The following people are members of the current JLD committee:

• Heidi Sandy – Committee chair
• Judith Perkins – Committe vice chair
• Simon Baker
• Martin Boyle
• Nicole Baygan
• Annalisa Checchi
• Lucinda Dore
• Beth Forrester
• Kevin Poulter

The following are JLD Council members:

• Grace Brass
• Anna Sutcliffe
• Beth Wanono - Student and trainee seat

Sara Glace, Sam Rozati and Chris Lewis were also elected as student representatives to the national committee in 2009.

Committee member profiles

Heidi Sandy – Committee chair

Heidi graduated from Leeds University in History and completed her PGDL and LPC at the College of Law in Chester. With two years PQE, Heidi currently works in the Commercial Litigation Department at Gordons LLP in Leeds.

Heidi was involved with the Leeds YSG and the YSG National Committee. As a result she was involved with the merger of the YSG and TSG in Leeds and is currently the Chair of the new Leeds Junior Law Division.

Read Heidi's election statement [PDF 19KB]

Heidi can be contacted by email at heidi.sandy@gordonsllp.com.

Judith Perkins – Committee chair

Jude studied Law and Australian Law at Nottingham University and then attended Nottingham Law School before training with a City firm and qualifying in 2006. She now works for insurance law specialists Elborne Mitchell, practising insurance and reinsurance litigation.

Jude is the immediate past Chair of the London Young Lawyers Group, which is a local JLD group and a member group of the European Young Bar Association, and has strong ties with the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Jude also sits on the Legal Services Commission Training Contract Grants Roundtable, which develops policy on the provision of financial assistance to legal aid firms and organisations to enable them to employ trainees.

Jude can be contacted by email at perkins@elbornes.com.

Simon Baker

Simon qualified as a solicitor in September 2007 with Addleshaw Goddard LLP in their London office. He originally studied International Business Studies and German at the University of Northumbria, and worked for several years in insurance and marketing. In 2004 he studied for the GDL and subsequently the LPC at BPP Law School in Leeds before joining Addleshaws. Outside work Simon has always had a keen interest in membership organisations, having previously been President of the Students Guild at university, and later becoming a director of Leeds City Credit Union.

Simon first got involved with the TSG when he was elected PR officer for Leeds TSG in 2007 - this gave him an insight into the issues facing local JLD groups and the support they and their members need from the national JLD. He was elected for an initial one year position on the National JLD Executive Committee in 2008 and now holds a two year position, with specific responsibility for supporting local JLD groups and membership. Simon also regularly presents the JLD's webinars and is part of a working group developing a constitution and election processes for the national JLD.

Simon can be contacted by email at juniorlawyers@hotmail.com.

Martin Boyle

Martin graduated with a degree in law and politics from Queens University Belfast in 2007. Following graduation he worked in HR for a short time before traveling around Australia and South East Asia for a year. He is currently studying the LPC at BPP Law School in Manchester and he is involved in a number of different pro bono projects there. He was elected as student representative in November 2009 and is keen to represent the interests of student members of the JLD.

Martin can be contacted by email at: martin_boyle84@hotmail.com

Nicole Baygan

Nicole graduated from Liverpool University where she studied Law. She went on to do her LPC at College of Law in Chester full-time whilst working part-time at Hill Dickinson LLP. She subsequently commenced her training contract at Heaney Watson Solicitors in Liverpool and is due to qualify in 2010.

Nicole was the publicity representative on the TSG Committee for a year and was subsequently elected on the JLD committee where she is currently serving her second year as the treasurer. Nicole hopes to encourage more members to get involved in order to have their say on the future on the legal profession. She is a regular speaker at events, conferences and is a member of the Merseyside Association of Women's Solicitors.

Nicole can be contacted by e-mail at nnb@heaneywatson.com.

Annalisa Checchi

After completing her LLB and LPC at the University of Huddersfield Annalisa worked as a paralegal for Simmons & Simmons in their Rome office. before completing her training and qualifying into property with Gordon Dadds. In April 2006 she moved to West End firm Jeffrey Green Russell, spending a year at in their real estate department. In October 2009 Annalisa was appointed Head of the Legal Department of the Regis Group plc, one of the UK’s largest private owned property investment companies.

Annalisa first got involved with the London TSG in September 2003 and is the immediate Past President of the European Young Bar Association and the treasurer of the London Young Lawyers Group (formerly London TSG). She has had a hand in organizing the International Weekend conference for the last few years and is currently the chair of the Anglo-Dutch Lawyers Exchange Committee. She remains committed to representing junior lawyers on a local, national and international level and to helping local groups reach out to junior lawyers in their area. In 2009 she has developed the first international public service project for the junior lawyers division in partnership with the UK charity, Raleigh.

Annalisa can be contacted by e-mail at achecchi@regisplc.com.

Lucinda Dore

Lucinda graduated from Sussex University with a BA in Law. She then completed her LPC at the College of Law in Guildford. She is currently working in Criminal Defence at Bishop & Light Solicitors in Brighton.

Lucinda is a volunteer for the JLD Helpline and has been elected for a two year term. She is looking forward to representing junior lawyers locally and nationally and is keen to raise awareness of legal aid issues and encourage young lawyers to have their say.

Lucinda can be contacted by e-mail at lucinda.dore@bishopandlight.co.uk.

Beth Forrester

Beth graduated with a philosophy degree from the University of Leeds in 2006 before completing the PGDL at City University in 2008 and taking the LPC at the College of Law in London. Following the LPC she will begin a training contract in 2010.

Beth has previously been a student representative on the national committee of the JLD. This provided an opportunity to represent students at an important time in their education and careers. Beth hopes to continue this work and raise further awareness of the JLD, as the same students begin training contracts or paralegal work.

Kevin Poulter

Kevin graduated from the University of Hull and completed his LPC at the College of Law in York. He went on to train at a high street firm in Doncaster before moving to a national firm in Leeds upon qualification in 2003. He is now based in Sheffield and works for Wake Smith & Tofields and is Chair of the city’s Next Generation of legal professionals.

Kevin was involved with both the TSG and YSG at local and national level, before forming part of the working party and subsequent executive committee of the Junior Lawyers Division. He is Chair of the JLD Pro Bono Awards judging panel and is a keen advocate of pro bono activity amongst junior lawyers. He now holds the status as longest serving committee member, but don’t remind him of that!

Follow Kevin on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kevinpoulter.

Council member profiles

Grace Brass

Following the completion of her LLB from the University of Durham and LPC in York, Grace started her training contract in September 2006 at Adlams Solicitors, a high street firm in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. Grace is looking forward to qualifying in September 2008.
Grace was elected to the Law Society Council to represent the Trainee Solicitors Group and LPC Students in June 2007. Since then Grace has also enjoyed the privilege of being involved on the JLD interim-executive.

Grace says:

‘The JLD's task now is to build on the fantastic experience and hard work previously undertaken by the Trainee Solicitors Group (TSG) and the Young Solicitors Group (YSG). My hope is that the JLD will encourage and engage more members to get involved either with their local group or on a national level, and that members will continue to be provided with as many opportunities as possible to have their say on the future of their profession (and hopefully have some along the way too!).’

Grace can be contacted by e-mail at graceb@adlams.co.uk.

Anna Sutcliffe

Anna studied law at Durham University and, after completing the LPC at Nottingham Law School, obtained a training contract with Needham and James Solicitors in Stratford upon Avon. On qualifying in September 2005, Anna specialised in the area of commercial disputes and contentious probate.

Anna is enthusiastic about representing junior lawyers and ensuring that their opinions, interests and ideas are clearly communicated. She is also looking forward to participating in the work of the Junior Lawyers Division.

Anna can be contacted by e-mail at annasutcliffe@needhamandjames.com.

Beth Wanono

Beth is a trainee at Halliwells in Manchester. She is from a low-income background and won a scholarship to BPP to study the GDL, having studied English Language and Literature at Manchester University.

Beth can be contacted by e-mail at beth.wanono@halliwells.com.