Overview
For the first time, the Law Firm Growth Summit will bring together leaders, innovators, investors and others who are changing the way that law firms approach growth. While traditional M&A remains an integral part of the picture, the spike in private equity investment has upped the stakes. And from acquisition by accountants and other non-legal businesses to employee ownership, ‘houses of brands’ and backing from alternative sources like litigation funders, there are more options than ever. This event will hear from those blazing a trail in this new world, and bring law firm leaders together with those who can fuel their growth.
Speakers
Crispin Passmore, Co-founder, Passmore & Oliver Partners
Crispin is a consultant to the global legal industry. He advises law firms, start-ups, and technology businesses on navigating regulatory frameworks, seeking investment and operating across jurisdictional borders. He also works with investors from venture capital through private equity to the largest asset managers and investment banks who are exploring and deploying capital in the global legal market. He was previously a regulator in England & Wales and has advised regulators around the world on regulatory reform and market liberalisation.
Ken Fowlie, Chair & CEO, Stowe Family Law
Stowe Family Law is a majority-owned portfolio company of Investcorp, a global investment manager specialising in alternative assets, including private equity. Ken has led Stowe since June 2019, first under the majority ownership of Livingbridge Private Equity and now in partnership with Investcorp. Ken is also the chair of Simply Conveyancing, a UK top-20 conveyancing provider and portfolio company of Livingbridge. Previously, Ken spent 24 years at Slater and Gordon – the world’s first listed law firm – serving on the company’s board for more than 10 years.
Gary Gallen, CEO, rradar
Gary Gallen is the CEO and founder of rradar, a new type of legal enterprise with offices in seven UK locations and a growing headcount of over 270. Under Gary’s leadership, rradar has become a significant force in the legal sector, winning numerous awards and being ranked in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners directories, as well as the Lawyer Top 200 Law Firms and the Times 250 Best Law Firms. Gary has pioneered the application of technology to achieve rradar’s core ethos: delivering cost-effective and accessible legal services.
Martin Holdsworth, CEO, IDR Law
In 2017, Martin founded IDR Law, the UK’s only law firm dedicated solely to contentious probate work. By 2025, IDR Law has grown to a 40-strong team, including 25 specialist lawyers and a dedicated triage team, making it the largest of its kind in the country. He has led the firm’s development of innovative legal tech solutions, including the IDR Law Claim Checker and IDR Law Protect suite of tools – Larke, Capacity Portal and BoMaD. Martin has championed IDR Law’s “familyflex” model, ensuring sustainable workloads and progression based on value, not targets.
Neil Lloyd, CEO, Lawfront
Neil Lloyd has over 20 years of experience as a CEO focused on buy-and-build and organic growth strategies across a range of industries, including IT, medical staffing, and dentistry. As a chartered accountant, Neil brings his financial expertise to his role at Lawfront. Throughout his career, Neil has been particularly interested in highly qualified people-based businesses and is committed to creating great places to work. He has been with Lawfront since 2022 and has seen the business grow from under £10m to over £130m in that time and from a single group firm to six.
Joanna Kingston-Davies, Co-founder, MAPD
Joanna is a different kind of CEO. Named one of the UK’s ’50 Leading Lights in Leadership and Kindness’ in 2019, Joanna brings an encouragement, a compassion and a nurturing approach to her leadership that supports her team to deliver outstanding results. She places huge value on emotional intelligence and is relentless in her pursuit of fairness and opportunity for others. Having started her working life in Paris over 25 years ago, Joanna brings a perspective and an energy to the way she works that tells her teams that they can and should bring their whole selves to work.
Will Evans, Managing Director, Guggenheim Partners
Will leads Guggenheim Securities’ European Professional Services efforts and has been one of the most active advisors across the UK legal services sector in recent years. Having trained as a chartered accountant at Deloitte, Will moved into investment banking over a decade ago and led Rothschild & Co’s mid-market professional services team before joining Guggenheim in late 2025. Will advises legal services businesses, and more recently full-service law firms, considering outside investment. He has considerable experience working through the LLP dynamics involved in any transaction and building investment theses that best resonate with private equity and the wider investment community. He most recently advised the partners at Higgs LLP on its investment from August Equity.
Andrew Gregory, Founder, Leonard Curtis Legal
Andrew is the founder of Leonard Curtis Legal, the Manchester-based law firm established within the wider Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group, which operates as a regulated alternative business structure providing multidisciplinary support to small and medium-sized enterprises and professional advisers. In a distinguished career, spanning over three decades, Andrew has significant experience in corporate restructuring, insolvency and business recovery. He now uses this knowledge to advise lawyers, law firms, funders and investors on all aspects of their business
Jeff Zindani, Founder & MD, Acquira Professional Services
Jeff has more than 30 years’ experience in the legal sector. He was an equity partner at Russell Jones & Walker, now Slater & Gordon, before founding a specialist M&A advisory firm focused on law firms. He now advises a broad range of practices on acquisition strategies and exit planning. He acts on both the buy-side and the sell-side and has built an impressive client base across the legal sector. Jeff is known for facilitating complex deals and providing clear, commercially grounded solutions for firms looking to merge, acquire, or reshape their operations. He guides clients through the entire transaction lifecycle, helping them maximise value across capital, work in progress, and goodwill.
Jay Bhayani, CEO, Bhayani Law and Executive Director, Make UK
Jay is a specialist employment law solicitor and an expert in her field with over 30 years’ experience. Jay set up her niche and highly innovative law firm in 2014 and sold the business to Make UK in 2024, achieving her goal to set up, scale and sell in 10 years. Using her experience of running a successful one-stop shop offering solutions for outsourced HR and legal advice, she contributes to Make UK’s strategic plans, alongside her ambitious plans for growth of the Bhayani Law brand. As part of the Make UK group, Bhayani Law offers legal and HR services to SMEs and charities not specific to the manufacturing sector.
Philip Young, Co-Founder & CEO, Garfield
Philip is the co-founder and CEO of Garfield AI, a web-based, AI-powered, software application that is authorised and regulated by the SRA. It is the first law firm authorised anywhere in the world to provide legal services via AI. Garfield assists businesses to recover debts of up to £10k through the small claims court process in England & Wales easily, quickly, and affordably. Previously Philip spent eight years at Baker & McKenzie, before co-founding Cooke, Young & Keidan in 2009. He co-founded Garfield AI in 2023 with physicist Daniel Long.
Mark Dawson, CEO, Beyond Law Group
Mark Dawson is CEO of Beyond Law Group, the award-winning firm that builds and operates specialist legal practices including Beyond Corporate Law, McAlister Family Law, Home Property Law, Vault Private Client and Hawkswell Kilvington Construction Law. As CEO, Mark leads the Group’s strategy, growth and operational performance, driving the creation of high-quality legal brands and supporting leadership teams across the business. A qualified lawyer of over 20 years, he previously specialised in private equity, M&A and buy-and-build strategies, becoming a partner in 2007, and later held senior executive roles in high-growth real estate and investment businesses.
Venue
Cavendish Venues – 1 America Square, 17 Crosswall, London EC3N 2LB
How to get to the conference
Travelling by train
The nearest train station is Fenchurch Street Station, which is a 2 minute walk. Liverpool Street and Cannon Street overground stations are both within a 10 minute walk or short taxi ride.
Travelling by underground
The nearest tube is Tower Hill or Aldgate – 3 min walk.
Tower Hill – District, Circle & DLR – 3 min walk
Leave Tower Hill Tube, walk up the steps, turn right away from the river and the Tower of London. Continue along Cooper’s Row towards the railway bridge. Immediately after the bridge turn right onto Crosswall and One America Square is on your right.
Aldgate – Circle & Metropolitan Lines – 4 min walk
Leave Aldgate Tube, cross the road, turn right towards the “Walkie Talkie” building. Take the first left on Minories, cross the road at the level crossing. Continue down the street, when you reach the traffic light crossing, cross the road and turn right down Crosswall, you’ll then see One America Square.
Travelling by car
There is no parking at the One America Square. The venue is within the Congestion Charge Zone and Ultra Low Emission Zone. The nearest car park is Tower Hill Car Park, which is also inside the Congestion Charge Zone.
