Mills & Reeve LLP

Mills & Reeve LLP
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
No. of offices 6
No. of lawyers 400+[1]
No. of employees 890+[1]
Key people Justin Ripman
(Senior Partner)
Claire Clarke
(Managing Partner)[2]
Revenue £81.6 million (2014/15)[2]
Profit per equity partner £341,000 (2014/15)[2]
Date founded 1789 (Francis & Co)[3]
1880 (Mills & Reeve)
Company type Limited liability partnership
Website
mills-reeve.com

Mills & Reeve LLP is a British law firm headquartered in London. It employs more than 890 staff, including over 400 lawyers and 114 partners.[1] In addition to London it has offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester and Norwich, and is one of the UK’s 50-largest law firms by revenue.

History

The current Mills & Reeve practice was formed in 1987 by the merger of the Norwich-based Mills & Reeve and the Cambridge-based Francis & Co, forming Mills & Reeve Francis. The firm’s roots can be traced back to 1789 when the practice which was eventually to become Francis & Co was started in Cambridge by the 24-year-old newly qualified solicitor Christopher Pemberton.[3] The original Mills & Reeve was formed in Norwich in 1880 when Henry Mills and Edmund Reeve came together to undertake the legal work arising out of the development of the tram system in Norwich.[3]

Michelle Cookson was admitted to the partnership on the day of the merger of Francis & Co and Mills & Reeve in 1987, becoming the first woman partner in the Cambridge practice.[3]

The firm’s former Cambridge office from 1914-86 at 10 Peas Hill[4] is now the Pint Shop, the first new public house to open in Cambridge since 1999.[5] Mills & Reeve’s current Cambridge office is Botanic House, which was the winner of the 2013 BCO Midlands and East Anglia Best Commercial Workplace Award.[6]

In 2013, Mills & Reeve acquired the Manchester-based law firm George Davies.[5][7]

In September 2014 Mills & Reeve formed an exclusive "best friends" alliance with the French law firm Fidal.[8][9]

Notable staff

In 2014, Mills & Reeve employment partner David Mills won the over-45 doubles event at the 2014 British Closed Seniors' Grass Court Championships held at Wimbledon. Read more here. Fellow employment partner Richard Santy is an ex-professional tennis player and works in the firm's Birrmingham office.

Sports lawyer Mark Hovell works as an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body set up to settle sports-related disputes.[10] In 2013, the Mills & Reeve partner and head of the firm’s sport sector, discussed the legal implications of spot-fixing allegations in British football in an interview on Sky Sports News.[11]

In April 2016 Nigel Shepherd, National Head of Family Law, was appointed Chairman of national family law organisation, Resolution, which has more than 6,500 family law professional members who subscribe to a code of practice that promotes the constructive resolution of family problems and disputes. It is a move that has seen Nigel become the only lawyer to be national chair twice - last time being in 1995 to 1997.

In 2013, Mills & Reeve partner and head of the firm’s education sector Gary Attle, was named in The Lawyer magazine’s Hot 100, a list of lawyers who have made a real difference to the legal world over the last 12 months.[12]

Steve Allen, partner and head of the firm’s Birmingham office, is Vice President of the British American Business Council, a strong group of businesses, corporations, and SMEs engaged in transatlantic ventures.[13]

Ian Mather, partner and head of the firm’s Cambridge office, was named chair of Cambridge Ahead, a group of serial entrepreneurs and university influencers helping to fashion a powerful new influencing body in the Cambridge UK technology cluster, in April 2014.[14]

Family lawyer David Salter is a former President of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.[15]

Notable clients

Mills & Reeve has worked with Trinity College Cambridge since 1861 (as Francis, Webster and Riches).[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Key Facts", Mills & Reeve LLP. Retrieved 6 May 2014
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/behind-the-law/the-leadership-interview/mills-and-reeves-clarke-reveals-norfolk-as-home-of-the-trailblazer/3038336.article
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jackson, Christopher (September 1990). A Cambridge Bicentenary: The History of a Legal Practice, 1789-1989. Morrow & Co. ISBN 0948903082.
  4. ↑ Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (1902). The Law Reports. Queen’s Bench Division: Volume 2 (Report). Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 653.
  5. 1 2 Cambridge News - SLIDESHOW: Pint Shop becomes the first new pub this millenium to open in Cambridge city centre
  6. ↑ 2013 BCO Midlands and East Anglia Award Winner (Commercial workplace category)
  7. ↑ "Mills & Reeve and George Davies vote for £77m June merger". The Lawyer. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Fidal formalises best friends alliance with Mills & Reeve". The Lawyer. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Mills & Reeve's French connection strengthened". Birmingham Post. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ... Mark Hovell - managing partner at George Davis...". BCL Legal Recruitment. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Mark Hovell - Skysports news interview". ExecutiveInterviews.biz. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  12. ↑ The Lawyer Hot 100 – Gary Attle .
  13. ↑ BABC, Executive Committee members
  14. ↑ Business Weekly, Big Hitters Pile Into Cambridge Economic Powerhouse
  15. ↑ IAML, IAML member details - David Salter

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.