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The practice team

Four people work at Marchmont Vale Law, and each concentrates on two of the six services. Each profile below names the role, the two services it covers and the kind of situation it is the right one for.

One attorney holds a file from the first conversation onward. Where a question belongs to a colleague the two work it together, and the client is not handed along.

  • A shelf of older bound law reports standing behind a glazed door.

    Principal

    Adele Thornbury

    Principal attorney

    Holds the first conversation on every file and the review of advice given elsewhere.

    The principal attorney takes the first conversation on every file and stays with it afterwards, which is why the role covers the introductory consultation and the second-opinion file review rather than a single specialism. The work is to state the question plainly, separate what is known from what is being assumed, and put the scope and the fee in writing before anything begins. Where a question belongs to an accountant or to another firm, the role says so instead of answering it.

    Ask for this role when you do not yet have a scope or a figure in writing.

  • Tiered bookcases in a law library, photographed upright from the floor.

    Supporting role

    Caleb Ruthven

    Estate and property attorney

    This role carries the will and estate documents and the residential property closings, the two engagements where a date set by someone else governs the work rather than the client. Instructions are taken and read back before anything is signed, what has been confirmed is kept separate from what is still assumed, and the dates that cannot be moved are named. Nothing is promised about how a matter will turn out.

    Ask for this role when a date or an event has put a deadline on the decision.

  • A tall bay of law library shelving, lit from a window out of frame.

    Supporting role

    Miriam Ostgard

    Business and documents attorney

    Small business formation and document review sit with this role because both start from what already exists rather than from what to do next. The work is to establish what a document or an entity actually commits its owner to, what it leaves undefined, and which questions belong to an accountant rather than to a law firm. That boundary is stated at the first meeting rather than discovered later.

    Ask for this role when the question is about a document or an entity that already exists.

  • A carved figure of Law set on the stone entablature between two reading-room alcoves.

    Supporting role

    Delia Pryce

    Client services lead

    Most enquiries arrive without a service attached to them, and this role is where they land. It explains what a first conversation covers, what to bring and what the introductory consultation will and will not produce. Identity documents, account details and confidential papers are deliberately kept out of the public form and are arranged separately once a scope has been agreed.

    Ask for this role when you are not sure which of the six services your question belongs to.

Who handles which enquiry

The six services are carried by the four roles below. Introductory consultation and document review are covered twice, because those are the two a first enquiry most often turns out to be. A visitor may ask for a particular role through the contact form; availability is confirmed separately.

You do not know which service applies
Client services leadAnswers what a first conversation covers and what to bring to it.
You want a scope and a fee in writing first
Principal attorneySets both in the introductory consultation, before any work starts.
A will or an estate plan is needed
Estate and property attorneyTakes the instructions, drafts the documents and arranges signing and witnessing.
A home is being bought or sold
Estate and property attorneyExamines the title, reviews the closing documents and records the deed.
A new business is being set up
Business and documents attorneyFiles the entity and drafts the agreement between its owners.
You want advice from elsewhere read back
Principal attorneyReports what the advice does and assumes. The attorney who gave it is not graded.

Start with the introductory consultation

It carries no charge, and it ends either with a scope worth agreeing or with a clear statement that none of the six services fits.

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