Barrister and accountant to be COLP and COFA of Stobart law firm
No further details of 'Stobart Solicitors' until formal announcement
A Manchester barrister and a Stobarts accountant are to be COLP and COFA of a law firm set up by Stobart Barristers and already dubbed 'Stobart Solicitors'.
Trevor Howarth, legal director and founder of Stobart Barristers, has described One Legal Limited, granted an ABS license by the SRA on Monday, as the "last piece in the jigsaw". Along with Stobarts Barristers, there is a Stobarts Claims Management Company.
Tim Edge, a barrister specialising in personal injury and employment, is based at Deans Court Chambers in Manchester.
According to the chambers website, One Legal's COLP acts both for employers and employees in the public and the private sectors.
"His practice ranges from unfair dismissal and redundancy claims to the more complex, sensitive or multi-party discrimination, transfer of undertakings, working time, whistle-blowing and equal pay claims.
"He is regularly instructed by in-house solicitors in local government and industry, as well as solicitors in private practice."
Edge's personal injury practice is described as being "split equally between claimant and defendant work, often involving cases of high value or technical complexity or fraud".
Areas of work covered include industrial and occupational diseases, road traffic, rail and general employers' liability work.
Edge graduated at Oxford, was called to the Bar in 1992 and appointed a recorder in 2009.
One Legal's COFA is Andrew Whaling, currently a CIMA-qualified accountant at Stobart Business Services. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was an accountant at Capita between 2008 and 2012 and before that an assistant management accountant at English Village Salads.
One Legal's practising address in Manchester, 1 King Street, is the same as Stobart Barristers.
Howarth said he did not want to give any details of other staff at One Legal prior to a formal announcement, expected in the next few weeks.
His suggestion earlier this year that Stobart Barristers could bid for a criminal legal aid contract provoked a furious reaction from criminal lawyers, and the slogan 'Truck off Grayling'.