Citywealth Leaders List, 60 seconds interview – Diva Shah, Kingsley Napley

Date: 05 Aug 2026

Karen Jones

This week’s 60 seconds Citywealth Leaders List interview is dedicated to Diva Shah, Private Client Legal Director at Kingsley Napley.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I am a Legal Director in the Private Client team at Kingsley Napley. I advise high‑net‑worth individuals, entrepreneurs, families, trustees and executors on succession planning, including company/business succession, Wills and probate. I have particular expertise in advising business owners on succession planning, helping them navigate key milestones, including pre‑exit planning, governance arrangements for family businesses and start‑ups, family charters and the use of family investment companies as a long term wealth planning tool. What I enjoy most is helping clients navigate significant life events and ensuring that their plans reflect not just tax and legal considerations, but also their family values and long-term objectives.

What does a typical day look like for you?

No two days are ever quite the same, which is one of the aspects I enjoy most about my role. A typical day might include meeting clients, drafting a complex tax succession planning note, drafting family investment company documents, preparing a Will or working through complex probate estate accounts. I also spending time mentoring our trainee, as a trainee supervisor and supporting the firm’s REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) committee in my role as co-chair.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received. 

Recently, I have been working with several entrepreneurial clients who following a business exit are establishing family investment companies as part of their longer-term succession and wealth planning strategies. What makes these matters particularly interesting is that they are rarely just about structures or tax. They often involve helping families think about how responsibility, decision making and opportunity will pass between generations, which can be just as important as the legal framework itself.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

Clients are increasingly dealing with a combination of complexity and uncertainty, whether arising from changing tax legislation, international considerations, or the challenges of passing wealth or businesses to the next generation in a structured and harmonious way. For business owners in particular, succession planning can be as much about people and governance as it is about tax. I work with clients to create clear, practical frameworks that balance control, flexibility and fairness, often involving the next generation in discussions early on to help manage expectations.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

As cliched as it might sound, becoming a Legal Director. Having started my career at Kingsley Napley and trained at the firm, becoming a Legal Director feels particularly meaningful. It reflects not only professional progression but also the trust that clients and colleagues have placed in me throughout my career.

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

Listening, empowering and leading by example. The best leaders I have worked with have been approachable, supportive and willing to invest in others, and I try to bring those qualities to my own leadership style. I see leadership as a responsibility to grow capability and confidence in others. This means providing honest feedback, mentoring talent, and supporting career progression. I firmly believe that when the whole team succeeds, everyone benefits.

Who do you most admire and why?

My parents, but in particular my mother (sorry, dad!). As an immigrant to the UK from East Africa, she faced significant obstacles including cultural barriers, discrimination and limited work opportunities. Despite having no formal further education, she attended night school whilst working and raising a young child to pursue a very successful career in the City, which was no mean feat for a South Asian woman in the 90s. Her resilience, determination, work ethic, and independence are an inspiration and I hope to live up to the example she set.

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

I am trying to cross a number of places of the bucket list! I was in Gothenburg and Lisbon earlier this year both for entirely different reasons. Gothenburg reminded me why I love the calmness and simplicity of the Nordic countries, while Lisbon couldn’t have been more different – vibrant, colourful, full of energy and amazing food.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

I always wanted to be a journalist when I was younger, although for a period I was equally convinced I would become an archaeologist thanks to a childhood obsession with Indiana Jones. So perhaps something connected with storytelling, investigation or discovery.

How do you relax after a long day?

Changing into pyjamas almost as soon as I walk through the front door is usually the first step. My ideal evening would involve a home-cooked meal (courtesy of my wonderful husband), a long walk in the local meadows, some reading or Lego, and finishing the day with a good Netflix series.

Kingsley Napley’s Citywealth Leaders List profile

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