Time to move forward

You may have seen recent press coverage about the travails of?RBG Holdings plc, the company which owns the former firms Memery Crystal and Rosenblatt.

Law firms?are essentially "human" businesses. In reality they are not much more than a ring drawn around collective endeavour and?forged through years of service. They are just people and tradition. Some can thrive for centuries. So to see?a law firm taken?from established?City name to broken shell in three years, has been an extraordinary and painful experience.

One can point to many factors, including the unbearable financial pressures heaped on the business. But, in my personal view, the failure can better be traced to the fact that?the firm stopped acting as a partnership and instead was defined, (to use?management's oft-repeated phrase) as "a business that throws off cash". That may be true, but it misunderstands what drives a professional service business: professional service.

I am really very sorry for the staff and colleagues who have been directly affected by the demise of Memery Crystal. They are a talented and kind group of people. I'm pleased to hope that they will soon find their skills in demand?elsewhere.?Even so, it is a hard thing for anyone to be told that they are not going to be paid, and need to find a new job. ?

The overriding priority for me has been?to find the best home for our team and for those clients that we serve, to deliver continuity of advice and representation.

Having considered several offers, I am delighted to announce that we?have all accepted a?new home at Keystone Law.?

There are really three factors driving that decision, and so I?want to end with three "thank yous".

• First is to the folks at Keystone,?which has already proved itself to be an amazing environment for us. Everyone we have met and worked with has executed with speed, foresight?and evidently genuine enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve. In short, they offer the platform and resources to allow us to serve clients more effectively than ever before. (My special thanks go to Mark Machray, and also to a couple of KS partners who gave wise counsel on what to expect). Keystone has some real talents, and above all a genuinely different approach to the business of law and lawyering.

• Second, to my companions on this mission. We are a team of four lawyers?comprising Liam Hill, Oscar Kent-Egan, Philip Brooks and me. They are talented team, each with different insights and skills, who have also instinctively understood that we can achieve very much more by thinking and working collectively.?

• Last, and most important,?is to all those clients and friends who have offered words of support, and promises of instructions during the last hectic weeks. Without that encouragement it would be hard to make such a brave change. So thank you very much. And please keep coming!?

Right. The next weeks will involve a lot of hard work. So it's time to begin.???