Melanie O’Brien
Director
Role and Background
After reading law at King’s College London, Melanie was recruited by Herbert Smith LLP (now Herbert Smith Freehills) as a trainee solicitor. After being admitted as a solicitor, she was retained by Herbert Smith as a solicitor in their litigation department and reached the level of senior associate. She was located at their London office for seven years and advised and acted upon a wide range of commercial and real estate disputes. She was a director and COLP at 3DM legal for five years.
As a Director of DG Legal since 2006, Melanie has provided advice and assistance to numerous solicitors’ firms and advice agencies primarily in relation to legal practice management, compliance, risk and quality assurance.
She has assisted a large number of firms and other agencies in setting up legal practices and provides assistance to firms with their applications to the SRA for regulatory approval of a new solicitors’ firm or ABS. She also advises firms on law firm management and delivers specialist consultancy in relation to ongoing compliance including their COLP and COFA obligations. Her key areas of focus include anti-money laundering, legal risk management, business planning & strategy and regulatory compliance.
Melanie is a practising solicitor and although she does not provide legal advice through DG Legal as a solicitor, she advises regularly on non-legal, practical issues arising from disputes and in particular those relating to audit appeals, Legal Aid Agency contracting, procurement and regulatory compliance.
Melanie is particularly skilled in drafting comprehensive policies and procedures and is a regular contributing author and Panel Expert for LexisNexis PSL.
What Clients Say
David, Mel and the team at DG Legal continue to provide us with superlative support and guidance. Always there to assist us in a manner that is clear and concise. An invaluable service and certainly a fundamental part of our firm’s team. A huge value add service for us. Many thanks to you all.
Ranjit Thaliwal
Director, Thaliwal & Veja Solicitors
If there is a firm that epitomizes professionalism, courtesy and efficiency it is DG Legal. David and Melanie went above and beyond the call of duty in many ways. They are the go to people for regulatory assistance. From a very satisfied client – this is what client service is all about.
Frederick Mostert
Principal, Frederick Mostert Ltd
We have enjoyed working with Melanie. Her realistic, down-to-earth but professional approach is a real credit to DG Legal. She has always delivered quality work promptly, reliably and with a helpful and approachable manner. We look forward to working with Melanie and the rest of the DG Legal team in the future.
Laura Spooner
Practice Management & Compliance, LexisNexis
Contact us
To discover more about how we can help your firm with compliance issues, please either call 01509 214 999 or send us an email.
