my determination to be a lawyer came from, as nobody in my family was in law,” she says. “Now, however, my sister has gone into law and I’m married to a lawyer!”
Katie, read law at the University of Manchester and continued her studies at the College of Law in Guildford. Then she trained with a small firm in East Grinstead, where she mostly focused on conveyancing and private client work.
“I got on really well with the Partner who headed up the Private Client team and found my niche in that area of law,” says Katie.
When she was looking for a job post-training, Katie had a day of interviews before the final one at CooperBurnett.
“It really stood out though and I immediately felt at home,” she says. “I felt very strongly that I wanted to work at CooperBurnett, so I was delighted when the phone call came, offering me a role.”
Over the years, Katie has built a wide range of experience in dealing with private client work and specialises in Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection work.
“I find myself doing a fair bit of high-net-worth Probate work and I really like Trusts too, particularly the technical ones,” says Katie. “I also love the continuity of private client work. Having been here 15 years, I’ve seen the next generation coming through. These clients keep returning to us and then I bump into them while out in Tunbridge Wells, which is lovely.”
Katie became a Partner in 2013.
“Naturally, the firm has changed over the years, but I like the direction it’s heading; particularly the drive and ambition which exists today,” Katie says. “It’s also a more flexible place to work now and that’s a good thing.”
Since returning from maternity leave, Katie has a focus on business development and ‘reconnecting with local businesses’.
When she's not at work, Katie enjoys spending time with her young family, is a Governor of a local primary school and gets to the gym when she can.
