Martin Terrell

Partner

Specialisms and expertise

  • Court of Protection
  • Wills, probate and estate planning
  • Elderly client advice.

Past and present cases

  • Acting as deputy for several individuals, ranging from severely brain damaged adults and children to older clients in long term care.
  • Acting for parties in Court of Protection proceedings, including contentious and complex statutory will applications and disputes over powers of attorney and appointment of deputies. He also acted as litigation friend in the High Court in the landmark case of Re P [2009] EWHC 163 (Ch) which redefined the law on the making of statutory wills under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Acting for claimants and defendants in complex personal injury and clinical negligence cases where the claimant lacks capacity as a professional expert on the role of a deputy and the costs involved.

Achievements and other appointments

Martin has lectured and written extensively on Court of Protection and elderly client matters, especially for Elderly Client Adviser. He is the author of ‘A Practitioner's Guide to the Court of Protection' (Tottel, 3rd edition, May 2009) and a joint editor and contributor to the Law Society's Elderly Client Handbook; he also contributes currently to Heywood & Massey Court of Protection Practice, Tolley's Finance & Law for the Older Client (LexisNexis) and Court of Protection Practice 2009 (Jordans).

Martin lectures on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Court of Protection practice procedure. In the last year he has lectured for Central Law Training, Jordans, the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE).

He is a director and joint vice chairman of SFE and a member of STEP. He is also a member of the Court of Protection User Group. He has been a member of the former Public Guardianship Office Professional Receivers Forum since 2003.

Martin was shortlisted in The Elder Client Law Professional of the Year category for the STEP Private Client Awards 2009/2010.

Profile

Martin read law at Durham University and qualified in 1991. He spent a number of years working for a specialist personal injury firm in London and latterly was a partner in a private client practice in East Sussex, before joining Thomson Snell & Passmore in 2008.