Aileen Chapman

I qualified as a solicitor in 1986 having completed a 4 year degree and the Law Society Finals exams (as they were called then). My degree consisted of 3 academic years and 15 months practical experience at a private firm. The practical element was split into two blocks, one of six months at the end of the first academic year and another of nine months at the end of the second. This was particularly useful as it was much easier to absorb and understand the theory having seen the law in practise. I was fortunate and found Articles (now called a Training Contract) immediately after completing my final exams with a firm I had been on placement with during my degree course.

I have always dealt primarily with family law, even during my pre-qualification placements. Since qualifying I have continued as a family law specialist and also qualified as a family mediator in 1997. I qualified to do family collaborative work in 2005 and I am an advanced member of the Law Society Family Panel and an accredited member of the Family Mediation Council (FMCA 0738A). I am a member of Resolution, an organisation of specialist family lawyers which encourages constructive resolution of family disputes.

From being a very junior member of the legal profession I had very clear ideas about how a law firms should be run and how lawyers should interact with their clients and so, in 1993, I set up this firm with the aim of providing the very best legal advice and assistance to the people in my local community in a practical, approachable and affordable way.

Apart from law, my other interests are more domestic. My husband (Steve) and I have 3 dogs 2 cats and I look after horses and as a hobby. We both like to travel when we can and have been to some exciting and interesting places such as Borneo, Cambodia, Nepal, Venezuela and Peru. I like to read fiction when I am on holiday but nothing too taxing, mostly sci-fi or action/adventure type things and I like to watch a bit of ‘easy viewing’ TV (my husband says I watch rubbish - which is probably correct!!). We both like food and I probably like it a bit too much, hence the expanding girth! Steve brews his own cider from our own (and begged and borrowed) apples using a press in our garage and cooks home grown produce for much of the year.