Donnelly McArdle Adamson Solicitors

Geoff Cardwell

Geoff worked in private and Local Government before joining the firm in 1985. He became a Partner is 1987 and is now a senior Partner.  In recent years he has specialised mainly in Personal Injuries and Clinical Negligence but he is also involved in general litigation and, to a lesser extent, Wills and Probate.

Geoff is a member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel and has extensive experience and knowledge of all aspects of personal injury cases.

Outside the office he enjoys sport, particular football and rugby, music and reading.

Jim Phillips

Jim Phillips was admitted in 1980 and is a Partner in the firm. He specialises in Family Law cases and he is a member of the Law Society Children panel. He acts in child care proceedings and other family cases including Divorce, Financial disputes, domestic violence and private law cases including issues over contact and residence. Jim has practised in Sunderland since 1985. Outside the office he is interested in music and sport.

Geoffery Adamson

Qualified as a Solicitor in 1997. He predominantly works with all aspects of Family Law. He is very experienced in his field particularly with ancillary relief. He has specialist accreditation with the SFLA becoming a Panel Member in 2004.

Phil Mitchell

Phil has been with the firm throughout his career. Until recently Phil was something of a general practitioner, but in recent years he has began to specialise. Whilst still doing some criminal work, the vast majority of his time is spend dealing with Family Law matters and in particular child related law.

He is a member of the Family Law Panel and the Children Panel. He spends a lot of his time dealing with Child Care Proceedings and general Family Law matters. Phil is a member of Resolution and also sits on the Law Society Children Law Sub Committee regularly attending meetings in London, which he enjoys immensely.

Away from the Law Phil has become involved in the local community sitting on the Management Boards of Hartlepool College of Further Education and Hartlepool Rovers Football Club, he is also a passionate cricket fan.

Andrew Russell

Andrew originally worked as a Civil Servant in the Lord Chancellor's Department at Middlesbrough County Court before embarking on his formal legal training. With two prominent Darlington firms he quickly qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and then as a solicitor.

Andrew joined McArdles in 1996 and became a Partner in 1999. He is now the partner responsible for litigation and personal injury in the Hartlepool office. He deals with all types of personal injury cases, from the fairly minor road traffic accidents to cases involving the most severe injuries, as well as general civil litigation matters.

Andrew is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and is on the Law Society's Personal Injury Panel. In his spare time Andrew enjoys playing and watching sports, especially football and tennis, listening to music, travelling and sampling good food and wine.

John Relton

Since qualification in 1990 he has gained a broad range of experience in conveyancing, probate, personal injury, Police Station and Crown Court work before taking responsibility of the criminal department in Hartlepool. He is appointed as a Court and Police Station Duty Solicitor for the Hartlepool area.

He has extensive experience in all aspects of criminal litigation representing clients in very serious cases such as murder, manslaughter and rape.

Adrian Morris

Qualified as a Solicitor in 1989 after reading law at Birmingham he has gained a broad range of experience throughout his career. He now concentrates on all aspects of criminal litigation and is a Supervisor within the Criminal Department in Hartlepool as well as Complaints Manager for the Practice.

Neil Bennett

Neil qualified in 1997 and since that time has gained extensive experience in Family Law both public and private before specialising in criminal litigation and practice management. He has been the resident partner in our Peterlee Office and in that time has developed the criminal department by offering a good quality service for his clients. His knowledge and experience in all aspects of criminal litigation has seen him represent clients involved in very serious cases. He is appointed as a Court and Police Station Duty Solicitor for the Peterlee area.

Julie Mathieson

Julie Mathieson joined McArdles in 1994 as a trainee solicitor, after numerous bouts of work experience with the firm while she was at school. She qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and became a partner in 2005 having realised that she couldn't break free!

Julie has spent much of her professional life dealing with Claimant personal injury litigation but in recent years has developed her civil litigation practice in our Darlington office and now deals with a variety of cases, including commercial litigation, clinical negligence, personal injury and employment.

Outside of work Julie is kept busy with her family (2 children with 1 more on the way, a husband (who takes much more management than the children!) and various animals including a very lively young labrador). She is an active member of her local church community and also sings in a band, details of which she prefers to keep to herself!