Your local legal team

Lesley Dowdalls is our Senior Partner and has over 30 years’ experience as a Court Lawyer. She is a former Dean of Kilmarnock Faculty of Solicitors.

She has practiced in Child and Family Law throughout her career and is Accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as both a Family Law and a Child Law Specialist. She represents clients in all aspects of divorce, cohabitation claims, residence, contact, adoption and all other Family and Child Law related cases.

Lesley is a Scottish Legal Aid Board Peer Reviewer, an External Examiner at Strathclyde University, a Child Welfare Reporter in Kilmarnock and Ayr Sheriff Courts and is on the East and North Ayrshire panels as Curator ad litem and Reporting Officer for court proceedings. She also convenes the Family and Child Law Accreditation panels of the Law Society of Scotland.

Additionally, Lesley holds judicial appointments as Legal Member of both the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland and the Health and Education Chamber, Additional Support Needs Tribunal. She has had specialist training in adolescent cases in the Mental Health Tribunal and is the Lead Reviewer in the Additional Support Needs Tribunal.

Lesley enjoys theatre, travel, walking and spending time with friends and family, especially her three adult children.

Lynsey Murray was recruited to the firm in 2010, appointed as an Associate in 2013 and subsequently as a Partner in 2015.

Lynsey is a highly experienced Family Law Solicitor with a wealth of knowledge. She is Accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in Family Law and is a skilled Court Practitioner appearing in Sheriff Courts throughout Scotland.

She represents clients in all aspects of divorce, cohabitation, residence, contact and all Family and Child Law related cases, as well as Guardianship applications. In addition, she provides advice and represents parents, children, and other family members at Children’s Hearings.

Lynsey is a Child Welfare Reporter appointed by the Sheriffs at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in actions involving disputes over residence and contact with children.

She has also developed her work in Employment Law and regularly advises both employers and employees on contentious and non-contentious matters.

Additionally, Lynsey is a tutor on the Diploma in Legal Practice at Glasgow University in Family Law.

Outside working hours, Lynsey is a fully qualified figure skating instructor and enjoys dance, musical theatre and spending time with her young family.

Joanna trained and worked in a long established Ayrshire firm for 15 years and joined Mackintosh & Wylie in 2021 as an Associate Private Client Solicitor.

Joanna’s expertise covers a wide range of Private Client matters, including Wills and adults with incapacity issues, which involves the preparation and administration of Powers of Attorney and deals with the administration of complex and contentious executries including high value estates and legal rights claims. She also deals with residential conveyancing matters and is a Notary Public.

Joanna adopts a holistic approach to problem solving and endeavours to put clients at ease when advising on their personal affairs and dealing with sometimes complex, life changing issues. She is committed to providing an excellent standard of service and building lasting client relationships.

Outside work, Joanna enjoys spending time with her young daughter, family and friends, travelling and attending the gym.  She is also a member and treasurer of Stewarton Community Council.

Deborah joined Mackintosh & Wylie in 2014 having previously worked in Residential Conveyancing both locally and in Glasgow.

She qualified as a Conveyancing and Executry Practitioner in 2004 after working as a Paralegal for 11 years. She has a depth of knowledge in Residential Conveyancing and is able to deal with a variety of issues as they arise.

Away from the office, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters as well as attending the gym.

Madeleine joined Mackintosh & Wylie in 2017 and progressed within the firm to obtain her Specialist Paralegal Qualification in Family Law. Madeleine is based in our Kilmarnock office and works within our busy court department.

Outside the office, Madeleine enjoys spending valuable time with her son, family and friends.

Nancy has worked at Mackintosh & Wylie for over 40 years.  She was secretary to one of the former Partners for 37 years and during that time, qualified as a Conveyancing Paralegal. Nancy is the Office Manager which involves working with the Partners and staff to assist with the day to day running of the office.

Outside the office, Nancy enjoys spending time with family and friends. Nancy also enjoys walking, Yoga and Pilates.