What is her role?

She is an Associate Partner and Head of the Family Team. 

She also heads our Exeter office.

What does she do?

She is a solicitor specialising in family law dealing with the issues arising from the breakdown of relationships.

How?

She is a fierce litigator but equally able to adopt a conciliatory style and she will help you identify which approach would best suit you and the issue at hand.  She is approachable and seeks practical solutions to issues that best suit the individuals involved.  She is committed to providing a tailor made service to individual clients. 

She is a trained Collaborative lawyer.

Route to Follett Stock?

Born and bred in the West Country, she completed her studies in Bristol in 1995 and before relocating to Devon, worked for International law firm, Eversheds. 

She took time out to work for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, now known as Rethink and then chose to specialise in family law completing her training and practising in Devon and Somerset.  

More recently she worked for Clarke Willmott where she gained further experience in dealing with cases involving family businesses (particularly farms), those including the wider family, for example, where there are family trusts in place or farming partnerships, as well as those involving several business interests, some across the world.

She joined Follett Stock as an associate partner in July 2009.

Best bits?
Seeing people survive the breakdown of their relationships and move on to the next chapter of their lives.

Worst bits? 

Trying to act nonchalant when acting for professional sportspeople or celebrities.

Why instruct her?

She is a proven expert having been accredited as a specialist by Resolution, formerly known as the Solicitors Family Law Association.  Her particular expertise and extensive experience being in cases involving complex financial issues arising from relationships which include high income and/or substantial assets.  We are not aware of any other Solicitor holding this accreditation in Cornwall and of only a handful in Devon.  She is also an accredited specialist in dealing with breakdown of relationships where there the people concerned chose only to live together.

She has been in business herself and has a commercial and practical approach to the financial aspects of cases.

She is also experienced in dealing with issues concerning children following relationship breakdown.

Client Comments:

 "Very impressed.  Would use Follett Stock again to deal with legal issues in the future."

"Rebecca Gurgul is the nearest thing to a Saint I have found... she took me on, got up to speed immediately, supported me emotionally and generally held my hand... The whole thing was settled there and then and I could get on with my life"

Birthplace:

Bristol - the red side, a Bristol City F.C fan since childhood.

First ever job:

Washing up in a Fish and Chip Shop !

If you were stranded on a desert island with one other person who would it be?

My husband - but also my daft dog.

One thing you cannot live without:

Football - sad isn’t it.

Favourite drink:

Varies.  Wine or Wisniowka (potent Polish cherry cordial)

Favourite food:

Just about anything Italian.

Most recent book you have read:

Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden

Favourite TV show:

It would be an odd three-way tie between Gavin and Stacey, Antiques Roadshow and Top Gear.

Bad habit:

Biting my nails.

Pet hate:

Golf on TV - I just can’t see the ball when the cameraman switches to shots of the sky.

What would you rescue from the house if it was on fire?

I live under thatch and so I’d have to be quick.. aside from my family, it would have to be my hard drive.

What would you be if not a solicitor?

A Gardener or a cake shop owner

Biggest fashion disaster

When the TV show FAME was all the rage in the ‘80s, insisting upon wearing bright green legwarmers to school, despite the fact my uniform was chocolate brown!

Tell us a joke

A horse walks into a bar and the barman says “Why the long face?”