Solicitor takes late mother's firm deeper into heart of the community

A solicitor has taken her late mother’s law firm deeper into the heart of the community it serves – by moving into a new building in the town centre.

Camilla Greenwood’s mother, Lynda, set up Greenwoods Solicitors in Knaresborough in 1991, when Camilla was six months old, so she could balance her career with being a single mother. Lynda died in a house fire in April 2022. A few months later, her daughter announced she would carry on her mother’s legacy by taking over Greenwoods Solicitors.

A lot has happened since the Gazette last spoke to Camilla.

The firm bought a building in the town centre that previously housed an HSBC branch and moved in this month. ‘The new office is only a few doors up from our old office, but it is really in the heart of our community now and that means so much to us, as our community is our driving force,’ Greenwood said.

The new office is on one level, and has disabled access and disabled toilets. 'That's difficult to find in a historic town,' Greenwood said.

May would have been Lynda’s 70^th birthday so the firm ‘soft launched’ the new office with friends and family. An official launch with clients will take place next month.

The firm received two awards this year.

Greenwood was awarded the Triumph Over Adversity award at the Women’s Business Awards 2024. To win an award dedicated to women ‘feels fitting to honour my mum and to pave the way for my daughter and other young women in business'.

Greenwood said she could not let her mother’s lifetime work disappear into the ether. Winning the award ‘felt like the apt recognition of the colossal mountain which we needed to climb during the most devastating time imaginable’. She could not have done it ‘without our amazing, hardworking and loyal team’.

The firm also received a special recognition award from local newspaper The Stray Ferret ('It was unexpected and a very emotional evening').

Next week, Greenwood will return from maternity leave to resume client work (she continued to do business management while she was on leave).

Greenwood told the Gazette that following her mother’s death, the firm made the Firefighters Charity its nominated charity. Instead of charging clients for oath-swearings and certifications, clients were asked to make a donation. More than £1,300 has been raised so far.

During our chat, Greenwood was keen to praise her team and pointed out that it comprises six women and one man.

Greenwood said: ‘One part of our ethos is facilitating flexible working for our staff so they can have a legal career and a family. That’s really important. The reason my mum [established] the firm was so she could raise me and continue to be a solicitor. We extend that ethos to all of our staff.’

Four of the team have young children. ‘All four of us work flexibly to enable us to do childcare and pick the children up from school. The children come into the office and steal our pens and draw on our expensive paper - but we don’t mind!’

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