THREE separate deals – one of which involves Birmingham’s HBJ Gateley Wareing – to carve up the assets of struggling law firm Halliwells look set to be completed ahead of a deadline of tomorrow when the firm is due to appoint administrators.
Legal sources have indicated that the partners at London-based law firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert are understood to have completed a deal to take on the firm’s remaining insurance practice in Manchester after its Sheffield office separated in December to join Kennedys.
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, which recently opened its own practice in Manchester, will take on around 200 members of Halliwells staff who work for clients such as insurance firms Axa and Chartis.
A second deal which would lead to the Hill Dickinson taking on Halliwells’ Liverpool staff has yet to be announced, but it is understood that files were being transferred from Halliwells’ offices at Bruntwood’s Plaza building in the city over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Birmingham-based law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing is believed to have agreed the terms of its deal to take over the rump of Halliwells’ Manchester operations, including its corporate and real estate functions.
This deal, which initially looked like the least likely of the three, is also understood to have been approved by the firm’s partners.
Documents filed at Companies House show that the firm created a new separate Limited Liability Partnership known as HBJ Gateley Wareing (Manchester) last week.
