Penningtons Manches Cooper announces partner promotions
Posted: 01/04/2025
Top 50 law firm Penningtons Manches Cooper has announced partner promotions for 2025.
Tristan Smale and Sara Stephens join the partnership today following outstanding contributions in key strategic sectors.
Tristan, who joined the firm in 2020, is a private client and tax lawyer who specialises in wealth and succession planning advice. He predominantly works with high net worth, internationally mobile individuals and families who live in the UK or have UK interests. A number of his international clients are from Greece and Cyprus.
He also advises trustees, banks and financial institutions on a broad spectrum of private wealth matters. He is recognised for his expertise in residence, domicile and pre-immigration planning, as well as complex wills and mental capacity issues.
A key member of Penningtons Manches Cooper's private wealth group, Tristan regularly works with the firm's family law, immigration and residential property specialists to deliver cross-practice support on high value, complex matters. He is also part of its sports, media and creative industries group, and an increasing number of his clients work in those sectors.
Tristan has been named as a 'rising star' in The Legal 500 and is ranked in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide. He is a full member of STEP, the world’s leading organisation for private wealth professionals.
Sara, who joined the firm in 2023, is a real estate litigation lawyer specialising in UK living real estate. She works closely with institutional landlords, investment funds and housing providers on a wide range of issues, including building safety advice, block and estate management and service charge disputes.
Sara's experience spans a wide range of property disputes including forfeiture, party wall disputes, boundary disputes, possession and nuisance claims, disrepair and complex multi-party claims.
She is a member of Penningtons Manches Cooper’s building safety group, working collaboratively with other teams in the real estate division on building safety advice and disputes.
Sara co-chaired the Law Society's housing law committee for three years and is a former executive committee member of the Housing Law Practitioners Association. She regularly contributes insights to industry bodies and journals, and provides technical training for clients and property professionals. She has been recognised by The Legal 500 as 'a stand out lawyer with excellent knowledge base' and is also ranked by Chambers UK.
Commenting on the promotions, Helen Drayton, Penningtons Manches Cooper's CEO, commented:
“Huge congratulations to Sara and Tristan, who have both delivered consistently impressive contributions to their teams and the wider firm. I’m sure we’ll continue to see great things from them in the future and look forward to celebrating their future successes."
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