Mills & Reeve's new offices in Leeds and Manchester officially opened for business on Monday 4 February. The arrival of the family teams, formerly of Addleshaw Goddard, creates Europe's largest team of dedicated family law and divorce specialists.
The Leeds and Manchester launches take Mills & Reeve's national family law team to more than 40, including 8 partners. The teams are part of the firm's highly successful and nationally recognised private client division which contributes 20 per cent to total fee income. This latest expansion takes its strength to 84 partners and a total staff of more than 800.
The launch of the Leeds and Manchester practices follows the transfer of Addleshaw Goddard's family teams to the firm to grow the geographic presence of Mills & Reeve, who already operate in Birmingham, Cambridge, London and Norwich . Recognised by Chambers – the legal industry bible – as having "a superb reputation for managing all aspects of family law", the teams include a number of nationally and internationally recognised matrimonial experts offering unrivalled expertise.
The team in Leeds is headed by senior lawyers, David Salter and Philip Way , and in Manchester by Nigel Shepherd, each individuals with outstanding reputations and experience of handling complex cases involving multimillion-pound assets. David is cited by Chambers as "truly excellent", Philip is someone "you're in safe hands with" and Nigel is "a top practitioner with a solid approach".
Although divorce rates are now at their lowest levels since 1984, latest national statistics show over 132,562 couples split each year against 284,000 marriages, equating to around one in two relationships ending in divorce at current rates. Over half (53 per cent) have at least one child under 16, with a total of 125,000 children affected in 2006.
As part of its innovative approach to family law Mills & Reeve is the first legal firm in the UK to offer a comprehensive, free online resource to help support divorcing couples. Launched late last year, Divorce.co.uk is an information site to support couples through the legal complexities and emotional turmoil of a break up. Visited by over 25,000 people since November, the site provides easy-to-digest information and practical tips on managing the separation process while helping reduce the potential cost of divorce.
In addition to legal guidance, the service includes advice from professional psychologists and psychotherapists to help with the surrounding emotional issues that can affect couples and their wider family.
Nick Stone, head of private client at Mills & Reeve said today: "We have worked hard to build a family practice that is unrivalled not only in the quality of its expertise but its ability to offer specialisms in this highly complex area. The launch of our Leeds and Manchester teams adds even more nationally and internationally recognised experts to this team and is a major step forward in achieving our ambitions of becoming the country's leading firm for private client work by 2010."
David Salter, Joint National Head of Family Law, added: "Marital breakdown and divorce are highly emotional and potentially painful experiences in people's lives. There can be significant assets, businesses and complex financial arrangements in the equation that need skill and experience to resolve. Our aim is to make the whole process as painless as possible."
Mills & Reeve is recognised as pioneering developments in mediation and collaborative divorce law, advising a broad range of clients spanning entrepreneurs, landowners, media and sports people, including a number within the Sunday Times Rich List.