A personal injury firm with designs on being the biggest specialist provider in the country has snapped up two more practices.
Express Solicitors will have a total staff of around 650 after confirming deals to purchase Manchester firms Amelans Solicitors and Jefferies Solicitors. No financial details were disclosed.
Express, which is moving to new premises capable of housing 1,000 staff, says it is now on the lookout for more potential acquisitions in what is an increasingly consolidated personal injury market.
Almost 50 staff will transfer from Jefferies Solicitors, which was established 25 years ago by Michael Jefferies who is leaving the business.
Jefferies said: ‘I am personally at a stage in my career where I’m looking to move onto other projects. We have been incredibly careful when selecting a firm to look after our staff, and the firm’s clients. Finding a firm with the same ethos was a vital factor.’
Among the incoming cohort is partner Monina Ramsden, a part time deputy district judge, who joins along with her catastrophic injury team.
Amelans senior partner Andrew Twambley and finance partner Denise Wilkinson join Express Solicitors as consultants to ensure the smooth integration of the practices. Twambley is a well-known figure in the personal injury field. He was victorious in the House of Lords in 2001 in the landmark Callery v Gray case and formed the claims firm InjuryLawyers4u.
Announcing the Amelans purchase, Express managing partner James Maxey said: ‘We have worked closely with Amelans Solicitors for many years, and they are very local and dear to us, being based in Didsbury. They are a great firm with a trailblazing reputation, with lawyers who like us, are brave enough to challenge the law and create new standards.’
During the acquisitions, Express Solicitors was advised by corporate firm O’Connors Solicitors of Liverpool; Jefferies Solicitors was advised by Andrew Sturge of Bexley Beaumont together with Lauren Roberts and Danielle Tierney of Hurst’s. Amelans Solicitors was advised by Bennett Briegal.
