Head of Private Client & Contentious Probate Specialist in Bristol
How Can Michelle Help You?
Michelle leads our Private Client department in Bristol and its specialist team of 7 qualified and dedicated solicitors. The team works with clients who are faced with disputes arising out of Wills, probate and trusts.
Having many years of litigation experience, Michelle is recognised as one of the leading individuals in this uniquely specialised area of law. Michelle is highly regarded for her commercial and strategic awareness, and has the ability to tailor and create the right team and strategy for clients.
Michelle works alongside our nationally acclaimed Charities team and our Estates, Tax and Trusts team, to advise national charities, higher education institutions and Universities in respect of protecting legacies due to them. We also continue to defend a number of contested legacies for national charities and other non-profit organisations.
Meeting Your Needs
Michelle understands that each clients needs are different and in particular the importance of ensuring that the value of any estate, large or small, where there is a dispute, is not eroded by expensive legal costs.
You can be confident that Michelle and her team will handle your dispute with both sensitivity and with the benefit of many years of litigation experience.
What Others Say
Chambers & Partners recommend Michelle as a leading individual, "respected by her peers and clients alike". She is "a true specialist" on contentious matters.
"Michelle is one of the top practitioners across the country. She has done some heavyweight litigation matters, and really rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck right into it." - Chambers & Partners HNW Guide 2025
"She is the most thorough and diligent lawyer I have worked with. She knows absolutely everything about a client's case. She is also very empathetic to client situations." - Chambers & Partners HNW Guide 2025
'Michelle Rose has huge experience and is very astute in her handling of fraught and highly contentious situations.' - Legal 500 2025
‘I have applied to the court to appoint Michelle Rose and Fiona Lawrence as independent administrators on several of my contentious probate matters. I have been impressed by their approach, in co-operating when nominated and getting the job done once they have been appointed by the court.' - Legal 500 2025
‘VWV has a really excellent contentious trusts and estate team with vast experience in probate and trusts disputes. They are often instructed in complex, high value and multi-party disputes. Their calm and thorough approach to the preparation of the case and attention to detail secures some very good outcomes and really reassures their clients that they are in the right hands. The team is led by the wonderful Michelle Rose who is frequently brought in as an independent trustee or personal representative where relations between the existing parties have totally broken down. The frequency with which they are brought into resolve seemingly intractable disputes is testament to the firm’s experience and skill in these sorts of disputes.' - Legal 500 2025
"Michelle Rose has led the team for many years. She is respected in the market and often invited to act as a litigation friend." - Legal 500 2024
Michelle Rose has "built up a formidable contentious trusts and probate team" that is "really first-class" - Chambers & Partners 2021
"Michelle is just brilliant to have on your side. Not only is she personally lovely to work with, Michelle is a real expert and professional. Michelle's great intelligence and strategic approach singles her out … In my own profession I work with lawyers frequently: many of them are bright and impressive but none as capable as Michelle." - Client
"I expected expert legal advice, that is what I'm paying for. What I didn't expect was such compassion, sensitivity and personal service, it was amazing. Thank you." - Client
"She has a fantastic reputation. She's great and she gives very practical advice. If I were to instruct a litigator, I would want someone like her." - Client
"The outstanding Michelle Rose leads the team, and is empathetic, efficient and highly knowledgeable." - Legal 500
Head of the department Michelle Rose is ‘the visionary leading the firm from strength to strength’ and is currently acting on ten substantial and complex estates as an independent administrator." - Legal 500
"She is an extremely good lawyer and as sharp as a razor." - Chambers' HNW Guide
What You Might Like to Know
Michelle qualified as a solicitor at VWV in 1995 and has been leading the Private Client department since 2007.
Michelle was one of the first regional members of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS) and has been twice shortlisted to receive the ACTAPS Contentious Probate Solicitor of the Year Award.
Drawing her experience of the removal of Executors, Michelle had an article published in the leading journal, Trust Quarterly Review, entitled 'To remove or not to remove' on the law relating to the removal by the court of executors and trustees and has lectured on this subject. A version of this article also recently featured in the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPs) Journal.
VWV was successfully chosen as the winner of Corporate Intl Magazine's legal award 'Private Client law firm of the year in England 2016'. The awards recognise those who have shown excellence not only in expertise but in service and is based on independent research, focusing on how the business operates and the expertise the firm can offer.
Michelle is ranked within the 2022 Spear’s 500, a list of the top 500 private client advisers, wealth managers and high net worth service providers in the UK. She has also been shortlisted in The Law Society Excellence Awards 2018 for the prestigious 'Woman Lawyer of the Year' award.
VWV's Private Client team was announced as winners of the 'Trusted Private Client Law Firm' Global Award for 2016. This award showcases the achievements of the most successful and ground-breaking individuals and those who have had outstanding performances within the last year.
Out of the office, Michelle spends a lot of time with her family by the sea in Cornwall. She is looking forward to returning to travelling further afield when her children are a little older and is learning, slowly, how to create a beautiful garden.