Family Law Group becomes employee-owned trust
Family Law Group has become the latest organisation to embrace employee ownership trust (EOT) status, following other Cambrige example including TTP and Cambridge Pixel.
The family law specialists group, which has 10 centres, including one on Milton Road in Cambridge, will transfer ownership to its staff as a first step in empowering the firm’s lawyers and to support the strategic growth plan to become the leading family law firm in the country. The aim is to grow to 15 offices, creating up to 100 new jobs, and the launch of a national telephone advice line within five years.
Around 75 per cent of the group, which has more than 130 employees, will now be owned by the EOT, and all staff regardless of seniority will receive equal annual bonuses based on the firm’s performance. While the day-to-day running of the firm will remain with the existing management team, as an employee-owned business any decisions taken are now done for the benefit of all staff.
Simon Leach, director at Family Law Group, 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. 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 co-operative 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.
“We have already grown considerably over the last four years. 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.
“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 per cent employee-owned.”
He added: “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 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 Employee Ownership Association, said: “Businesses that give employees a stake and a say build trust and shared responsibility, therefore uniting leaders and employees behind a common purpose. This leaves the business in a better position to flex and adapt.”
