Innovators | Parabis
How two law firms acting for both sides of the insurance claims sector are growing to offer end-to-end services to the industry
Parabis Group offers a range of legal and related services to both sides of the insurance claims sector.
At its core are two separate law firms: Plexus Law, which is acting for defendants, and Cogent Law, which is acting for claimants and sits behind the legal services offered by the AA and Saga.
Since setting up in 2002 Parabis, under the leadership of CEO Tim Oliver (pictured), has added non-law components to its offering, including loss adjustment, investigation services, and rehabilitation services.
It received investment from private equity house Duke Street earlier this year (2012) and became an alternative business structure on 22 August – the 20th SRA-licensed ABS and the first with private equity backing.
Duke Street, whose other interests include restaurant chain Wagamama, took just over 50 per cent in Parabis in February 2012.
It has indicated it would continue to grow the business as part of its usual “buy and build strategy”, according to Duke Street partner Iain Kennedy, before considering an exit strategy in five years.
Parabis is reported to be in talks with a number of other insurance firms over possible acquisition.
Parabis Law LLP – the organisation which was granted the ABS licence – has grown revenue by 25 per cent in the past four years.
The business had a turnover of £108m last year (2011-2012), about £50m short of the £160m expected at the time of the Duke Street deal.
The business employs 1,184 staff, about half of whom are paralegals.
Its non-law businesses include Argent, which provides liability adjusting, property adjusting, risk management, rehabilitation, health and safety, and audit legacy, and Parabis Claims Solutions, which offers outsourced claims handling, fraud investigations, motor investigations, rehabilitation, and vehicle solutions.
Commenting on Parabis’s ABS licence group CEO Tim Oliver said it was “a milestone” that signalled their intention to be “at the heart of change in the insurance and legal sectors”.
“We are very excited by the possibilities now open to us. This is a fast-changing, highly–competitive market. It has been important to secure ABS status so that we can compete effectively and retain our innovative edge,” Oliver said.