Barristers slow to join LDPs


Champagne time: only a few barristers have so far celebrated becoming partners in law firms

There has been a slow move to make up barristers as partners in legal disciplinary practices, Legal Futures can reveal.

Figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) indicate that just nine barristers have so far become partners, although we have reason to believe that at least one of these is incorrect and are checking it.

We broke the news that Portia O’Connor of Pegasus Legal Research in the West Midlands was the first barrister confirmed as a partner by the SRA (see story), and have also reported on Nicole Curtis at Penningtons.

Since then, the records – using both the SRA and the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service (which uses SRA data) – indicate that other partners include: Kevin Charles of Crossland Employment Solicitors in Didcot; Richard Martin, a criminal defence barrister at Knight Polson in Hampshire; Simon Williams at Newcastle-based shipping and international trade firm Mills & Co; Carmen Dowd of Cheshire firm S E Law; and Abdullah Al-Yunusi of criminal law firm MPR Solicitors in Twickenham.

Other firms have announced barrister partners but the SRA records do not yet reflect this: Mills & Reeve has made up Richard Sykes, an education specialist, while US firm Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson intends to appoint James Kitching as a partner once the barrister’s notice period at fellow US firm Bryan Cave is up. Nick Cherryman, a barrister turned solicitor, has already made the switch from Bryan Cave to become a partner.




Leave a Comment

By clicking Submit you consent to Legal Futures storing your personal data and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy and section 5 of our Terms & Conditions which deals with user-generated content. All comments will be moderated before posting.

Required fields are marked *
Email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog


Legal project management – a mindset lawyers can easily apply

Where budgets are tight, lawyers will be considering what’s in their existing arsenal to still improve productivity. One effective, accessible and cheap tool is legal project management.


How a good customer journey can put your business on the map

Good customer service should be a priority for any business and, if you want to stay ahead of the competition, something that’s constantly under review.


The CAT’s welcome boost for the funding industry

There was welcome guidance from the Competition Appeal Tribunal this week for funded cases looking for certainty following PACCAR, with the renegotiated Sony litigation funding agreement upheld as lawful.


Loading animation