Vincents Solicitors’ Katie Shires achieves SFE kitemark accreditation

Acknowledgement of expertise working with vulnerable and elderly clients

Katie Shires, a wills, probate and LPA specialist at Vincents Solicitors in Penwortham has secured accreditation with Solicitors For the Elderly. SFE is the UK’s leading training and lobbying body representing older and vulnerable clients.

Appointed a Full Accredited Member following a rigorous assessment, Katie joins a community of 1,700 trusted advisors across the country. The SFE kitemark provides clients and their families with reassurance that they are dealing with a highly experienced practitioner who has undergone extensive additional training.

Katie, who is also a trained Dementia Friend and lead the firm’s recent training with Galloways Society for the Blind, is passionate about her duty of care to her older and more vulnerable clients.

She said: “It’s not always easy to go and see a lawyer, especially for older and vulnerable people who are often worried they’ll not understand what’s being said, or that they won’t be treated with respect. It can be a barrier to seeking them the support they need and that is something SFE and we as a company are working hard to tackle.

“The SFA accreditation is a badge of reassurance giving clients and their families peace of mind that they are dealing with someone who has many years’ of experience in helping older and vulnerable people, and a firm which genuinely cares. All of my colleagues are compassionate and professional practitioners and treat our clients with care and respect. We have lots of measures in place to ensure we can assist clients who have hearing or visual impairments, dementia or other health issues, to ensure they can make the most of vital legal services they need like wills, trusts and lasting powers of attorney.”

Lisa Lodge, head of the Private Client department at Vincents, added: “Katie is extremely skilled in looking after her clients, and the SFE certification only confirms what we all know about her expertise and dedication in working with older and vulnerable people. Improving access to legal services throughout the community is a crucial part of my role and something everyone in my team takes extremely seriously, and I am delighted that through Katie’s accreditation Vincents is now formally recognised as an SFE Member law firm.”

Vincents will be supporting the SFE awareness raising campaign next week, encouraging people to make or update their wills. The group will reveal exclusive research with some alarming statistics about the UK’s lack of preparedness when it comes to future planning.

Update Your Wills Week #UYWW will be running across social media all next week, from January 23 – 27, providing serious food for thought for anyone without a will in place or whose will needs updating. Keep an eye out on Vincents Facebook and Vincents Linked In pages for more information.

To contact Katie Shires and Vincents’ Private Client team, please call 01772 348 926 or email KatieShires@vslaw.co.uk
ENDS

Pictured:
SFE accredited Katie Shires is a Private Client specialist at Vincents Solicitors in Penwortham