Neil Hudgell aims for capital gain following acquisition

The announcement by Neil Hudgell Solicitors follows its acquisition of work from the administrators of Harris Cartier, a litigation and corporate law firm based in London.

The acquisition is of mostly high value and catastrophic injury work.

According to a company spokesman, the deal underlines Neil Hudgell Solicitors’ plans to establish offices in London, in order to serve its growing numbers of clients based in the south of England. At this stage, the firm cannot say anything about the size or location of the office, the spokesman added.

Harris Cartier was one of the first firms to be placed into administration after failing to put in place Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance cover before the regulator’s October 1 deadline.

The joint administrators carried out an immediate sale to Neil Hudgell Solicitors and Gordon Dadds

Neil Hudgell, the managing director at Neil Hudgell Solicitors, said yesterday: “The acquisition from Harris Cartier is part of our wider and ongoing growth strategy.

“The establishment of a London base is also fundamental to our plans and has been on the radar for a while.

“We will now be actively seeking premises in the capital and staff with a view to be open by the end of the month. We anticipate that the acquisition from Harris Cartier will also be a prelude to further deals as other firms fail to obtain PI insurance cover and seek to dispose of work.

“We will contact all new clients who can be sure that their cases will be handled with the high level of customer care for which we are known.”

Neil Hudgell established his legal practice in Hull in 1997, and it now employs 100 staff in Leeds and Hull.

The firm specialises in claims for personal injury, medical negligence and professional negligence and serves clients across England and Wales.

In 2011 Neil Hudgell Solicitors launched www.webuyanyfiles.com, a venture which offers lawyers, insolvency practitioners, accountants and other professionals a confidential way to sell legal practices and cases.

To date, including this latest acquisition from Harris Cartier, Neil Hudgell Solicitors has completed 21 deals totalling more than £4m.

Analysts expect to see a flurry of law firm sales and mergers over the next few months, as the sector faces pressures linked to increased competition and regulation.

Last month, Richard Marshall, the Leeds-based managing director of Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley, told the Yorkshire Post that a significant number of law firms could find it hard to renew their PI insurance cover.

Almost a quarter of law firms in Yorkshire and the Humber are “at risk”, according to recent research carried out by R3, the trade body for insolvency profess- ionals.

Mr Hudgell thanked Phil Jordan at Ward Hadaway Solicitors and Zoe Holland of Zebra Consulting, who provided advice in connection with the Harris Cartier deal.