Irwin Mitchell is a full service

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

in the United Kingdom, established in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 1912. The firm offers legal and wealth management services from its 17 offices, and employs more than 2,500 people. In 2018 the company was ranked 21st largest UK based law firm in terms of worldwide revenue, with a turnover of £241.8m.

History

1912 - 2009

Irwin Mitchell was founded by Walter Irwin Mitchell in

in 1912, concentrating on

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. The firm acted on behalf of various gangs during the

Sheffield Gang Wars The Sheffield Gang Wars is an umbrella term used to describe a large period between the 19th and 20th centuries in which the City of Sheffield saw a rise in criminal gang activity. The notoriety of some gangs led to the formation of the 'Special ...

of the 1920s. For most of the twentieth century, Irwin Mitchell was based solely in Sheffield. Over the course of this period the company evolved into a general practice, becoming particularly well known for its

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (t ...

work. In 1989 the firm opened an office in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, with a

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

office opening its doors in 1993 and a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

office opening in 1995. The company also made a number of acquisitions throughout the 1990s. Kershaw Tudor was acquired in 1994, then followed Teeman Levine (1995), Rigbeys (1996), and Braby & Waller in (1998). Irwin Mitchell continued its expansion in the early 2000s, opening a

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

office in 2003 as well as acquiring personal injury outfit Lorenzo Zurbrugg that same year. In 2005 the firm opened two new offices in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The year Irwin Mitchell moved internationally was also the year the firm's annual turnover broke the £100m barrier for the first time. The next year Irwin Mitchell merged with

and

medical negligence Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

firm Alexander Harris, which had offices in London,

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

and

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. This merger was quickly followed with the opening of a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

office in early 2007. 2007 also saw the firm get a foothold in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

when it acquired Golds, together with its

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

office.

Recent history (2010 - present)

In 2010 Irwin Mitchell became one of the first UK law firms to convert to a legal disciplinary partnership, which allowed non-

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

s to become

equity partner A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

s in the firm. The following year the firm announced its intention to become an alternative business structure (ABS), in order that it could seek external investment. In preparation for becoming an ABS, the firm created a new

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

. In 2012 the application to become an alternative business structure was approved by the Solicitor's Regulation Authority. This made Irwin Mitchell the nineteenth law firm to convert to an alternative business structure, and the first to do so under a “multi-licence”. Following the approval of the alternative business structure, the firm continued its expansion with a string of acquisitions and office launches over the next three years. This growth was financed in part by a £60m finance package that was announced in 2014, funded by

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...

and

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

. In 2013 the firm acquired personal injury specialists MPH Solicitors. This was followed in 2014 with new offices being opened in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Summer 2014 saw the firm launch a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with online insurer

esure Esure Group plc (stylised as ''esure'') is an Internet and telephone based insurance company based in Reigate, Surrey, England. It also has offices in Manchester and Glasgow. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquir ...

called IMe Law. This venture involved a team in the firm's Sheffield office providing legal representation for esure customers who have been injured in motor accidents. In November 2014 Irwin Mitchell announced the acquisition of Berkeley Law, a boutique firm based in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

. Berkeley Law was a specialist in advising high net worth individuals from the UK and abroad. 2015 saw Irwin Mitchell open a consulting office in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. Later that year Irwin Mitchell merged with Thomas Eggar, acquiring its network of five offices in London and the

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. The deal created a £250m turnover company and signalled a significant shift in focus, with 50% of the firm's income coming from business and private client work. In 2016 the firm launched a new proposition targeted at private individuals, called Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth. The proposition consolidated teams from Irwin Mitchell, Thomas Eggar, Berkeley Law and Berkeley Hurrell (Berkeley Law's

conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

subsidiary). In July 2019 the firm opened its 15th UK office, in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. In May 2022 the firm further expanded by opening offices in Cardiff and Liverpool Today the firm has 17 UK offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff,

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, Gatwick, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough (consulting office), Newbury, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield and Southampton. In 2018 Irwin Mitchell's turnover was £241.8m, with a

pre-tax profit In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, ...

of £12.1m. This makes the firm the 21st largest in the UK by global revenue.

Subsidiaries

Ascent Performance Group

Ascent is a specialist legal collections and recoveries business, formed in 2009. In 2012 the firm became an alternative business structure as part of Irwin Mitchell's “multi-licence” application. In 2015 Ascent acquired the commercial

debt recovery Debt collection is the process of pursuing payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. An organization that specializes in debt collection is known as a collection agency or debt collector. Most collection agencies operate as agents of ...

division of Sheffield-based P&A Receivables Services.

Coris UK

Irwin Mitchell operates the UK arm of the European network of the Coris Group. The network, established in 1987, assists insurers in managing injury and material damage claims in foreign countries. In 2012 the firm became an alternative business structure as part of Irwin Mitchell's “multi-licence” application.

Irwin Mitchell Abogados

In 2005 Irwin Mitchell expanded into

, offering

legal services In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professio ...

from offices in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In 2013 the firm sold off its Spanish offices to Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, also signing an alliance to work together in the future.

IM Asset Management

IM Asset Management was founded in 2005, and offers

financial planning In general usage, a financial plan is a comprehensive evaluation of an individual's current pay and future financial state by using current known variables to predict future income, asset values and withdrawal plans. This often includes a bu ...

and investment advice services to people who have received personal injury compensation. In 2018 IM Asset Management had over £600m funds under management. In 2017 the subsidiary launched the IM Wealth Management trading style. This brand offers financial planning and investment advice services, but to a broader investor audience.

Irwin Mitchell Scotland

Irwin Mitchell Scotland was incorporated in 2011 and has an office in Glasgow. The firm offers a range of legal services under

Scottish law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

References

External links

Irwin Mitchell LLP Homepage

Irwin Mitchell Recruitment Page
{{Law firms of the United Kingdom Law firms of the United Kingdom Law firms established in 1912 1912 establishments in the United Kingdom