About Us
Our work and our passion
What Makes Us Different?
At Edward Young Notaries & Lawyers, we are passionate about helping our clients navigate international legal matters.
We know that the process can be confusing and difficult.
We try to simplify the process of Notarisation and make things as easy as possible for our clients to progress their transactions.
Our focus is to understand your needs and provide you with the most appropriate advice and documentation necessary to fulfil your requirements in an efficient and timely way.
We act for large companies and organisations as well as private individuals. Every client matters to us.
We also provide a range of Legal Services so please do take a look to see whether we can help you with your day to day legal needs.
What our Customers say...
extraordinary service + great communication
My father and I are so impressed by your extraordinary professional service, and how you helped us notarize a form with such fast turnaround.
Very Efficient
They've always been very fast and efficient with all work we've done with them, even when the documents had mistakes!
Our Journey
Inception
Our practice was established in Mayfair in 2004 by the late Mark Kober-Smith who ran the practice as Kober-Smith & Associates.
Mark was a very successful Notary who was very highly regarded by his clients. Some of his biggest achievemnts were as a lobbyist. Indeed many cite Mark as a champion of consumer rights having been instrumental in almost single handedly challenging the monopoly enjoyed by members of the London Livery Company, the Society of Scrivener Notaries.
Prior to 1999, Members of the Scrivener Notaries enjoyed a monopoly in the provision of Notary services within 3 miles from the City of London. This monopoly was ended by the enactment of s53 of the Access To Justice Act 1999.
Mark also lobbied on a European wide level and on 24 May 2011, the European Court of Justice held that it was not lawful to restrict the work undertaken by a Notary Public in a Member State to a national of the Member State. Many credit Mark’s efforts as being instrumental to the Court’s decision.
Sadly, Mark passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 27 January 2012.
New Beginnings
The practice was subsequently taken over at short notice by Edward Young who changed the name of the firm in October 2015.
The foundation laid by Mark has led us to having recognised as a respected and trusted firm which offers a wide variety of Notary and Legal services to clients in their business and personal affairs.
We have helped thousands of clients down through the years and our website attracts in excess of a thousand visits a week with people looking for information on Notaries in the United Kingdom and information on the work we do.
We now have a dedicated team who work tirelessly on providing you with the best service you can get.
Who We Are
Edward Young
Edward obtained a degree in Law and Government from Ulster University in Ireland, before taking the PG Dip in Legal Practice at the University of Law and qualifying as a solicitor in 2006.
He worked as a solicitor in a few London firms before obtaining the PG Dip in Notarial Practicing from Cambridge University and commencing practice as a Notary Public in 2009.
Edward established his own practice as a Notary Public in London in 2009 and in March 2012, took over Kober-Smith & Associates Notary Public in Mayfair.
As well as being able to offer the full range of Notarial Services in London, Edward’s legal and commercial background is often called into play from client’s seeking advice on legal issues affecting their private or business life, especially where there are overseas elements.
Outside of work, Edward loves Rugby, cycling, classical music and spending time with his family.
Wendy Yuk Wah Symon
Wendy originally hails from Hong Kong and came to Britain when she was eighteen years old. Although she has lived in the UK for many years, as a native Chinese speaker who can read and write both traditional and simplified Chinese text, Wendy is comfortable working within both British and Chinese language and cultures. Wendy’s legal and notarial work has included numerous instructions involving documents for use in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Wendy is also well-travelled globally, having spent time living in Germany and the Peoples’ Republic of China. As well as travelling throughout Europe, Wendy’s travels have taken her to places as diverse as the UAE, Iceland, Norway, the USA, the Caribbean, Canada, Australia, Morocco, Malaysia and, as she puts it “all the points of the compass in China”, which has helped develop Wendy’s understanding of issues that affect international clients.
Wendy came to notarial work through the traditional route, having qualified as a solicitor and specialising in real estate work (both residential and commercial) for some years.
After qualifying as a Notary Public, Wendy’s early part-time notarial practice in North London and the West End brought Wendy into contact with a diverse range of clients and instructions, both private and commercial, which she thoroughly enjoyed and which encouraged her to join Edward Young Notaries. Wendy’s cross-cultural influence shows through in the design used in her notarial seal which incorporates the dragon and the lion, these being key icons both in Chinese culture and history and the culture and history of England and Wales, where she practices.
In her spare time, Wendy is a keen traveller. She also enjoys ballroom dancing but would be the first to admit that she has two left feet.
Eleanor Fogan
Eleanor hails from Lancashire. After reading law at Exeter, Eleanor was not attracted to the traditional professions of barrister or solicitor. She answered an advertisement aimed specifically at men and in due course qualified as a Scrivener Notary, authorised to practice as a Notary Public in the City of London, the first woman ever authorised to practice as a Notary in the City of London since the notarial profession was established in England in the 13th Century.
Eleanor retired after over 30 years of notarial practice having worked both in the City, specialising in documentation relating to the purchase and financing of ships, and in the West End of London where she assisted corporate clients with large trade mark portfolios.
Throughout Eleanor’s career, she enjoyed working for individuals needing help with personal matters. She says her hairiest moments always seemed to involve animals!
After 2 years in retirement Eleanor was offered a locum post. She realised how much she had missed the challenges of notarial practice and accepted the offer.
Eleanor’s hobbies include conchology with a particular interest in shells in art and architecture. It is therefore not surprising that she chose a mollusc, the one providing the dye for the imperial purple in antiquity, as the motif on her notarial seal.
Eleanor is proficient in notarial matters in the Spanish and French languages with the ability to communicate in Portuguese and Italian.
Michael Greene
Michael is the Practice Manager of the firm. He has been working at Edward Young Limited for over ten years and can assist our clients in many ways, by taking your call or emailing you to help guide you through the often confusing world of Notary services and Legalisation. His experience in dealing with embassies means that he can often put your mind at ease.
Outside of his work in notarial services, Michael has always had a great interest in history, travel and literature. A self-proclaimed ‘foodie’ who wishes to continue to travel the world experiencing new cultures by way of their culinary art.
Living an active lifestyle, he is a sports enthusiast who enjoys a game of football, rugby or cricket.
His upbringing in London has provided him with a great knowledge of the city and how it ticks, it has also provided him with a great love of Arsenal Football Club, the team he has grown up beside.
His mixed heritage means he has a great appreciation of the diversity, a city such as London can provide
Susana Menezes
Susana is a Notarial Assistant with 14 years’ experience in English law firms and is likely to be the first point of contact when you call or email and she will be able to assist with anything from the simplest to even the strangest of requests with overseas jurisdictions.
Before becoming involved in the legal world, Susana qualified as a teacher in Portugal and taught Portuguese and English literature at high school level for over seven years.
Since moving to England, she has worked in a leading international conveyancing law firm and, for nearly ten years, with a Scrivener firm in the City before joining Edward Young in 2017.
Susana is a native Portuguese speaker and besides English, she is fluent in Spanish and you may even be able to twist her arm to speak a little French.
Susana comes from a long line of storytellers and is the granddaughter of a master baker, so in her spare time, she can often be found baking or working on her novel- that’s the next Nobel prize for literature, in case you are wondering!
Do You Have Any Questions?
Get in touch with us! Our outstanding customer support team will get back to you shortly.
