Former senior partner Howard Lerman passes away

We are very sorry to announce that one of the earliest partners of the firm, Howard Lerman, passed away on Sunday 23 April 2023. Our deepest condolences go to, and our thoughts are with, his family at this most difficult of times.

Howard was born on 3 December 1948 in South London. He attended Alleyn’s Grammar School in Dulwich and was articled in the City, qualifying as a solicitor. He joined founder, Tony Gold, at the firm in Streatham in 1974 and was instrumental in growing the business into the success story it is today.

Howard specialised in property services and based himself out of our Streatham Hill office until the early 2000s, when he moved to be based out of London Bridge. He worked for the firm for 45 years and during that time held roles as Head of the Conveyancing, Senior Partner and latterly Head of Commercial Conveyancing. In early 2014, he took a step back from full-time work but remained a much-valued consultant until finally retiring in 2019.

During his years in practice as a solicitor, Howard accumulated a wealth of experience and was an expert in virtually the entire spectrum of transactional property work. It was rare for him to encounter a set of circumstances he had not seen and dealt with previously: from complex multi-million-pound development schemes to the more straightforward (but equally important as far as the client is concerned) lower value residential property transactions.

In an area where much of the procedure and terminology is understandably unfamiliar and at times confusing to clients, Howard used his experience to provide clear and practical advice in a calm and measured way, guiding his clients seamlessly through the process. His aim was to always achieve his clients’ objectives in a timely, smooth and stress free-way, and a great many testimonials and messages from clients were testament to his achieving this.

Howard was an active Board member of the London Bridge Business Improvement District and trustee of various charitable and client trusts. His retirement was all too brief, but it did give him the opportunity to fulfil his wish to try his hand at golf and, more recently, table tennis. He died following a short illness. Family was always very important to him, and he is survived by his wife, Louise, his children Georgina and Paul and grandchildren Rae, Morrison, Penelope and Ophelia.