We’re thrilled to welcome Heather Wiltshire to Shentons as our new Head of Property. Heather brings not only a wealth of experience but also a genuine passion for helping clients through the complexities of buying and selling property. Her approach is warm, practical, and refreshingly human, qualities that make her a perfect fit for our team.
I didn’t actually want to be a lawyer, I wanted to be Columbo the detective! But I realised cigars and trench coats weren’t for me, so Ali McBeal became my new hero. I fell into property law after being taken on as a trainee legal executive. I’ve always wanted to help people, and conveyancing gave me that opportunity. Receiving thank you cards from clients after a few months of taking care of them during one of the biggest decisions/change in their lives is always priceless and never loses its shine. I enjoy navigating the hurdles in property work and finding solutions for people. I suppose I did make it as a detective in some ways. A detective of property titles!
Probably graduating with CILEx and receiving my first practising certificate in 2004. Driving to Milton Keynes in horrendous traffic with my parents and finally having my name called out to go up on stage was a moment to remember. Training was a huge slog as I was working and supporting myself financially and the feeling of finally getting that piece of paper in the end made it all worthwhile.
I think communication is fundamental. Updating a client, even if you don’t have particularly substantive progress to share is key. Silence from lawyers is probably one of the clients biggest frustrations and it is invariably unintentional because we are simply working on the matter behind the scenes and forget to simply share what we are doing. In our minds, getting to the end goal is the aim and updates take time away from us doing the actual legal work. I do not know of any conveyancers who sit around making a matter take longer than needed (as of course we don’t get paid until the deal is done either). Lack of updates and general client care leads clients to believe that they are not important or their matter is being sidelined which is never the intention.
Supporting the needs of a happy and empowered team will automatically result in success, happy clients and growth. I love to focus on human interaction and wellbeing of people (clients and colleagues alike). Part of Property work is counselling, and anyone who is unable to feel empathy towards clients will find the job particularly hard in my opinion.
I paint, go to the theatre, hang out with my family and dogs, and I rather like a glass of wine.
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