The Partners

After studying law at the University of Liverpool and completing his post-graduate year at the College of Law Chester, Richard qualified as a solicitor in 1996. He joined Beers LLP in 2005 and became Head of Property in 2007.

Richard deals with a wide range of high-value residential and commercial transactions, including sales and purchases, the grant and surrender of leases, agricultural land transactions, the grant of easements and complex development and leasehold enfranchisement matters.

Away from the office, Richard enjoys spending time with his wife, their 3 young children and their Dalmatian dog. He is a former professional sailor, an indifferent guitar player and an ever slower long distance runner.

Richard is a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association and has previously been recommended in Chambers guide to the legal profession and the Legal500 for commercial property work.

James is Managing Partner and Head of Litigation.  James qualified as a solicitor in London in 1999 before relocating to South Devon in 2002.

James specialisies in civil litigation advising clients on contract disputes, residential landlord & tenant claims, property disputes, contested wills & inheritance actions and personal injury & clinical negligence claims.

Ian was admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives in 1990, and has over 30 years experience dealing with litigation disputes in the Torbay, Totnes, Exeter, and Newton Abbot areas.

Ian joined Beers LLP in 2013 and specialises in personal injury claims, particularly those relating to industrial disease.

Away from the office Ian enjoys playing music, walking and spending time with his family.

Slade qualified as a Solicitor in 2004 and is a Partner and Head of our Employment Law & Human Resources Support Department managing a highly proficient team. Slade is also a member of the Employment Lawyers Association. Slade has a practice spanning both our Kingsbridge and Plymouth offices, the South West region and beyond with clients in London, Birmingham and around the UK.

Slade has advised on Employment Issues across most sectors including Agriculture, Aviation, Banking, Building, Cinematography & CGI, Charities, Education Engineering, Fisheries, Health Care, Housing, Legal, Marine, Nuclear Energy, Retail, Television, Radio and Professional Football.

Relevant Experience

• Appointed to deal with employment issues of the closure of the only state faith school in Cornwall in 2015, which was the subject of political discord in Parliament at the time.

• Successfully acted for Radio and TV presenters in Age Discrimination claims.

• Slade has acted successfully for many Judges in High Value, Part Time Pension Litigation most recently those whose claims were out of time.

• Successfully acted for employees ranging in age from 14 to 90 plus.

• Recently acted for a leading British literary agent and successfully defended all claims pertaining to employment status, holiday entitlements, National Minimum Wage, and others.

• Slade has nearly two decades of experience in advising both employers and employees on settling disputes. In 2022, Slade dealt with settlements for individuals at sums ranging between £25,000 to in excess of £250,000.

Slade’s philosophy is that “prevention is better than cure” and he gets involved with his commercial clients from the starting-up stage including recruitment and key appointments, writing policies and contracts that reflect the employment relationship, and is often instructed to deal with contentious situations before they become litigated in the Employment Tribunal, advising on all aspects of hard HR and internal dispute resolution.

Slade brings a multifaceted approach to disputes and is creative in finding synergistic resolutions in even the most contentious situations such as partnership disputes.

Slade’s background of competitive amateur sport including football, boxing and long distance running reflect his competitive nature and winning ethos. Outside of Law, Slade enjoys time with his family, writing, hill and mountain walking mainly in Devon and North Wales, and property renovation and development. Slade is a licenced FA football coach and enjoys coaching at grass roots level and helping his players to excel and win trophies.

Donna studied law at Plymouth University and has worked locally for many years and has built a strong local network of connections.  She continues her strong affiliation with the University by being part of their Mentoring Programme and is a Case Study for the Law School blog.

Donna has previous experience in Private Client work including Contentious Probate and is an Accredited GDPR Practitioner,  but now specialises in Residential Conveyancing.  As a result of Donna’s previous experience in other areas of law she is able to deal with all complex and non-complex matters including acting on behalf of Trustees of Trusts and Attorneys or Deputies in a proactive, swift manner but with a dash of sense of humour!

Donna is kept busy out of the office with her family and dogs (a third member of the team with Dachshunds !)