JE Bennett Law is an industry-leading law firm based in Tunbridge Wells. Established in 2011 by Jane Bennett and her husband Tom Beaufoy it specialises in Court of Protection Law, Power of Attorney, Personal Injury Trusts and Wills and Probate. SO Magazine finds out more about this unique legal business which aims to empower those who are most vulnerable in life and enable them to move on with their lives…
Last summer Jane and Tom opened the Tunbridge Wells branch of their legal practice JE Bennett Law after establishing her own business in Sevenoaks since 2011. Having worked in London firms for many years Jane decided to launch her own so she could specialise in certain areas of the legal system.
She tells SO that she chose to specifically go into Court of Protection and vulnerable client legal work in order to represent some of society’s most vulnerable people.
“Having been a Private Client solicitor for several years, I felt the need not only to specialise but to help people who had been brain injured/catastrophically injured or who were suffering with the effects of dementia and other types of mental illness,” Jane explains.
“Court of Protection law, though niche, is not only highly specialised, but requires a wide breadth of knowledge and understanding of financial protection; health and welfare; safeguarding the vulnerable child/adult; care in the community, and the wide-ranging law that encompasses these areas.”
Following partnerships in London law firms, Jane and her husband Tom Beaufoy, decided the best way to genuinely specialise would be to set up their own law firm, which is what they did, opening a small office in Sevenoaks in 2011.
Since then the firm has grown both in terms of the number of clients it has but also in terms of the size of its team. Jane tells SO that JE Bennett Law clients are usually sourced via personal recommendations or legal referrals.
“There are not many firms which do only this type of work,” Jane adds.
Their move to a new office in Tunbridge Wells last summer enabled Jane and her husband Tom to focus closer to home as the couple live here but it also gave them the opportunity to get to know local firms and offer services to those in the town.
Jane states that although the firm receives referrals for clients nationally, her hope is to gradually increase local awareness of the firm and attract local families who may need assistance in this specialist field. Jane says she has already begun this process by meeting with some of the town ’s local law firms.
JE Bennett Law, which also supports the West Kent and Sevenoaks Chambers of Commerce in local events, has also recently become a member of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells Law Societies.
“Protecting the vulnerable or injured client is a calling and the work is vocational. Aside from knowing the law, this work requires mediation skills in highly complex family dynamics, to try to unravel often deep-seated disputes/difficulties,” Jane explains.
“There is also a need for complex decision-making in the client’s best interests. Our clients and their families need to know we have their or their loved one’s back. That is our primary focus, to get things done and enable them to move on with their lives after traumatic events that have befallen them. In short, our entire team is committed to this goal 100%.”
