Our People
Partners
Gordon Luckhurst
Gordon is the Senior Partner at Thomas Boyd Whyte and was admitted in 1981, joining the firm shortly after, in 1982.
Bruce Wilkey
Bruce is a partner in the firm and was admitted in 1987. Having spent a period of time practising in Oxfordshire he has been with Thomas Boyd Whyte for over 20 years.
Conveyancing
Bruce Wilkey, partner
Areas of Law: Bruce specialises in property law including residential and commercial conveyancing and landlord and tenant. He also deals with wills and probate and Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Eveliina Treves
Eveliina works as an assistant to Bruce Wilkey and has been employed by Thomas Boyd Whyte since 2003. She qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 2007.
Areas or Law: Eveliina works in the conveyancing department dealing mostly with residential conveyancing.
Family
Tula Fitzpatrick
Tula was admitted in 1997. She is a Resolution member and a member of the Law Society Family Panel.
Areas of Law: Tula deals with all aspect of family law including divorce, ancillary relief, private law children and disputes between co-habitees in respect of property ownership, as well as pre-nuptial contracts and co-habitee contracts. She also advises on will disputes and contentious probate.
Therese Hayden
Therese was admitted in 1986 and has been a member of the Law Society’s Child Care Panel for 20 years.
Areas of Law: Therese specialises in public law children including care proceedings, adoption and special guardianship. She is able to represent children, parents and other family members involved in the proceedings. Therese also advises in all aspects of private law children, including residence and contact.
Wills and Probate
Kathy Warren
Kathy has been working at Thomas Boyd Whyte since 2006 and has been the wills and probate assistant for the last 3 years.
Areas of Law: Kathy deals with wills and probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection matters.
Crime
Gordon Luckhurst, Senior Partner
Areas of Law: Gordon has specialised in Criminal Litigation throughout his career and built up a wealth of experience. He now concentrates on case preparation for serious crimes.
Derek Parker
Derek heads the extremely busy police station department within Thomas Boyd Whyte and leads a team of experienced and highly successful police station representatives. Derek has worked in criminal defence since 1987 and has been a qualified Accredited Police Station Advisor since the inception of the scheme.
Areas of Law: Derek specialises in all areas of criminal law. He has represented numerous clients in some of this country’s most serious and complex crimes including cases of murder, robbery and drug supply. These cases have been very lengthy and have attracted national and local media attention. Derek has a long standing and substantial own client base.
Sarah Bedford
Sarah was admitted in 2006 and is a qualified duty solicitor. Whilst completing her Law and Criminology Degree she worked for a criminal law firm in the Midlands where she obtained her police station accreditation. Sarah has been working at Thomas Boyd Whyte since 2002.
Areas of Law: Sarah solely practices criminal law and has a caseload covering the full spectrum of offences both at the Magistrates Court and Crown Court. She is an experienced Magistrates Court advocate and has a particular interest in representing vulnerable defendants.
John Connor
John was admitted as a solicitor in 1986 and was granted rights of audience in all criminal courts in 2005.
Areas of Law: John concentrates on presenting cases in the Crown Court and has appeared as junior counsel in several high profile cases involving murder and manslaughter. He acts as a sole advocate in cases involving Grievous Bodily Harm, robbery, firearms, drugs and sexual offences.
Matthew Coxall
Matthew was admitted in 2004 and is a solicitor and fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, obtaining fellow status in 1997. He has been employed in criminal practise since 1989.
Areas of Law: Matthew practises general criminal law including Magistrates and Crown Court cases. He has a particular interest in road traffic offences and recently set up a national speeding offence advice line in conjunction with a major speed camera detection device supplier.
Richard Hawgood
Richard was admitted in 1981 having being involved in the legal profession since 1979. Between 1983 and 2001 he had his own criminal defence practice based in Sidcup before joining Thomas Boyd Whyte as a consultant in 2001. In 1999 he was appointed a Deputy District Judge and has higher rights of audience for criminal proceedings.
Areas of Law: Richard deals with all types of criminal law specialising homicide and other serious cases of violent, complex drug cases, conspiracy to defraud handled stolen goods and defending for confiscation orders.
Sinem Ibrahim
Sinem was admitted in 2006 and is a qualified duty solicitor. Sinem joined the firm in 2010 having worked for a London firm during her training contract who specialise in serious fraud proceedings, extradition and very high cost cases.
Areas of Law:- Sinem deals with all types of criminal matters, from minor offences like road traffic offences and shoplifting to serious crime such as rape and robbery. She has a particular interest in representing youths.
Joanna Lawrence
Joanna was admitted in 2005 and has been working for Thomas Boyd Whyte since 2009.
Areas of Law:- Joanna has recently started practising in criminal law. She currently assists Matthew Coxall with his caseload in the criminal department with a view to commencing her own caseload shortly.
Jason Lucking
Jason completed his training contract with Thomas Boyd Whyte and was admitted in 2000.
Areas of Law: Jason has a wide range of experience in criminal cases, in particular having successfully represented clients who have been acquitted in manslaughter, conspiracy and rape cases.
James McCooey
James was admitted in 1975 having been involved in criminal cases for 6 ½ years prior to admission. Since 1997 he has been a qualified German Rechtsanwalt (lawyer)
Areas of Law: James undertakes all aspects of criminal defence work and has conducted numerous trials for defendants
Jatinder Sokhal
Jatinder was admitted in 1996 and is a qualified duty solicitor for both police stations and Magistrates Courts.
Areas of Law:- Jatinder undertakes all aspects of defence criminal work including police station attendance, representation at the Megistrates Court and preparation of cases for both Magistrates and Crown Courts. He has represented clients involved in high profile murder cases, robbery, drug supply and serious sexual offences which have involved complex areas of law and interest from national and local media.
Leon Stewart
Leon was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executive in 2000 and was one of the first legal executives to obtained advocate status in 2010. Leon joined Thomas Boyd Whyte in 2001 and qualified as a police station representative in 2004.
Areas of Law: Leon deals with all types of criminal case work from preparing serious casesin the Crown Court to minor criminal offences in the Magistrates Courts. He is available to attend and represent clients at the offices of Jobcentre Plus in relation to fraud investigations conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Clare Wilkinson
Clare is a paralegal who has been employed in criminal practice for 13 years joining Thomas Boyd Whyte in 2003.
Areas of Law: Clare deals mainly with criminal proceedings in the Magistrates Courts.