Strategy

EXCLUSIVE: UK Law Firm Pulls Specialist Teams Under Single New Brand

Tom Burroughes Group Editor London 20 April 2016

EXCLUSIVE: UK Law Firm Pulls Specialist Teams Under Single New Brand

Rebranding seems to be the order of the season as a UK law firm, Irwin Mitchell, puts its teams under a single name.

A group of law firms that are part of the Irwin Mitchell group are to be rebranded under the moniker of Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, as part of a rebranding exercise, WealthBriefing can exclusively report today.

The new brand covers the existing teams of Berkeley Law, Berkeley Hurrell, Thomas Eggar and Irwin Mitchell, according to a statement.

A number of firms in the private client, trust and fiduciary space have rebranded in recent years in the wake of mergers, or management buyouts, driven by the same desire to capture the benefits of scale that have also driven M&A in private banking. For example, yesterday, Appleby Fiduciary Business rebranded under the name Estera; Ogier Fiduciary Services rebranded as Elian after an MBO in the summer of 2014. In private banking, Credit Agricole Private Banking, the Paris-headquartered group, was rebranded as Indosuez Wealth Management.

Within the law firm sector specifically, there have been mergers leading to new names in the field, such as when Speechly Bircham and Charles Russell merged in 2014 and took on the name of Charles Russell Speechlys.

Berkeley Law, Berkeley Hurrell and Thomas Eggar’s wealth teams will begin the transition to the new banner at the start of May. When the process is finished, it will have more than 40 partners and nearly 500 staff in 15 locations across the UK supporting clients. Thomas Eggar’s teams and buildings will switch to the Irwin Mitchell brand on 31 May.

“The launch of Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth is the next stage of our journey to becoming a market-leading service for private individuals,” said Craig Marshall, chief executive of the personal legal services division of Irwin Mitchell.

The group offers services including succession planning, reputation protection, family and divorce, probate and estate administration and town and country property. It will advise business owners and executives on their personal business wealth including succession planning, intellectual property, business law employment, commercial property and tax.

In December last year, Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar merged and both firms said the link-up will create a top-five private wealth legal team. Mayfair-based Berkeley Law was acquired by Irwin Mitchell in November 2014 along with high-end conveyancing sister firm Berkeley Hurrell.

As far as Irwin Mitchell is concerned, that firm, with 17 offices across the UK, is more than 100 years old and has more than 2,600 staff. 

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