Justina Ridley

I studied Law at the University of London, Queen Mary College, in mid 80's. I started my career in a small firm in Ilford and then moved to Belgravia where I worked in a niche practice, Child & Child, catering for a wide range of clients living and working in that area. I became a partner in that firm (the first female partner they had ever appointed) and remained there for seven years. I moved to Farrer & Co in Lincolns Inn Fields, London, as a specialist residential property solicitor. The experience was very different from that which I had encountered in the smaller firms which I had previously worked for and enabled me to continue to work for an interesting and diverse group of clients.

I joined Birkett Long in 2002, starting in our Colchester office and after five years moving to our Chelmsford office where I headed up our residential team. I am currently the team leader of the Chelmsford Property team which incorporates both residential and commercial property specialists. I continue to specialise in residential property work, with a particular focus on the London market, and also deal with bank security work.

I am Vice Chairman of Colne Housing, a housing association with over 2000 properties in and around the Colchester area. I also sit on the board of ICENI Homes, a development company which is run by three housing associations and aims to ensure that their development programmes are produced as efficiently as possible. I am a director of Link-Ed, a not for profit organisation, which provides work experience training and work related learning to schoolchildren.

Hobbies: I have become a keen although incompetent golf player which takes up a great deal of my spare time. What remains of it is spent pottering in the garden, trying to avoid falling into the pond, and devouring large numbers of novels, not all necessarily classics.