New appointments bring decades of experience to leading legal firm

A LEADING legal firm has further strengthened its team with the appointment of two vastly experienced solicitors.

Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, which has offices across Cumbria, has welcomed Rob Winder to the company as a Senior Associate and Sarah Griffiths as a Solicitor based from its Penrith office.

Rob’s appointment marks a return to the place he started his legal career more than two decades ago, before moving to Burnetts Solicitors where he spent 15 years and worked his way up to the position of Senior Associate.

He is well-known in the local area for his charity work and involvement in Rugby Union and Master Rugby League, with his sporting highlight coming last year when he was chosen to represent England Masters Rugby League in games against Wales and Ireland.

Rob is highly regarded within the legal profession since changing career paths in his early 30s following a decision to move from the engineering industry and has been named in the Legal 500 rankings for the past five years.

Rob, who grew up in Penrith before moving to Carlisle, will be based out of the company’s Viaduct House office in Carlisle and will specialise in Dispute Resolution, particularly property disputes.

He said: “I was looking for a change and there was an opportunity to join Cartmell Shepherd, so I jumped at the chance to join the fantastic team here.

“Over the years, I had been in opposition against solicitors from Cartmell Shepherd on some big cases and we have always maintained a healthy professional respect for each other’s knowledge and technical abilities.

“I have had more than 15 years working on some very interesting and complex cases so I have gained a mountain of experience in a wide variety of areas which I hope I can share with the team, especially the younger members.

“I’m really looking to the new challenge of building on the excellent reputation Cartmell Shepherd has built over the years.”

Similarly, Sarah has decades of experience in law having qualified in 1995, starting her training with international law firm Trowers & Hamlins in London.

She moved back to her home town of Penrith more than 10 years ago and worked at Eden District Council, more latterly as a licensing officer within the legal department, before spending four years working in the Private Client department at the town’s Arnison Heelis practice.

Sarah said: “You always want to learn more and get better at what you do, and I sense there is a real opportunity to do that at a company such as Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors.

“I came to this very office as an undergraduate to do work experience as the company has always had a great reputation locally and I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my skills by working at such a prestigious law firm.”

Peter Stafford, the Managing Director of Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, said: “Both Rob and Sarah know the industry inside and out, and are excellent lawyers with a wealth of experience between them.

“We are delighted to welcome them to our growing team and we are excited to see how they can develop our business even further.”