OUR TEAM
Meet the 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
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
07897 074 892
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
07897 074 898
Charlotte Ferguson
Consultant Recruiter
Charlotte has over 20 years’ experience as strategic recruiter and in-house Recruitment Manager, having until 2023 spent six years leading Talent Acquisition teams for two national UK Top 100 law firms in the South West region. Having worked closely with senior partners and board members, Charlotte has gained a reputation for her commercial insight, knowledge of law firms in the region and her ability to provide a truly consultative candidate experience. After two years with an Exeter-based recruitment agency, where she continued to focus on supporting highly experienced lawyers and partners to find their next career move within private practice in the region, Charlotte founded her own talent solutions company in 2025.
Charlotte actively shares the team’s passion for connecting people with opportunities in law, and is delighted to have joined Talis as a self-employed consultant recruiter.
Outside of work, Charlotte loves to sing in a local community choir and is also the Chair of the secondary school PTFA in her area. A self-confessed ‘bird nerd’ and nature lover, she likes to get out and about with her family to enjoy each season. She aspires to be able to identify (and maybe one day even photograph) a wider range of birds in the South West, but thinks this may take some time.
OUR VALUES
We are here to support you
Honesty
We believe that open, honest communication is the foundation of any successful relationship.
Integrity
At our core, we are driven by the principles of integrity, treating both candidates and clients with respect.
Collaboration
We are here to understand your needs and priorities and to act as a trusted advisor to our stakeholders.
Passion
We love what we do, as evidenced by the fact that we have been doing it for over 50 years.
Vision
We work hard to create opportunities for our stakeholders and are creative in our approach to recruitment.
Future
If you’re keen on reviewing your career options please contact us for an informal discussion about your future.
RECOMMEND A FRIEND
Thank you for your referrals
If you refer a candidate to us, and we place them in a permanent role, we will send you a £300 shopping voucher as a thank you for your recommendation (to be sent to you one month after the recommended candidate starts their new role)*
* Referrals only apply to candidates not already registered with Talis Legal Recruitment
NEWSLETTER
Get the latest updates from Talis