Our Annual General Meeting Reflections

Our 2025 AGM meeting

We held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth where our staff achievements & firm highlights were celebrated, we reviewed our strategy and performance and insights were provided from our Partners from each department. With a recent roll out of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training across the firm, this topic was also covered at the AGM. Reflecting on everything the firm achieved during 2025 has inspired us to consider what makes Ellis Jones unique and successful.

Our firm

Ellis Jones has been around since 1939, under different names, but always with ‘Ellis’ tying the firm to its’ original roots. The firm was first founded by Harry Ellis as Harry Ellis & Co, before it became Ellis Belcher in the 1970s and the Charminster office was first opened at this time, which is now our largest office. 

We merged with another firm in the 1980s to become Ellis Fowler Belcher, before merging with Frank Jones & Co in 1988. We gained our current title of Ellis Jones Solicitors in 1993. We continued to acquire other Firms, extending our reach across Dorset and Hampshire, and opened our London office in 2014. We have continued to expand and grow since then to have 187 staff including 23 Partners, across eight offices in Bournemouth, Canford Cliffs, Dorchester, Ringwood, Swanage, Broadstone, London and Wimborne.  

Our values

Put people first is one of our core values, meaning we promote equality, diversity and inclusion for all staff, clients, third parties, and in our local communities. We are inclusive and diverse and recognise the importance of celebrating and respecting what makes our people unique, be it age, gender, religion, belief, ethnicity, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, or education. 

We have 9 female partners and 71% of our staff are women. The number of those who have progressed from trainee to solicitor at the firm is 17 to date and we strongly believe in gender equality with flexible working and an enhanced maternity policy, as well as supporting events like the Bournemouth University STEAM Challenge to encourage female education in male dominated subject areas. 

We have supported local Pride events in the region, and we have a dedicated team of LGBTQ+ lawyers as we recognise that everyone is unique and should be themselves. We promote education and understanding of mental and physical health conditions by implementing training with MIND and Lawcare and we have support strategies as part of our benefits packages. Recent results from the Law Society recognised us for our diversity with regards to disability. 

Our achievements

We are committed to continually improving our service to our clients. We take pride in being recognised as meeting the highest professional standards and, at our most recent Lexcel assessment, the Independent Assessor:

Our quality of work and our specialist expertise are reflected and represented through numerous individual and company accreditations, awards and memberships that we have achieved. Our accreditations include recognition in the Legal 500 directory, Chambers & Partners UK Guide, Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide and more. 

The Legal 500 is a national directory that reflects how the reputations of legal firms and individuals are perceived in the marketplace. Each year several of our departments and individuals are recognised for their excellence in their field of expertise. You can view our 2025 results in our article: Recognition and results: Ellis Jones in Legal 500 UK 2026.

The Chambers & Partners guides feature professional advisers and recommended industry experts, ranking top law firms and lawyers across 180 jurisdictions throughout the world. Over recent years, our Family department has had a consistent presence in the guide, and we are proud to now have our Litigation department also featured in the rankings. Find out more in our article: Celebrating recognition in the Chambers & Partners UK Guide 2026.

Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide

As a firm, we have received prestigious national recognition for our private wealth legal services. Our Private Wealth Disputes and Private Wealth Law teams have been listed in bands two and three respectively in the latest Chambers High Net Worth Guide.  

Carla Brown, Head of Wills, Trusts & Probate, is ranked as a Leading Individual in the top Band One for Private Wealth Law in Southampton and Surrounds. 

Lauren Day, Head of Dispute Resolution, is named as a Leading Individual in Band Two for Private Wealth Disputes in the South West.   

Chambers’ High Net Worth Guide is an independent annual publication that ranks lawyers and firms specialising in private wealth. It is compiled following rigorous research and in-depth interviews with thousands of clients, legal practitioners and market sources. 

Lexcel Legal Practice Quality Mark

Lexcel is a legal practice quality mark for client care, compliance, and practice management. It sets the standard for an array of areas such as client care, risk assessments, firm’s structure, and strategy as well as financial and people management. 

We received excellent feedback across the firm in different areas such as compliance, human resources, and firm-wide initiatives. Chris Gates, Samantha Church, Grace Wills, Shannon Fitzell and those who were interviewed were also mentioned in recognition of “their full attention to the Assessor’s needs before and during the assessment period” which was greatly appreciated. 

Our connections 

Offering legal support to charitable organisations and their staff and ensuring they have the resources they need in case they require legal help is something we prioritise at Ellis Jones. We are especially proud of our partnerships with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BOWRA Foundation and Swanage Railway to help preserve these institutions for future generations to come. 

We take pride in sponsoring businesses and sports clubs local to our different office locations to keep these important community social groups thriving, especially in more isolated areas. We currently sponsor Wimborne Cricket Club, Swanage Cricket Club, West Hants Club, Poole Netball Club and Parkstone Yacht Club, just to name a few. 

Our future

At Ellis Jones we strive to continue to build and strengthen our offering within our different offices and grow our presence and connection within local communities. We bring personality to the profession and continue to live our values of putting people first, growing our talent and making a difference to our clients.  

We are a law firm, but we are not just lawyers. We are entrepreneurial, well-connected, and professional whilst providing personality. We incorporate our core values into everything we do, building strong relationships, providing mutual trust and support, taking responsibility, and creating a positive environment. We provide our staff with both professional and personal development opportunities, such as our mentoring scheme, networking group and our regular Lunch & Learn sessions. You can visit Our People’s Stories page to discover more about the career journeys of our staff. Our dedicated social group brings our offices together and connects our staff in person, through social events and activities. Our vision for the future of the firm is to grow in potential and presence whilst always putting our clients first.