Clarke Willmott
Clarke Willmott LLP[edit]
Headquarters: Birmingham
Date founded: 1888
No of offices: 7[1]
No of lawyers: 250+
No of employees: 600+[2]
Turnover: £46.6m (2018)[3]
Company type: Limited liability partnership
Website: www.clarkewillmott.com
Clarke Willmott LLP is a UK mid-tier law firm headquartered in Birmingham. Established in 1888, it has seven offices across the UK; Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.
It is a full-service law firm, with particular expertise in private client matters, corporate and commercial law, intellectual property, debt recovery and the social housing and agriculture sectors.[4]
Clarke Willmott's clients include many household names; Lidl[5], Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, Starbucks, Superdry, UGG, Fat Face and Burger King.[6]
Management[edit]
Stephen Rosser is Clarke Willmott's Chief Executive. He joined the firm in 1982 and was first elected as CEO in 2010. He was re-allected again in 2018 and will remain in the role until May 2023.
History[edit]
The firm was founded by Charles Peard Clarke in Taunton.[7]
In 1888, Charles Peard Clarke articled with Messrs Reed & Cook in Bridgwater. He was admitted as a solicitor at the age of 21, and a year later set up his own practice in 6 Hammet Street, Taunton under the auspices of Reed & Cook. Shortly afterwards, he took over the office and practised on his own account together with five employees.
Clarke took a keen interest in the work of the Poor Person's Committee and was one of the early solicitors to take a Workmen's (Poor Person's) Compensation case to the House of Lords. A decision at Williton County Court by the then judge, the Honourable W B Lindley, had been reversed on appeal, and the County Court judge's decision was upheld by the House of Lords.
In 1912, Frederick William Willmott joined the practice, serving his articles and being admitted as solicitor. Willmott was clerk to the Somerset Justices from 1932 to 1954 and was Deputy Coroner during the 1939/45 war. Willmott was involved in many notable cases, perhaps the most famous being the murder trial of Woolmington in 1935, when he was solicitor for a Milborne Port man who was convicted of killing his wife by shooting her. After a Taunton jury had failed to agree, Woolmington was convicted by another jury at Bristol, following which appeals were taken all the way up to the House of Lords. The first criminal case ever to go the Lords.
Over the next century the firm grew as it acquired other practices in the South West. In 2001 Clarke Willmott expanded beyond the South West for the first time with an office in Southampton.[8] Today, Clarke Willmott has seven offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Southampton, Manchester and London.
Key dates:[edit]
- 1925 - Geoffrey Peard Clarke (son of Charles) joined the firm.
- 1927 - the firm of Mr W Booker of Wellington is acquired.
- 1945 - the firms of Mr P Hancock of Langport, Messrs Carne Hill & Wedd of Langport and Somerton, and Mr W Goode of Langport were acquired. A new office is opened in Yeovil.
- 1956 - 1957, the Crewkerne practice of Messrs Geare & Williamson was acquired.
- 1971 - an office was opened in Chard.
- 1973 - the practice and premises of J Ruscombe Poole in Bridgwater was acquired.
- 1983 - the practice of Messrs Sparkes & Blake is acquired.
- 1986 - offices were opened in Clifton, Bristol, followed by the acquisition of the practice of Mr J R Higson of Bristol.
- 1987 - the Worle office of Messrs Hall Ward & Fox was merged with the firm.
- 1989 - the firm acquired additional office premises at Ruishton Lodge, Taunton.
- 1990 onwards - Clarke Willmott implemented a programme of closing its smaller satellite, high street offices and amalgamated these practices into larger, modern offices.
- 1996 - the Bristol office relocates to the Welsh Back but following rapid expansion relocates again in 2000 to St James Parade.
- 1996 - the new Blackbrook office was opened.
- 2001 - Clarke Willmott acquires the Southampton practice of Ensor Byfield and sets up a Southampton office - the first office outside the South West.[9]
- 2003 - the Bristol office relocates to Georges Square.
- 2004 - the Southampton office relocates to Stoneham Gate.
- 2004 - Clarke Willmott acquired Birmingham firms Amery Parkes and Vernon & Shakespeare.[10]
- 2005 - Clarke Willmott closes its smaller Birmingham legacy offices at Northfield, Oldbury and Great Charles Street and move to brand new building at 138 Edmund Street.
- March 2006 - the Southampton office relocates to Botleigh Grange Business Park in Hedge End, Southampton.
- April 2006 - Birmingham merged with Heatons solicitors.
- June 2009 - the firm converted to a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
- April 2010 - Personal Injury department in Bristol was expanded through a merger with the Personal Injury team from law firm David Gist Solicitors.[11]
- November 2010 - the Birmingham office took over the client matters, deeds and wills of Arnold & Co of Oldbury.
- November 2010 - Clarke Willmott opens an office in Manchester.
- May 2011 - Clarke Willmott opens an office in Furnival Street, London.
- November 2011 - Clarke Willmott sells it's asset investment management business to Brooks MacDonald Asset Management.[12]
- April 2013 - the Clarke Willmott London office relocates to 1 Chancery Lane, London.
- August 2013 - Clarke Willmott Birmingham acquires the Wills clients and 10 members of the private client and commercial litigation after law firm Challinors goes into administration.[13]
- May 2015 - Clarke Willmott open an office in Cardiff.[14]
Notable cases and deals[edit]
- 2012 - Clarke Willmott won a negligence claim against HSBC in the Court of Appeal on behalf of a client who lost nearly £200,000 following poor investment advice.[15]
- 2016 - Clarke Willmott becomes a legal adviser to companies working in the supply chain for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.[16]
- 2018 - Clarke Willmott acted successfully for Lidl in a widely reported Court of Appeal case, Generator V Lidl. A property development company appealed against a previous court judgement that rejected their claim to an interest in land acquired by Lidl for development. The developer's claim was defeated, allowing Lidl to develop the land.[17]
- 2018 - Clarke Willmott assists entrepreneur Andy Scott to acquire the Bison Transport Group, a national haulage firm with an annual turnover of £12m.[18]
- 2018 - Clarke Willmott wins damages for clothing brand Fred Perry after a high street retailer admits to selling fake pollo shirts.[19]
Corporate and social responsibility[edit]
Clarke Willmott is committed to supporting the local communities that surround their seven regional offices. Each office chooses a charity to support – which becomes the focus of employee volunteering and fundraising for the next two years. In addition, each year all Clarke Willmott employees take part in a ‘Community day’ which they use to volunteer for a charity or community project.
Charities supported by Clarke Willmott include:
- Antislavery charity Unseen[20]
- Birmingham charity Sport 4 Life[21]
- Shelter Cymru[22]
- St Mungos
- St Ann's hospice[23]
- SERV Wessex[24]
- Pancreatic Cancer UK[25]
- SAVES: Somerset Accident Voluntary Emergency Service[26]
External links[edit]
This article "Clarke Willmott" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Clarke Willmott. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ "Contact a solicitor - Clarke Willmott - National Law firm". Clarke Willmott LLP. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Chambers and Partners". chambers.com. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Successful year reported by national law firm". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott". 2018-10-30. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Kinder, Tabby (2016-01-14). "Lidl turns to Clarke Willmott on £6m property row". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott". 2018-10-30. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott win HM Customs & Excise Debt Recovery contract | Linetime". linetime.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ April 2002, 29. "Clarke Willmott pads up for Ensor Byfield merger | News". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ April 2002, 29. "Clarke Willmott pads up for Ensor Byfield merger | News". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Post, Birmingham (2006-04-03). "Heatons team move to Clarke Willmott". birminghampost. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Clarke Willmott grows personal injury unit with merger". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Brooks Macdonald seals Clarke Willmott acquisition". Wealth Manager. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Law firm goes into administration". 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Ltd, Insider Media. "Clarke Willmott to launch Cardiff office". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Harris, Joanne (2012-09-14). "Clarke Willmott wins HSBC negligence claim in CoA". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott". 2018-10-30. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Generator Developments Ltd v LIDL UK GmbH, Court of Appeal - Civil Division, March 08, 2018, [2018] EWCA Civ 396". vLex. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott assists serial entrepreneur in 10th takeover | TheBusinessDesk.com". North West. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "High Street store sold Fred Perry fakes". 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott 'Whodunnit' Raises Thousands For Unseen". www.bbpmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Clarke Willmott Partnership". Sport 4 Life UK. 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Corporate Partners". Shelter Cymru. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ Ghayour, Philip (2018-10-05). "Manchester's Clarke Willmott announces 2019 charity partnership ⋆ Business Manchester". Business Manchester. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Southampton law firm chooses blood bikers as it charity of the year". Daily Echo. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Charity clay shoot pulls in £3,800". Somerset Chamber. 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ↑ "Taunton Lawyers Cycle A Hot 140 Miles For Charity". www.bbpmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
