Public sector specialist becomes ABS

A niche firm specialising in work with public sector organisations and charities is the latest ABS.

Mark Johnson, managing director of TPP Law, said although the firm was already an LDP, the move would allow it to attract the external investment it needed to increase its share of a “very challenging” market.

Johnson told Solicitors Journal that TPP was not interested in investment from private equity firms but in collaboration with external consultants active in the public services sector.

“Some consultants are interested in offering legal services as part of the overall stable they offer to clients,” Johnson said.

He said this would enable TPP to increase its market share in a situation where there was “a lot of competition for a reduced amount of work” and “casual conversations” had already taken place, with more formal discussions expected in the future.

“There is a trend towards public sector organisations using panels and working with a smaller number of law firms,” Johnson said.

“The ability to offer a large team is one of their criteria and it is not favourable to small niche players.”

TPP became an LDP in September last year, when practice manager Jayne Hughes became a third director.

Hughes, a former IT manager at SJ Berwin, joins Johnson and Owen Willcox, a solicitor specialising in charities, social enterprises and local government. Willcox will be the COLP and Hughes the COFA.

TPP is based in central London and has an office in Macclesfield, Cheshire. It became a limited company in 2001.

Johnson added that the five month process of obtaining approval for its licence from the SRA had been “rigorous and demanding” and involved “extensive checks by the Solicitors Regulation Authority on the capabilities of our management team, our business plan and governance structure”.