.JPG)
Our Team
THE CASEWORK TEAM
THE NON-CASEWORK TEAM
THE CASEWORK TEAM
DOUGLAS SILAS, PRINCIPAL
Douglas qualified as a Solicitor in September 1997 and established Douglas Silas Solicitors on 3rd May 2005. Prior to this he trained and worked at Levenes Solicitors for over 6 years in the UK’s first ever Education and Disability department after which he established and headed a very successful Education and Public Law department for Alexander Harris Solicitors (now incorporated into Irwin Mitchell Solicitors).
In October 2011, Douglas was shortlisted by the Law Society for its prestigious 'Solicitor of the Year (Private Practice)' award. Douglas is the current Honorary Legal Adviser to IPSEA (the Independent Panel for Special Educational Advice) which remains at the forefront of providing free and independent legal advice and support to parents of children with special needs.
Over the years, Douglas has helped, literally, thousands of parents to get the right educational provision or placement for their child, even when they thought that there was no hope left. Douglas also specialises in handling the more difficult or complicated cases, sometimes succeeding where parents have already been unsuccessful previously.
Douglas is also well known for having a genuinely 'different' approach, from other solicitors. Apart from providing the public with a lot of free information through his website, Douglas uses technology to its full extent in his work. Douglas places a great deal of emphasis on teamwork and collaboratively working with clients and others as well as providing excellent client service.
Douglas has previously been a Trustee of the Disability Law Service and a member of the British Deaf Association's Advisory Panel. He is currently a member of the Education Law Association, the Lawyers with Disabilities Division of the Law Society and the Administrative Law Bar Association. Douglas is also actively involved in wider community affairs.
Douglas is physically disabled and uses a wheelchair as he has a rare, progressive, neurological condition called Cerebellar Ataxia which affects a person’s nervous system and causes a number of difficulties, including with their balance, coordination, speech and eyesight. But, as he always like to say, it does not affect his cognitive abilities, life expectancy or, most importantly, his sense of humour!
click here to download a more detailed profile of Douglas
LAXMI PATEL, SOLICITOR
Laxmi joined our team in July 2008 initially as a paralegal, having worked in education on the front-line as a Science Technician for over twenty years in an inner-city secondary school. During this time Laxmi worked her way up to a senior position and also served as an associate staff school governor for many years.
Whilst doing this, Laxmi decided to study part-time and managed to obtain a First Class degree in Law through the Open University. After doing this she then successfully completed the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law (on a part-time basis). These were both significant achievements for her personally as she had to study whilst at the same time balancing both her work and family commitments.
Laxmi then took the brave decision to change her career to Law in the hope of being able to use her skills and experience in both education and the law and to help the kind of clients we assist. We were very impressed with her application and interview and saw a lot of potential in her. We were delighted by how quickly and well she settled into our team and offered her a training contract. Laxmi successfully completed her training contract with us and qualified as a solicitor in January 2011. She has now acquired considerable knowledge of SEN cases and assists Douglas by running cases with our team under his supervision and strategic direction.
In her spare time Laxmi is also a voluntary Education Law advisor with the National Autistic Society and has been a voluntary adviser in a legal advice centre. She is, like all of us, fully committed to the areas of work that we do and always keen to develop her knowledge and experience of Education, Disability and Public Law.
HELENE ISRAEL, SOLICITOR
Helene joined us as a paralegal in June 2009 after graduating from UCL with a law degree and completing the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law. Whilst studying, Helene volunteered at a local special needs school, assisting at break times, in the classroom and giving one-to-one support at the school’s summer camp.
Helene initially only came to us for some work experience! However, she quickly showed her dedication to the work we do and we saw how she was a good 'fit' for our team so we asked her to join us as a Trainee Solicitor from January 2010. Having seen how much the right school and a positive environment can do for children with special educational needs, Helene has used her legal training to be able to help parents secure the best educational provision they can for their child.
Helene qualified as a Solicitor in November 2011. Along with Laxmi, Helene now assists Douglas by running cases with our team under his supervision and strategic direction. Her enthusiasm, dedication and committed work ethos makes her a valuable addition to our team. She is also, like all of us, fully committed to the areas of work that we do and always keen to develop her knowledge and experience of Education, Disability and Public Law. Her enthusiasm, dedication and committed work ethos made her a valuable addition to our team. She has now also acquired considerable knowledge of SEN cases
In her spare time Helene is a talented pianist who is currently undertaking a piano-teaching diploma. She is, like all of us, fully committed to the areas of work that we do and always keen to develop her knowledge and experience of Education, Disability and Public Law.
YAELLE AKIVA , PARALEGAL
Yaelle joined our team as a Pparalegal in February 2012. Yaelle has had a lot of experience in the workplace which led to promotions to managerial positions. However, few years ago she decided that she wanted to pursue her long-time ambition of studying law.
Yaelle graduated from the University of Westminster with a law degree and then also successfully completed the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law after which she subsequently worked for a year for a West End firm of solicitors. After this, Yaelle applied to us in the hope of using her legal skills and life experiences to try and help others.
Being a mother of four, Yaelle strongly relates to our objectives as she is not only passionate about children but empathetic to their and their parents' needs. She is delighted to now be able to help us in the work that we do.
NATASHA JONES, PERSONAL ASSISTANT/SECRETARY
Natasha Jones has worked directly alongside Douglas since 1997 as his secretary/personal assistant at both of his previous firms. She has developed a great deal of experience in dealing with Education, Disability, and Public Law cases and is widely acknowledged as Douglas’ 'right hand'.
As well as helping Douglas, Natasha now supports the whole casework team. Alongside her secretarial duties, Natasha liaises with clients, and other people involved in their cases. She is appreciated by our clients, experts, barristers and other contacts for her speed, efficiency and friendliness in dealing with matters. She is also able to provide a genuine understanding of our clients' needs and, like the rest of the team, Natasha is fully committed to our specialist areas of law.
ERICA HURST, PRACTICE MANAGER
Erica Hurst (also known as 'Mrs Silas' when she gets home!) worked in management for many years before a career break to get married and have a family of three children.
Erica’s assists Douglas with the management of our practice which allows Douglas and the rest of the team to concentrate on providing our high standards of casework support to clients, whilst secure in the knowledge that the firm's other needs are also being looked after. Erica also takes New Enquiries from potential clients. She is particularly able to empathise with many of our clients from a parent’s perspective.
Erica is registered as a licensed trainer to provide the ‘Why Try’ course which helps young people using this method. In addition, Erica is also a licensed ‘123 Magic’ parental trainer. Erica is able to run programmes for both methods for parents, schools and other organisations. For more information about ‘Why Try’ and ‘123 Magic’ please click on the relevant link.
THE NON-CASEWORK TEAM
RAJ SHAH, BOOKKEEPER
Raj joined us during 2010 as a part-time bookkeeper to help us with our daily/weekly accounting needs. His gentle but firm approach to handling financial matters ensures the firm can run smoothly. Raj is married with two daughters.
CAROLE MATHIAS, BOOKKEEPER
Carole has many years experience as a legal bookkeeper. She originally only came to help us for a one-off task in 2006 but fitted in so well to our team that Douglas asked her to stay on and help us on a part-time basis which she has done since then. Married to a solicitor, Carole loves to travel the world and volunteers as a museum guide.
SHARON PORTNER, PERSONAL PA TO DOUGLAS SILAS
Sharon assists Douglas personally part-time with organising his 'non-casework' tasks. Juggling her time as a working mother of three children, she has been involved in fundraising and sponsorship with a number of charities and has been a Trustee of The Disability Foundation. She spent nearly a decade working in the consumer publishing sector and therefore has a broad insight into the media, marketing, PR and advertising world.
CHI TSANG, SUPPORT WORKER/PERSONAL ASSISTANT
Before joining the firm in January 2012, Chi was in the fitness industry for over 15 years. Chi is still a Personal Trainer & Sports Massage Therapist in his spare time.
Chi is Douglas' personal Support Worker and Personal Assistant and helps us and Douglas by providing IT and other support, both in and out of the office.
Chi is married and has a daughter.
LEEAT WAYNE, SECRETARY
Leeat was only intending to help Douglas do some extra typing for a couple of weeks part-time. That was in the Autumn of 2005! Since then she has had two further children (bringing her grand total now to four) and comes in whenever needed to help Douglas with any additional typing needs.
To find out more about About Us, please click on an appropriate link below:
Index | Site Map | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Credits | Disclaimer |Vacancies|
©2005-10 Douglas Silas Solicitors
Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no: 420750)