Leading regional law firm Howes Percival is targeting further national expansion of its insolvency team following the acquisition of Summers Nigh Law, and the recruitment of Michael Green, Weightman's former National Head of Restructuring/Insolvency.
Summers Nigh Law is a niche insolvency firm with a significant number of local and national clients in the development & construction, manufacturing, technology, automotive, food & drink, agriculture and education sectors. Summers Nigh Law's two partners, Katie Summers and Deborah Nigh, together with their five support staff have transferred to Howes Percival's nationally recognised insolvency team. Katie and Deborah have joined Howes Percival as partners.
Michael Green joins Howes Percival from Weightmans' London office where he headed the Disputes Team in London and was National Head of Restructuring/Insolvency. Michael has over 20 years' experience of dealing with large complex commercial disputes and also sits as a part-time Judge on the South East Circuit and as a Chancery Judge in London.
The latest expansion follows a period of sustained investment and growth for the firm as a whole, and Howes Percival's insolvency practice specifically. In recent years, the firm has opened new offices in Cambridge, Manchester and Milton Keynes and seen partner numbers grow from 28 to 43.
In 2014, corporate and personal insolvency expert, Carl Mifflin was recruited from Shakespeares to establish a new insolvency practice in the East Midlands. Carl now heads up the insolvency team nationally.
In addition to acting for insolvency practitioners nationally, Howes Percival's insolvency team acts on a variety of disputes for two Government departments. Led by Alison Kirby and Morris Peacock, the firm is contracted to HMRC to act on civil fraud and insolvency related work and The Insolvency Service.
Earlier this year, Howes Percival significantly extended its Government work, when in consortium with PwC, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP and Sharpe Pritchard LLP it was selected to the Crown Commercial Services General Legal Services Panel for Central Government as a Tier 1 Provider.
Geraint Davies, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution and Litigation at Howes Percival commented; "At Howes Percival, we've always had a strong reputation for insolvency work. Over the last three years we have strengthened our offering, investing in new offices and locations as well as broadening our expertise with some significant hires.
"We are delighted to welcome Katie, Deborah and their team to Howes Percival. The acquisition of Summers Nigh Law further reinforces our position in the insolvency sector and is the latest demonstration of our ambitions to grow our practice nationally. Katie and Deborah are well known to us, not only from their superb reputation in the insolvency world, but also because both of them started off life as trainees in our Northampton office. They know the culture here and our ethos and, as a result, we are very confident that they will be a great fit with both the firm and our clients."