Firm news
Steven Bernstein
July 2026
Lawrence Stephens is delighted to announce the promotion of nine colleagues to Senior Associate, and a further six colleagues to Associate, effective from 1 July 2026. These promotions are from across the firm and reflect the contribution made by them in the delivery of our services to our clients and the wider firm.
Aaron Rajan becomes a Senior Associate in the Residential Real Estate team. Aaron is focused on the prime Central London residential real estate market and has developed great experience in dealing with tight timelines and complex ownership/purchase structures.
Annabel Andreou becomes a Senior Associate in the Family team. Annabel specialises in advising and assisting individuals in connection with separation, divorce, parenting agreements, child arrangements, and domestic abuse injunctions.
Bola Kim becomes a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Finance team. Bola focuses on working with regulated and unregulated banks for property refinances, bridging loans and secured lending.
Charlotte Hamilton becomes a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Commercial team. Charlotte trained at the firm and qualified into the Corporate and Commercial team. She has been instrumental in developing our Flourish bundled legal services product aimed at early-stage businesses.
Joseph Furze becomes a Senior Associate in the Private Wealth and Succession Planning team. Joe previously practised as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand before moving to the UK. He advises high net worth clients with their succession planning and their internal restructurings, including advising clients in relation to trusts, tax, Wills and Powers of Attorney.
Lefteris Kallou becomes a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution team. Lefteris specialises in insolvency matters and resolving complex and high-value disputes relating to breach of contract, shareholder and boardroom, debt and professional negligence claims.
Louisa Hartley becomes a Senior Associate in the Commercial Real Estate team. Louisa joined Lawrence Stephens with the team from Memery Crystal in early 2025, she advises on landlord and tenant matters, acquisitions and disposals, development projects and corporate real estate.
Lucy-Jane Barnett becomes a Senior Associate in the Banking team. Lucy focuses on secured lending transactions, including investment and development finance matters, from deal originations to refinancing and loan/property management assistance.
Miran Sharif becomes a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Finance team. Miran focuses on advising bridging lenders and borrowers ranging from first-time buyers to high net-worth individuals and property developers.
Becci Collins becomes an Associate in the Employment team. Becci represents businesses and individuals on contentious and non-contentious matters spanning the breadth of employment law.
Bethany Jacobs becomes an Associate in the Real Estate Disputes and Secured Recoveries team. Bethany trained and qualified at the firm, she advises on a wide range of residential property possession claims and commercial forfeiture, debt recovery claims, 1954 Act Lease renewals, secured lending recovery and enforcement work.
Carla Galkoff becomes an Associate in the Corporate & Commercial team. Carla trained and qualified at the firm and advises on a range of matters, including share and asset sales, mergers & acquisitions and company restructuring.
Isabella Tamlyn becomes an Associate in the Private Wealth & Succession Planning team. Isabella trained and qualified at the firm. She advises high net worth clients with their succession planning and their internal restructurings, including advising clients in relation to trusts, wills and Powers of Attorney.
Mithushan Sivagurunathar becomes an Associate in the Banking team. Mithushan acts for overseas and domestic banks, bridging lenders, alternative lenders and non-bank lenders in respect of secured lending transactions.
Mohammad Hammoud becomes an Associate in the Commercial Real Estate team. Mo joined Lawrence Stephens with the team from Memery Crystal in early 2025, his focus is on landlord and tenant matters and commercial property acquisitions and disposals.
Steven Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer at Lawrence Stephens, commented: “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing my legal colleagues recognised for their dedication, expertise, and contribution to our clients and the firm. Equally pleasing is to see these promotions happening across the firm, and not just from one or two teams which indicates how the firm is managing to grow across the board in what have been globally challenging times.”
