Helen Molyneux

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Helen Molyneux is a Welsh lawyer who founded and was the CEO of the UK personal injury law firm NewLaw Solicitors.

Life and career[edit]

Molyneux was born March 1965,[citation needed] in the Welsh town of Caerphilly. She studied law at Cardiff University and qualified as a solicitor in 1991.[1]

On 24 April 2012 her firm Newlaw became the 1st Welsh and 4th overall practice to be licensed as an ABM by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.[2] The idea originated when Molyneux met a gentleman on a London train who owned an insurance brokers firm and they talked about the insurance market; they then came up with the idea of creating a law firm that manages personal injury claims from insurance companies and brokers.[3]

In 2013, Molyneux was named Law Society Business Women of the year for employing over 470 people in the UK, turning over £35m annually in work with leading consumer brands.[4] Molyneux later sold the firm.[5]

Legal awards and achievements[edit]

Date Award Title Awarding Body
2011 Best Women in Legal Business and Welsh Women of the year[6] Welsh Women Mean Business Awards 2011
2011 Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Management (Highly Commended)[7] The Law Society Excellence Awards 2011
2013 Law Society Business Women of the year The Law Society
2014 Fellow/ Chairman [1] Institute of Welsh Affairs
2015 Honorary Doctorate of Laws[8] University of South Wales

Monumental Welsh Women[edit]

In 2016, Molyneux and four others came together to discuss the lack of statues in Wales dedicated to women; they then created the Monumental Welsh Women group with the aim of creating five statues around the country.[9]

The first statue, of headteacher Betty Campbell, was unveiled in September 2021.[10] Four more statues of Elaine Morgan, Elizabeth Andrews, Cranogwen and Lady Rhondda were to be created,[11][12][13] and a theatre show was planned.[14]

Women Angels of Wales[edit]

Molyneux is one of the founders of Women Angels of Wales, an angel investment group.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Trustees | IWA". IWA. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  2. ^ "Double ABS first for NewLaw Legal | News | Law Society Gazette". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  3. ^ WalesOnline (2011-03-16). "Molyneux takes Woman of the Year title at awards". walesonline. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  4. ^ "Legal Business Woman of the Year - The Law Society". www.lawsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  5. ^ a b UK Business Angels Association website, article dated August 15 2023
  6. ^ New Law Journal website, article dated March 31, 2011
  7. ^ "Lexcel Award for Excellence in Practice Management 2011 - The Law Society". www.lawsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  8. ^ "Helen Molyneux". www.southwales.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  9. ^ Women in PR website, Women in PR Cymru meets … Monumental Welsh Women event, April 26th 2022
  10. ^ Guardian Newspaper website, Wales Honours Betty Campbell first black headteacher, article by Stephen Morris dated September 29, 2021
  11. ^ Monumental Welsh Women website, retrieved 2023-11-07
  12. ^ Morning Star Online website, Statue of Feminist Icon Elaine Morgan to be unveiled in Wales, article dated March 18, 2022
  13. ^ BBC website, Swashbuckling poet Cranogwen is third woman in Wales to get statue, article dated June 10, 2023
  14. ^ Wales 247 website, New theatre production to showcase the history of monumental Welsh women, article dated September 5, 2022