Silver celebrations for Louth property lawyer

Dale Crombleholme studied law at The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and while waiting for his first opportunity in the legal sector, kept himself busy with a variety of jobs including being a motorcycle courier and working in a petrol station.

However, having landed a role as a conveyancing assistant at Bridge McFarland in 1998, Dale impressed the Louth office partners at that time - Paddy McFarland, Patrick Purves, Tony Horne and Steve Lambert - and was offered a training contract in 2001.

From there Dale progressed quickly up the ranks and was made a partner of the firm in 2006.

Dale enjoys all aspects of his role at Bridge McFarland.

He said: “The last 25 years have flown by.

"It is such an interesting career. Law is constantly evolving, and I am lucky to get to meet so many different people from all walks of life.

“I love to experience new challenges. We never stop learning in this profession and for me every day feels like a school day.”

Dale said loves being able to walk into work and the supportive atmosphere in the Cornmarket office.

He added: “Louth is just a great place to live and work. It can be a very stressful job at times, but the understanding and support of colleagues really helps.”

During his quarter century at Bridge McFarland, Dale has seen an abundance of changes. The move to paperless files being particularly notable, as well as the prevalence of email communications. Alongside Steve Lambert, Dale has remained a constant for the Louth office as partners Tony Horne, Paddy McFarland and Patrick Purves retired, and new partners such Joe Pepper, Jackie Pennock and Jacqui Johnson joined the Louth team.

Managing Partner Stephen Oldridge congratulated Dale on hitting this milestone: “Achieving 25 years as a property lawyer is no mean feat.

"To succeed you need good knowledge of law and good professional and other connections, but at times you also need to know when to be pragmatic.

“Dale has all those things and we hope he will be with us for many more years to come as the Louth office continues to go from strength to strength.

"Our Louth Cornmarket office is extremely important to us with our roots going back to when Haddon Owen & Son was established at 1 Eastgate in 1851.

"We are very committed to investing in the area and always aim to provide a fantastic service to clients at a fair price.”