Cartwright King and The First Law Partnership, two firms with big aspirations, are merging as part of Cartwright King’s ambitious expansion plans, taking the enlarged firm’s number of offices to 14, employees to 230 and turnover to over £13million.
The deal takes effect from 5th January 2015 and considerably extends Cartwright King’s presence into The Home Counties and South Midlands with new offices in Reading, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough and Northampton.
The First Law Partnership merger will make Cartwright King one of the largest criminal defence firms in the country, alongside its other key practice areas including Family and Immigration.
Commenting on the deal, Rupert Hawke, managing director of Cartwright King, said: “This very exciting development will expand our national brand. The team at The First Law Partnership has a very similar ethos to ourselves in terms of access to justice and I think the skills that we will have within the enlarged business will be of great benefit all round. This is part of our continued expansion plans, around which we welcome enquiries from firms across the UK”.
Simon Campbell, CEO of The First Law Partnership, added that: “The directors and staff here are very excited and enthusiastic about teaming up with Cartwright King, which sends out a very positive signal to the profession.”
This latest development follows on from the recent absorption by Cartwright King of the Bastian Lloyd Morris (BLM) criminal defence team in Milton Keynes. BLM became Cartwright King’s ninth office, alongside London, Birmingham, Newcastle Gateshead, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester.
This latest expansion will also add to the firm’s in-house chambers, bringing more barristers and higher court advocates to their growing crown court practice.
