Partners

Martin Gillibrand is a nationally acknowledged expert in the field of Agricultural and Farming Law and heads that specialist branch within the firm. He trained with the international City of London based corporate firm Allen & Overy, joining OSG in 1974. His client services concentrate on all areas of Agricultural Property, Practices and Tax Planning, as well as Wills and Probate and all aspects of Property and Trust law.

He is a member of the Agricultural Law Association and Secretary of the Moorland Association, which lobbies for the interests of upland property owners. An expert on rural affairs, he enjoys the countryside, shooting and gardening.

David Gillibrand also trained at Allen & Overy - spending 3 years in major commercial litigation casework - before joining OSG in 1982, where he spent a number of years developing his Property and Commercial law expertise. For the past 12 years he has concentrated on litigation full time and is Head of Litigation Services, dealing with a wide range of dispute resolution cases, including those in residential, commercial and agricultural property, and in company and commercial disputes. He also has real expertise in all areas of Employment Law (both advice and representation), Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury and debt actions. He is a long time member of the Law Society's Professional Negligence Panel. In his spare time he enjoys walking and shooting, but also playing tennis and bridge.

Gill Gardner is the head of our corporate department and specialises in corporate finance work. This not only involves mergers and acquisitions but also all aspects of bank and venture capital financing together with organising company structures and shareholdings. Working with companies and partnerships Gill has many years of experience in reflecting their decisions but also adding value and highlighting risks; working as part of our clients’ overall advisory teams.

Gill went from Cambridge University to practice in the City, specialising in venture capital and corporate finance work. After a secondment of a year working in Sydney for one of Australia’s top two law firms, Gill returned to London for a further year.

Marrying a doctor and moving North necessitated a career rethink, but Gill has been working at OSG for 16 years continuing to advise clients in corporate and commercial law, using the City experience to think proactively about clients’ decisions and documentation.

Gill involves herself in the wider community and is a director of the Lancaster and District Chamber of Commerce and a Council Member of Lancaster University.

In her spare time, (after running after three children), Gill runs for fun with Lancaster and Morecambe Athletics Club and completed the New York Marathon in 2004

Jenny Gemmell joined Oglethorpe, Sturton & Gillibrand in July 2006. Prior to this, she was one of the senior partners in the Property Department of DWF, one of the largest law firms in the North West of England, where she specialised in property finance and in acting on the property elements of the acquisition and disposals of businesses for companies such as Edward Billington & Sons Limited, a two hundred million pound turnover company whose activities include speciality foods and agricultural products.

Jenny is part of our Commercial Team where she specialises in the acquisition and disposal of commercial properties, landlord and tenant matters and in working alongside her corporate colleagues when there are properties involved in the sale or purchase of a business.

Outside work, Jenny’s interests are cycling, swimming, walking and yoga and she loves ballet and the cinema.

Alison Kinder. After training with the firm and qualifying in 1993, Alison rose rapidly to become one of our partners in 1999. She specialises in both Residential and Commercial property sales, purchases and leases and is an expert in Property Development and Landlord & Tenant Law.

She has also built up considerable expertise in holiday and home parks and also in hotels, restaurants and pubs and she handles acquisitions, disposals and leases. With David Park always available to handle licensing matters the firm provides a complete service in this sector.

Outside work she is keen on keeping fit and enjoying the outdoors as well as unusual antique collecting and cooking.

David Park qualified with our firm and in recent years has helped to make Employment Law a growth practice area. He advises both employers and employees and regularly represents clients in Employment Tribunal cases, as well as providing expertise in non-contentious matters, such as work contracts and general practices, and lecturing regularly on the subject. He advises small and medium sized business on a range of commercial matters.

Emma Briggs joined OSG in 1999, following some years spent practising in Bradford, and is the head of our Family and Matrimonial law department. She has quickly developed a strong reputation for the speedy and sensitive handling of disputes in these areas. She is a member of the Law Society Accreditation Scheme (which used to be known as the Family Panel) and an Accredited Specialist with Resolution in ancillary relief (finances) and private children matters (including Residence, Contact and applications involving children).
When she isn’t working Emma enjoys swimming, cooking, the arts & theatre, and outdoor pursuits such as walking and cycling.

Clare Love is a Trust and Estate Practitioner. After graduating at Newcastle she studied at the College of Law in York and qualified as a solicitor with the firm in 2003. She became a partner in 2008.

Clare specialises in private client work with a particular emphasis on wills, inheritance tax planning, trusts and probate matters, including agricultural property and succession.

Clare is a qualified member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and also of the Agricultural Law Association and the Probate Section of the Law Society.

Andrew Royce trained with Martineau Johnson, a large commercial firm in Birmingham between 1987 and 1989 before joining his family firm in Hertfordshire.

In 1998 he merged this firm with Jameson & Hill and remained with the new firm for ten years.

He joined OSG in Lancaster in September 2008 and advises clients large and small on a wide variety of commercial matters including commercial property.

His interests outside work include mountain walking, running, fishing, beekeeping and cricket.

Other Lawyers

Robin Breay has a wealth of experience gained locally over 30 years in the practice areas of Property and Conveyancing, and deals with all related matters for the firm. He has a particular interest in problems facing elderly clients, Estate Planning and those relating to the Administration of Estates.

Sarah Cross joined the firm in 1990 and combined part time study with full time work, qualifying as a Solicitor in 1999. She assists accident victims and also specialises in clinical negligence claims.

She is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and is dedicated to promoting the interests of accident victims.

Sarah works hard to ensure a speedy, efficient approach to the handling of claims and seeks always to maintain a competitive edge in negotiating the very best settlements for our clients.

Outside of work Sarah is a Trustee of Lancaster Citizens Advice Bureau, is a keen squash player and enjoys swimming.

Pamela Cockram has worked in private practice as a conveyancer for a number of years. She trained at a Manchester firm where she qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 1992 before joining OSG in 1997.
Pam has enormous experience in dealing with property matters. She specialises in domestic property transactions including buying and selling freehold and leasehold properties, transfers of equity and remortgages. She also has considerable expertise in property development. She provides a personal and friendly service, the quality of which is illustrated by the volume of repeat business she receives from satisfied clients.

Warwick Alabaster is a litigation solicitor and currently deals with general dispute resolution services. Areas of practice include debt recovery; property litigation; building and construction; insolvency; and disputes surrounding contract, partnership, director and shareholders and probate.

Sarah Miller was a qualified nurse who switched career. She trained in law in Manchester and took the long route – 8 years of part time study whilst still nursing!

Her work is primarily in Conveyancing, but she also works in the area of Wills/Probate and Court of Protection cases and some agricultural. She is Company Secretary for the Abbeyfield (Kirkby Lonsdale) Society

When she isn’t working she can be found on a motor bike, working in the garden or in the water – she successfully completed a sponsored swim in Lake Windermere and loves surfing.

Hayley Housley joined the firm in 2001 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. She specialises in the preparation of wills, inheritance tax planning, administration of trusts and estates, preparation and registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection work. Hayley works hard to ensure that these sensitive issues are dealt with in a caring and sympathetic, yet professional and efficient manner.

Joanne Rowe qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and joined the firm in 2007. She works in the Family and Matrimonial law department dealing with all types of cases including divorce, ancillary relief (division of assets after separation), private children work (residence, contact and other applications involving children) and injunctions.

John Myers was brought up in North Yorkshire and has always had a keen interest in the countryside. After studying agriculture at Newcastle University, he went on to read law before training and qualifying with the firm in 2007.

John is a member of the Agricultural Law Association and deals with a broad range of agricultural matters including the sale and purchase of farms and rural property, agricultural tenancies, land registration, common land and other areas of law noted in the agriculture section of the website. His approach in acting on behalf of clients is down to earth, practical and thorough.

Tim Labrum studied geography at Edinburgh University, before working at the Royal Geographical Society and The Wildlife Trusts, whilst also fitting in a stint studying climate change in Antarctica.

He retrained at the College of Law in Birmingham, joining the firm as a trainee in 2007, and qualifying in 2009. He specialises in agricultural, property and environmental matters, but also undertakes work in the Private Client department.

Outside of work, Tim is a keen road cyclist and hillwalker.

Sarah Grandfield works in the Family and Matrimonial law department. After graduating from Durham University, she studied at the College of Law in Chester. She joined the firm as a trainee in 2007, and qualified as a solicitor in 2009.

She deals with all types of family and matrimonial law, including divorce, asset division after separation, injunctions and issues relating to children and acts for both private clients and those given assistance under the Legal Aid Scheme. 

Trainee Solicitors  At OSG we are always keen to bring on new talent and currently have three trainee solicitors who provide invaluable support to the work of their departments.

Within two months of qualification, we have Hannah Bates working with Clare Love in the Private Client department, whilst Oliver Andrews assists Gill Gardner in Corporate.

A year behind Hannah and Oliver, Hazel Anyon is working with Martin Gillibrand in the Agricultural department, whilst also assisting Clare Love in Private Client matters.