On 1st June 2020, E J Coombs Solicitors celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Although there could be no big party, we celebrated virtually and gave credit to everyone who has helped create the successful firm we see today.
When E J Coombs Solicitors first opened its doors in June 2010, Liz worked on her own from a small office in Danbury, Essex but with big plans for the business. Over the next 10 years, those plans have not only come to fruition but expectations have been far exceeded.
In our initial business plan, we wrote “the intention is for the firm to grow into a specialist family law practice, attracting high calibre family lawyers and clients from the local area and further afield…”. Today, the firm offers precisely that and more, with expertise in Wills and Estate Planning as well as Family Law.
Over the past 10 years, E J Coombs Solicitors has grown steadily, but exponentially, from the sole practitioner firm of 2010. Solicitor, Cathy Bannister, helped Liz temporarily, and in 2012 Amy Trevellick joined in her place. With two lawyers on board, the referrals continued to flow, and the firm began to carve out its niche in the market.
In 2013, Sara Barnes joined the practice and brought with her a wealth of knowledge and experience from her work with specialist family law firms in the North East. Sara would later go on to become co-director of the firm, working closely with Liz to drive the business forward.
In 2016 we said goodbye to Amy, albeit only temporarily and Hannah Kelly, a former partner at Palmers , joined the team and took a leading role in the development of the Billericay office. Hannah, also a collaborative lawyer, continues to command a busy caseload in Billericay and assisted by Fran, she has cemented E J Coombs Solicitors as a recognised name in the local area.
Hannah’s arrival was quickly followed by Vicky Robertson, another experienced collaboratively trained solicitor, and also mediator. Miranda Seaman, a senior and experienced family lawyer, joined swiftly thereafter followed by the firm’s latest arrival, Emma Blakesley who specialises in Wills and Estate Planning. Over the years we have also welcomed and said goodbye to treasured support staff, with Christine joining Liz early on until her retirement in 2016, and Tia who joined as a work experience student and is now our longest serving member of staff. In recent years we are pleased to have been joined by Cheryl, Fran and Molly.
Not to be restricted geographically, Liz’s dreams of expansion extended outside of Essex, and in 2018 she met with Kate Desbottes of K J Desbottes & Co in Caterham, Surrey. Kate had herself built up a very successful practice in Caterham, working together with Gina Nicolas who had joined the firm as a junior solicitor and proved herself to be an excellent addition to the team. Although still very much in demand, Kate was looking to retire and so talks began for E J Coombs Solicitors to take over K J Desbottes & Co. Handover eventually took place on 1st June 2019 – 9 years to the day since Liz opened the doors of E J Coombs in Danbury.
Gina continues to lead the team at the Caterham office, expertly assisted by Karina Dowsett and Emma Davey. Amy Trevellick returned to the fold and joined K J Desbottes & Co in early 2020, having relocated to the South Coast. With Liz at the helm, Gina and Amy hope to continue the success of the Caterham office and add a new dynamic to the E J Coombs Solicitors brand.
And as for the next venture? Here’s what Liz has to say about the future for E J Coombs Solicitors ”I am incredibly proud of what we have all achieved in building the firm to where it is today, and grateful to our clients and contacts for all their support over the years. Our plan is to continue to expand in the future, while always remaining a specialist firm and continuing to offer the highest standards to our clients.”
The next chapter of the firm’s development is the opening of our new office at 137 High Street, Billericay, which was unfortunately delayed by the Covid situation. In a strange quirk of fate, the new office is in the building which used to house E Edwards Son and Noice Solicitors, where Liz started her career as a newly qualified solicitor back in 1997! We will shortly be posting more information about our newly refurbished office.