Rayden Solicitors is delighted to confirm the latest promotions across the business. With a total of nine promotions, we have five new Partners, three Associates and a Solicitor.
Former Legal Directors Lehna Gardiner, Che Meakins, Nicola Meldrum, Jennifer Moore, and Charlotte Southworth, have been promoted to Partner. Former Solicitors Anisha Patel, Kendra Jeffries and Nasbin Begum have been promoted to Associate, and Emma Barnes, who joined as a Legal Assistant, has joined the team of Solicitors.
Che Meakins, Lehna Gardiner and Charlotte Southworth will lead the Rayden Solicitors St Albans office.
Che Meakins, who originally qualified with a commercial and media law firm in London, has specialised in family law at Rayden Solicitors. He spent a brief period working within a niche family practice in London to broaden his experience in international and high net worth cases, then returned to Rayden Solicitors in 2020 to further his career, developing the firm’s international expertise. Che, a bilingual French and English speaker, has forged business links with the French community both in St Albans and further afield and is a key point of contact for the UK’s French expatriate community seeking advice and support relating to English Family Law. Che is also a trained Mediator, a member of our Alternative Dispute Resolution team,
Lehna Gardiner trained and qualified as a solicitor in 2012, joining Rayden Solicitors in 2014. She has risen through the ranks and is a highly experienced Family Law practitioner with particular expertise when advising clients who are leaving high conflict relationships, including survivors of domestic abuse. Lehna is also a qualified Collaborative Lawyer, and a member of our Alternative Dispute Resolution team, offering a more holistic approach to resolving family disputes.
Charlotte Southworth, who also qualified in 2012, joined Rayden Solicitors as a Legal Director in 2022. She specialises in divorce and financial issues arising from relationship breakdown, often in medium to high-net worth cases with significant business interests and property investments. Charlotte is also the firm’s neurodiversity lead, sitting as a member of the ED&I Committee, and as well as creating and implementing the firm’s Neurodiversity Policy, also provides internal training, and promotes practical, tailored approaches to supporting neurodivergent clients and their families, making the family law process as straightforward as possible.
Jennifer Moore joins Executive Partner Julian Bremner in the leadership of the Rayden Solicitors Hampstead office.
Jennifer Moore, who qualified in 2013, joined Rayden Solicitors in 2015. She has been instrumental in the growth of the Rayden Solicitors Hampstead office since its opening in 2019. Jennifer specialises in complex cases involving children and acted in a landmark Human Rights Act decision in a step-parent adoption case before the President of the Family Law Division at the Royal Courts of Justice in 2024, paving the way for future step-parent adoptions by widows or widowers.
Nicola Meldrum will support Executive Partner Emily Watson in the running of the Rayden Solicitors Berkhamsted office.
Nicola Meldrum qualified as a solicitor in 2013 and joined Rayden Solicitors in 2016. She has been based in the Berkhamsted office since its opening in 2016 and has been integral in developing the growth and success of the business in the area. Nicola Meldrum advises clients on all aspects of divorce and private family law, specialising in financial disputes arising out of divorce and separation. Nicola has worked on cases involving substantial assets in multiple jurisdictions, complex trust structures and the restructuring of family businesses.
Rayden Solicitors is also delighted with the progress of the more junior members of our team who have earned well deserved promotions. Anisha Patel, Kendra Jeffries and Nasbin Begum have been promoted to Associate Solicitors, in recognition of their growing expertise as family lawyers and their ongoing contributions to the success of Berkhamsted, Harpenden and Hampstead offices respectively. Anisha qualified as a solicitor in 2020 and joined Rayden Solicitors in 2022. She takes an active role in developing the Dacorum Juniors Network in Berkhamsted, hosting events and encouraging other local junior professionals to build their own networks. Kendra Jeffries joined Rayden Solicitors as a paralegal in 2020 and qualified as a solicitor in 2022. In addition to supporting Partners Paula Butterworth and Nicola Caffery in the Harpenden office, Kendra has also taken the lead on supporting the new generation of family law talent, rolling out the firm’s Work Experience Competition to multiple schools in Harpenden. Nasbin Begum qualified as a solicitor in 2020 before joining Rayden Solicitors in 2021. Nasbin has played a key role building the Hampstead office presence and developing Rayden Solicitors’ professional junior network in North London and further afield.
Emma Barnes joined the Rayden Solicitors Berkhamsted team in September 2024. Emma previously qualified and worked as a Real Estate Solicitor in Buckinghamshire but chose to retrain in Family Law following a career break. She worked as a Legal Assistant as she gained experience in this area, and after a successful period working with the Berkhamsted team, Emma has now joined the ranks of our Solicitors.
Senior Partner and founder of the firm Katherine Rayden says “The Partners and I are thrilled to announce these latest promotions. We support career progression at all levels and have developed very clear and accessible career paths for all our employees. All these promoted fee-earners have proven their expertise in family law and their commitment to the business and our clients and are a credit to the firm. Their promotions are thoroughly well-deserved, and we look forward to their careers continuing to go from strength to strength.”
