Debenhams Ottaway

Debenhams Ottaway, legal advice in Hertfordshire and London

Debenhams Ottaway is a law firm providing legal services to individuals, families and businesses. Its work is aimed at those who need to resolve legal issues or take advantage of opportunities, both in the domestic UK context and internationally. The firm presents itself as an adviser to generations of families and business leaders, with multi-disciplinary teams of solicitors in St Albans and Radlett, in Hertfordshire, and a third office in London.

The firm operates under the name Debenhams Ottaway LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with number OC373542. Its registered office is at Ivy House, 107 St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3EW. It is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with numbers 567621 and 568531.

Services for individuals and families

The area of support for individuals and families covers buying and selling homes, with advice at all stages of acquiring, owning, financing and selling residential property. It also includes family law and divorce, where the firm helps parents, grandparents and others to manage the full range of issues arising from separation, with family mediation services, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, collaborative processes and child arrangements, including international relocation. The firm also advises on surrogacy.

In the area of wealth and succession, Debenhams Ottaway offers tax and estate planning, setting up trusts to protect assets and family wealth, wills, inheritance disputes, declarations of trust, deeds of variation, inheritance tax planning, intestacy, probate and estate administration, professional trustee services and lasting powers of attorney. The wills, trusts, inheritance and probate team has been praised for its attention to detail, empathy and client service.

The firm also provides services relating to the Court of Protection, including deputyship applications, NHS continuing healthcare funding claims, professional attorney and deputyship management, protection of vulnerable adults and statutory wills.

Advice to businesses

For the business sector, the firm covers commercial property, with support throughout the commercial property cycle, and corporate and commercial law, with strategic advice and solutions for the entire business lifecycle. This includes banking, finance and loan agreements, commercial contracts, buying and selling businesses, insolvency and restructuring, partnership agreements and standard terms and conditions.

In corporate insolvency and restructuring, the firm works with the full range of stakeholders involved in the process, before, during and after, and advises company directors facing insolvency, as well as handling claims from insolvency practitioners. In the employment area, it offers contracts and policies, disciplinary and grievance procedures, discrimination at work, unfair and wrongful dismissal, representation before tribunals and employment courts, collective redundancies and restructurings, as well as an employment law and HR support service for businesses, restrictive covenants and data theft, and settlement agreements for senior executives.

The firm also advises charities and not-for-profit organisations on their legal needs and regulatory frameworks, and has services for healthcare professionals in Hertfordshire, London and the rest of the UK.

Litigation and dispute resolution

The litigation and dispute resolution area offers advice to resolve complex disputes quickly and on the best possible terms. It includes lender litigation, professional negligence claims, private equity disputes, alternative dispute resolution, alternative litigation funding and insurance, commercial litigation and dispute resolution, commercial debt recovery and creditor services, property disputes and directors' personal guarantees.

Recognitions and accreditations

The firm is listed in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2025, the Chambers UK Guide 2026 and eprivateclient 2022. It has maintained its position in The Legal 500 2027 and holds the Lexcel Practice Management accreditation, as well as accreditations in Wills & Inheritance and Conveyancing Quality. It is also a member of Eurojuris and LawNet, holds ISO 9001 certification, was honoured at the LawNet Awards 2022 and holds the NPA Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

Team and recent activity

Susan Glenholme is the managing partner and highlights that people and clients remain at the heart of the firm's success, with ambitious growth plans. Among the professionals mentioned are Sarah Liddiard, senior lawyer in corporate & commercial; Natalie Lester, partner in family law & divorce; and Michael Kerrigan, partner in employment law.

In the area of social and environmental responsibility, the firm indicated that it plants a tree in the UK every time it receives a client survey, in collaboration with Ecologi, and that clients can track progress through its forest. The firm also reported raising £5,640 for The OLLIE Foundation in a charity quiz, and the addition of new expertise in wills, trusts and inheritance disputes.

Offices and locations

St Albans office: Ivy House, 107 St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3EW · Phone: 01727 837161

Radlett office: Phone: 01923 857171

London office: Phone: 0203 307 2878