Wednesday, 16 Sep 2009
capital lawyers join forces
An innovative collaboration between Scottish law firm CCW LLP and Cardiff and London based lawyers Capital Law LLP is set to break down barriers created by separate legal systems in the UK.
The association sees senior members of each firm acting as consultants to the other, an arrangement which they believe will make it easier and more cost effective for client businesses to operate throughout Scotland, England and Wales.
John Clarke, a founding partner at CCW, which already has an office in Salisbury as well as Edinburgh and Dunfermline, said “Clients need and expect their lawyers to provide a rounded or seamless service which increasingly means helping resolve issues relating to overseas subsidiaries or working through legal wrangles about foreign terms and conditions. This has historically caused as many issues in the UK as further afield.”
The fact that Scots lawyers do not automatically qualify to advise on English and Welsh law, and vice versa, has meant that there has always been a need for lawyers to refer clients to other law firms when issues outside their areas of expertise arise. This, said CCW, can be problematic.
“Although CCW LLP has always encouraged its team to become dual qualified, the simple fact is that almost 20 years as members of a large international network have shown, time after time, that lawyers and clients alike recognise that the best people to advise on foreign issues are those working day in day out in those jurisdictions” said Mr Clarke. “When there is no existing relationship between the original firm and the firm to which the client is referred, this can quite often lead to mis-matches between the client’s expectations and the service provided - we are confident this unique partnership will overcome such issues, giving clients real peace of mind.”
CCW is no stranger to English and Welsh law. For example, Property partner Michael Dewar is dual qualified so already advises clients on English and Welsh and Scots law. However, the association with Capital Law will allow the firm to extend this service much further across its other core business areas which include corporate work, the creative industries and employment law.
Mr Clarke said “We are looking not only to widen our geographical reach but also to pool our resources. Capital Law will help us develop our employment law expertise and we will reciprocate by sharing our expertise in insolvency and business to business contracts.”
CCW has spent the last 19 years working within Avrio-Advocati, the international network of law firms, forging connections all over the world. It now has a bank of 36 known and trusted legal firms from countries well beyond the EU such as Turkey, Brazil, and China who it calls on to advise on their local laws. The result of this hard work, said the firm, is a cost-effective equivalent of overseas offices.
“It’s very rare for small to medium sized law firms to employ lawyers working in different countries” said Mr Clarke, “but clients still need cross border legal support. The growing culture of co-operation between law firms means that niche law firms like ours can now look to compete with the largest firms and offer an international service but at regional rates.Having already worked with them for sometime on a wide range of client issues, we are thrilled to have added a great firm like Capital Law to our team of associates."
Capital Law partner Viv Du-Feu said “This is a fantastic opportunity for each of our firms to build on the service we offer our clients. CCW and Capital Law are very similar in core business areas, culture and vision and we look forward to developing our already successful collaboration.”