• Advising on and litigating breach of contract disputes involving commercial suppliers and product liability issues across a range of sectors, including the telecoms, waste management, recruitment and various food and drink suppliers.
• Acting for finance companies pursuing recovery of assets in commercial and consumer credit litigation and dealing with any shortfall, including disputes relating to satisfactory quality and title, wrongful interference and enforcement of credit agreements.
• Acting for insolvency practitioners, assignees and directors to pursue and defend claims to recover assets, including antecedent transaction claims for preferences and transactions at an undervalue under the Insolvency Act 1986, breaches of fiduciary duty and misfeasance.
• Issuing on behalf of creditors and defending/responding to statutory demands, bankruptcy petitions, and winding up petitions.
• Issuing and defending applications to set aside statutory demands, applications to restrain winding up petitions and annulment matters.
• Issuing insolvency applications on behalf of a trustee in bankruptcy for the possession and sale of the bankrupt’s property under S335A of the Insolvency Act 1986.
• Issuing enforcement applications, including charging orders, third-party debt orders, attachments of earnings, orders for sale, warrants of control and High Court writs of control on behalf of creditors.
• Handling commercial debt recovery portfolios for clients across a variety of sectors.

• Successfully negotiating a settlement for a multi-track claim at mediation concerning a dispute relating to alleged breaches of a sale-purchase agreement and misrepresentation.
• Acting for clients in the telecoms industry concerning claims for misrepresentation, breach of contract and early termination charges.
• Assisting a partner in a complex claim concerning alleged breaches of an employment contract and assisting with responding to an application for a freezing injunction, which eventually settled at mediation.
• Assisting a partner in a professional negligence claim worth circa £1.2m relating to a missed deadline concerning shares in a family business left under a legacy in a will.
• Pursuing and settling a multi-track professional negligence claim for negligent advice concerning a property purchased by a developer.
• Defending and successfully settling a claim being pursued by an insolvency practitioner for a former director of a liquidated company of circa £600,000 for alleged breach of duty and misfeasance.
• Assisting a client in pursuing several claims for debts arising from breach of contract and termination charges which required issuing out of jurisdiction.

Recognised in the Legal 500 2022 for being “comprehensive, empathetic and knowledgeable”.

• Member of the Bournemouth District Law Society
• Dual-Qualified Member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives
• Former Trustee, Dorset Mind
• Former volunteer for Lawcare
• Former General Committee Member, Bournemouth and District JLD
• Former Educational Events Officer, Bournemouth and District JLD

Maria began her career at Lester Aldridge in 2007, progressing through Paralegal, Chartered Legal Executive and Solicitor roles during her first ten years with the firm. She later spent eight years working at two local regional firms, developing her expertise in commercial litigation, primarily dealing with insolvency litigation, breach of contract claims and debt recovery work. During this time, she also gained experience working on professional negligence, contentious probate, property litigation and defamation matters across a range of different sectors. Maria returned to LA as an Associate in 2026, bringing extensive experience and strong regional knowledge to the Litigation and Recoveries team.