Our Team

Sarah Wood

Director

With over 20 years of experience in legal recruitment, working at one of the largest legal recruitment agencies in the UK, Sarah founded Talis Legal Recruitment in 2023. Sarah specialises in all levels of legal roles from Associate to Partners focusing in Bristol, the South West and South Wales. Her passion lies in collaborating with Senior Management Teams, Partners, and HR professionals to understand their business and long-term strategies. Through this, Sarah can help them recruit the best lawyers to further grow and develop their businesses.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys life in the Cotswolds, gardening, walking her dogs, and spending time with her family and friends. She is actively involved in the local community, assisting with fundraising for Bowel Cancer, is a Trustee of the local Scout Group, and helps with the local footpath and playing field groups.

swood@talislegalrecruitment.com
03300 526 361
07897 074 891

Jennifer Wellspeak

Associate Director

Jennifer has an extensive background in legal recruitment dating back to 2003, during which time she has held roles in both agency and in-house legal recruitment, with a focus on the London market. Jennifer’s legal recruitment experience is broad, having worked on various roles such as interim, in-house, private practice, as well as non-fee-earning legal positions including Professional Support Lawyers/Knowledge Management Lawyers, in-house counsel for law firms, and risk and compliance/conflicts roles. Before transitioning to legal recruitment, Jennifer had a career in marketing and business development for professional services firms, including a US law firm.

Outside of work, Jennifer spends time with her family and two dogs and enjoys hiking, cooking and travelling. She has been a school Governor for over six years and also spends far too much time trying to perfect her coffee making skills.

jwellspeak@talislegalrecruitment.com
03300 526 362
07897 074 892

Niall Pattle

Associate Director

Niall specialises in headhunting high-profile lawyers and teams for international Law Firms. He has extensive experience in managing the international recruitment process, particularly for solicitors from Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, and Canada seeking positions with law firms across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and offshore locations. His legal experience encompassed private equity funded M&A, takeovers, funds, new issues/rights issues, joint ventures, and corporate and regulatory advisory work.

In 2004, Niall transitioned into legal resourcing, holding leadership positions in the UK and Middle East. Currently based in the UK, he serves as a successful legal headhunter, providing expert advice and consultation to both clients and candidates.

npattle@talislegalrecruitment.com
03300 526 369
07897 069 209

Cathryn Holmes

Associate Director

Cathryn has worked in legal recruitment for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining Talis Legal Recruitment, she worked at one of the largest boutique legal recruitment agencies in the UK. Before transitioning to recruitment, Cathryn trained with Hogan Lovells and worked as a restructuring and insolvency solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson.

Cathryn is very well-connected and adopts a bespoke/personalised approach. Known for her candid and honest style, Cathryn aims to create opportunities as well as working closely with law firms and organisations to fill their vacancies

Outside of recruitment, she enjoys outdoor activities like camping, CrossFit, and snowboarding/skiing. She also volunteers at sporting events and is involved with a charity that provides free trishaw rides to the elderly and people with limited mobility.

cholmes@talislegalrecruitment.com
03300 526 360
07897 074 898