Golds to merge with Irwin Mitchell
13 Mar 07
New firm will be largest supplier of commoditised legal services in the UK
Glasgow law firm Golds is to merge with English giant Irwin Mitchell from 1 April.
The new firm will be called Irwin Mitchell and will be the largest supplier of commoditised legal services in the UK.
With over 2,300 staff, including over 1,200 fee earners, the newly merged firm will be the fourth largest law firm in the UK by number of fee earners, with offices in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Sheffield as well as the Spanish cities of Marbella and Madrid.
Irwin Mitchell is known for its provision of commoditised legal services, particularly in the insurance sector. The firm is also a leading personal injury and medical negligence litigation practice.
Golds is Scotland’s top volume supplier of mortgage lending, commercial lending and recovery services to financial institutions. It is also the country’s largest provider of commoditised services in the insurance sector, where it has worked closely with Irwin Mitchell for some years. It opened a Manchester office four years ago.
Both firms have developed a range of legal products for national organisations, institutions and companies which can be packaged and sold under their own brand.
Howard Culley, managing partner of Irwin Mitchell said: “The present government has been clear in its intention to streamline the delivery of legal services, increase competition within the UK’s legal sector and ensure that a better legal service is provided to consumers. Irwin Mitchell has supported the proposed changes to the legal industry set out in the Legal Services Bill.
“Realising the opportunities that a deregulated market will offer, our aim is to position the firm as the leader in the delivery of volume legal services in the UK while continuing to develop our specialist areas of practice."
He added that the merger would also create a base to promote Irwin Mitchell's market leading personal injury and clinical negligence services in Scotland.
Craig Marshall, managing partner at Golds, said: “The two firms have enjoyed a close relationship for a number of years. We are extremely strong in markets which are different, but which have at their heart market-leading technology, process design and capacity management skills.”