Dibbs offshore team quits for Lawrences

The five-lawyer offshore tax and private client team at Dibb Lupton Alsop's London office has moved to join Lawrence Graham.

The team, which is headed by Andrew Young, includes partner Glen Hurstfield, Barry Lock, who will be a consultant at the new firm, and two assistants. It boasts the giant Far Eastern trading house The Jardine Matheson Trust Corporation as a major client, and last year had a turnover of £1m.

The move will make Lawrence Graham's tax and private client team the second largest in London, just behind Withers.

"Lawrence Graham has a complete cradle to the grave service," said Young.

Tim Thornton Jones, deputy head of the private client team at Lawrence Graham, said: "We've respected them a long time. They are a quality team."

The move promises to reinforce Lawrence Graham's leading position as a trust and personal tax tables specialist.

The firm also hopes it will be able to convert Young's wealthy Far Eastern business clients into commercial clients.

Outside London, Dibbs has been moving its private client lawyers off into separate firms. The London team, however, is understood to have been Alsop Wilkinson's most profitable group before its merger with Dibb Lupton Broomhead.

Roger Lane-Smith, Dibbs' deputy senior partner, said the team was excellent. "They feel their practice will fit more comfortably at Lawrences and we respect that," he added.