A law firm with offices around the region has been transferred into the ownership of its staff.
The Family Law Group has become an employee ownership trust – similar to the John Lewis business model – helping empower the firm’s lawyers to drive the business forward and become what they hope will be the biggest and best family law firm in the country.
Established in 2005, the group has more than 130 staff across 10 offices in Nottingham, Chesterfield, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Wellingborough, Derby, Loughborough, Peterborough, Bedford and Cambridge.
It provides legal advice across the family law matters including divorce and separation, child arrangements, social services, care proceedings, matrimonial finance and domestic abuse injunctions.
In the next five years management hope to grow the business to 15 offices, create up to 100 new jobs, and launch a national telephone advice line.
Three-quarters of the group will now be owned by the trust and all staff, regardless of seniority, will receive equal annual bonuses based upon the firm’s performance.
While day-to-day running will remain with the existing management team, as an employee-owned business, all decisions taken will be taken for the benefit of all staff.
Director Simon Leach said: “I am delighted that we have been able to finalise the transfer of ownership of this firm to the most important people within it, its highly talented staff.
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“This move is about empowering our lawyers to take ownership of the firm in respect of its direction and commitment to our core values and purpose.
“They will now have a greater input in to the day to day running of the firm, and the decisions that are made as we grow.
“My values align very strongly with those of the cooperative movement.
“I can think of no better application of such principles than a firm of solicitors whose product is the very people who will benefit from the EOT, namely, our lawyers and those who support them in their work.
“As a firm, we have already grown considerably over the last four years - we now have 10 offices and over 130 staff.
“It is imperative that we ensure our model is right to not only retain the lawyers who contribute to our success, but also to be able to attract the highest quality talent to our growing business.
“The move to an EOT is a way of ensuring the longevity of our firm. We really value our staff, and this was one way of demonstrating that. In the long term as we grow, we intend to become 100% employee owned.
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“We don’t intend upon standing still and we differentiate ourselves from other firms by not just targeting high net worth individuals, but by also ensuring that the most disadvantaged in society have access to our expert legal advice.
“In addition to the move to becoming an EOT, we have invested heavily in our IT infrastructure this year and have refreshed our brand. We are confident that these changes, and our whole ethos, will ensure that we continue to grow within the family law world.”
Deb Oxley, chief executive of the EOA (Employee Ownership Association), said: “We congratulate Family Law Group on its move to employee ownership – sustaining its values and independence for the longer term.
“Businesses that give employees a stake and a say, build trust and shared responsibility, therefore uniting leaders and employees behind a common purpose.”
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