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After a number of years as senior partner at Steed & Steed, retirement sees the stepping down of Geoffrey Challacombe who is handing over to long-standing colleague, David Sneezum.

David Sneezum heads the firm’s matrimonial department and, like Geoffrey Challacombe was articled with the firm and has spent 37 years practising from the present offices in Gainsborough Street. He gained a degree in French before entering law and his legal experience includes spending nearly two years as deputy district judge with Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds County Court, although he enjoyed the experience he stepped down because of preferring the client contact of a legal practice.

During his 42 years with Steed & Steed Geoffrey Challacombe has been involved in a number of local organisations, both professionally and privately. For many years he has been clerk to ancient alms house charities in Lavenham and Long Melford and will be handing over the responsibilities to fellow colleagues in the office. However, his retirement will give him more time to devote to private interests, which include the role as managing director trustee of the town’s Quay Theatre; chairman of the Red House Welfare Housing Society and a trustee of Sudbury Common Lands. Geoffrey in looking back over his long and varied career commented that he had particularly enjoyed the traditional role of a local solicitor in looking after wide ranging interests of his clients – sometimes several generations of the same family. But with ever increasing legislation, the move today is towards specialisation within a practice, which is an efficient way forward, but takes away the traditional role of the all-rounder.