Specialist law firm launches in York

TWO partners have launched a specialist York law firm geared towards the SME market.

Legal business Torque Law specialises in employment law. It was founded by Tiggy Clifford and Emma Whiting, both who have moved from large law firms.

The pair have a combined 30 years’ experience advising Yorkshire-based business.

Ms Clifford was formerly a partner at Denison Till and latterly director and head of employment at Newtons.

Ms Whiting was formerly a partner and head of the Leeds employment team at Addleshaw Goddard.

Over a few glasses of wine the friends decided to strike out on their own with Torque

Torque Law will be opening its doors in Nether Poppleton, York from 5 September 2016, having already received the relevant approvals through from the SRA in record speed.

Ms Whiting said: “Neither Tiggy nor I have been business owners before in the true sense, having identified a gap in the local SME market for good quality, bespoke HR legal services at affordable prices and after many discussions over a glass or two of wine at some local hostelries, we hatched a plan to strike out on our own and establish a new law firm, to plug that gap.

The team aspect was very important to us. We’d both contemplated setting up ourselves in the past as sole traders or consultants but knowing that you’ve got someone you trust and respect to share the successes with, as well as shoulder some of the burden of running a business, was a very big draw for us both.

“From a personal perspective the timing felt right to do something different too. We’re both mums to two primary school-age girls and we wanted to wrestle greater control back to be able to invest more quality time with our families whilst also having a fulfilling career in employment law, which we are both very passionate about.

“As owners of our own specialist employment law firm, we’re now both much better placed to be able to achieve this for ourselves.”