FFW IP head Mark Abell claims "ambush" ahead of Bird & Bird move
Field Fisher Waterhouse’s (FFW) head of IP and IT Mark Abell has resigned to join Bird & Bird.
FFW’s management has in turn suspended Abell from the partnership in a move which it says “protects the interests” of the firm.
A brief statement from FFW today said: “We can confirm that Mark Abell has resigned from the partnership of Field Fisher Waterhouse to join another firm. To protect the interests of the firm, the supervisory board has suspended Mark from the partnership. We cannot comment any further at this stage.”
Speaking to The Lawyer, Abell claimed he was “ambushed” in a meeting with the supervisory board and executive committee, which is led by Dominic Gurney-Champion.
He said: “I’ve been in negotiations with the firm for an orderly and good-natured exit and I have absolutely no idea why yesterday I was called to a meeting and told they wanted to put me on gardening leave.
“No explanation was given. I thought the meeting was to finalise the terms of my departure. I was surprised and had no idea. I wish the firm no ill. I’ve been there for 28 – mostly happy – years. All I was asking was to be allowed to fulfil the potential of my practice.”
Abell said he was leaving because he was the “highest qualified lawyer” in his field and wanted to take his practice to the next level with the international scope that Bird & Bird offers in the Middle East and Far East.
He said he had “outgrown the firm”.
“I’ve been completely open with them about my desire to move to a more developed international platform of substance. I made this quite plain more than two months ago. I was open and candid. I was told I would be missed but my understanding was that we agreed a convivial and amiable exit. Instead I was ambushed,” Abell claimed.
He added: “Bird & Bird is the perfect strategic fit. I need a platform that’s global and that’s got the highest level of appropriate skills. I want to do nothing other than build the biggest and best practice in the world. I know I can do it.”
Abell’s resignation follows earlier news of German head and IP specialist Joachim Feldges’ departure for Allen & Overy’s Munich office (6 November 2012).
Tensions within FFW’s partnership have been blamed for two failed mergers with Lawrence Graham (28 June 2012) and Osborne Clarke (14 November 2012). FFW managing partner Matthew Lohn, who was the driving force behind the LG merger talks, has been on leave since the summer. He has just returned to the firm.
In his absence, technology and outsourcing head Michael Chissick is filling in on an interim basis.
In 2011 Abell resigned from the firm’s management board (5 December 2011). A clause in the FFW partnership agreement prevented Abell from standing for managing partner (24 September 2012).
Readers' comments (24)
Ann Onymus | 4-Feb-2013 6:09 pm
What goes around comes around.
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Barbara Cookson | 4-Feb-2013 6:09 pm
I know exactly how he feels. Watch out for the motorbike from Herbert Smith
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Tommy | 4-Feb-2013 6:10 pm
Not in the best interests of his clients though. Law firms need to understand it is a people business and clients don't take kindly to stunts like this.
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Meg Lomaniac | 4-Feb-2013 6:10 pm
@Barbara... What on earth are you talking about?? Abell's maniac ramblings above just go to show what a loose canon he was for FFW. Bet they are glad to see the back of him.
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Davie | 4-Feb-2013 6:10 pm
For those who understand the market, this is hilarious. Bird & Bird is not the right platform and there is obviously no clear strategy there!
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Anonymous | 4-Feb-2013 6:11 pm
One wonders what Bird & Bird are doing. Did nobody there hear his absolutely appalling performance on the Today programme?
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Massive Fan | 4-Feb-2013 6:11 pm
I for one will certainly be following Mark Abell to Bird & Bird. For reasons that he has accurately described above most of us "sophisticated purchasers of legal services" consider him to be the leader in his field, the go to guru and pretty much the final word in law by numbers agreements. However, it is the added-value bits that we go for, the ability to self-promote from under his bed in a beseiged Mumbai hotel, and his unwiltering self-confidence. This is the reason that I shall never return to FFW for IP advice, Abell all the way.
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Anonymous | 5-Feb-2013 1:30 pm
Oh my word. He went to The Lawyer with all those quotes. That will go down well with Birds. Unbelievable ego. Unbelievable hubris. If he's half as good as he and his avatar Massive Fan think he is then in three years all will be sorted but he should wind his neck in, do a bit of gardening (like every other big hitter who's been taking out equity for years has to when they leave any kind of serious firm) and then quietly rebuild his practice once he lands at Birds.
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Anonymous | 5-Feb-2013 1:33 pm
Whoever runs Birds' London commercial practice at the moment should phone a head hunter right now. Run! Run like the wind!
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 11:01 am
'Abell said he was leaving because he was the “highest qualified lawyer” in his field.'
Modest.
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Anonymous | 7-Feb-2013 12:28 pm
FFW is nothing without Mark Abell. I will be following him to Bird & Bird.
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Anonymous | 8-Feb-2013 7:00 am
The guy has a PhD in his field. No-one else does. Ergo, he is the most highly qualified lawyer in it. Fact. Seems like the FFW management has its Dad's army of anonymous bloggers out in force. As they try to airbrush Abell's hugely positive role out of the firm's history it rather sounds like a re-run of the "What did the Romans do for us?" scene from the Life of Brian.
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Anonymous | 8-Feb-2013 1:01 pm
Mark Abell successfully brought down the owners of 2 big names in the printing franchise world who were operating under the smug assumption that they had each franchisee by the short & curlies. Mark Abell proved that they didn't and in doing so saved a lot of businesses from going under by paying extortionate franchise fees for no service. I for one, wish him well,
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Anonymous | 8-Feb-2013 3:51 pm
What kind of firm is this? After nearly 30 years of giving his all to the firm isn't he entitled to a more gracious exit? Are they really so desperate to keep his turnover? What about the clients' best interests? The way they are acting says a lot about FFW's values and culture and probably quite bit about their finances. He's well out of there!
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Anonymous | 11-Feb-2013 12:09 pm
It seems very shoddy of FFW to kick out Abell in this way after 28 years with the firm particularly as he claims he told them what he planned to do. His clients will be with FFW because of Abell and if FFW think they can keep them by cutting off Abell from the client DATA base then they are unlikely to succeed.
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Anonymous | 11-Feb-2013 6:03 pm
Mark Abell has performed legal miracles for many clients, and they are eternally grateful to him. I am one of them. He is an outsider, genius often is.
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Anonymous | 12-Feb-2013 3:23 pm
Wow, it's great that Mark Abell took the time to post the last six comments on this article.
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Anonymous | 12-Feb-2013 5:11 pm
I have worked with Mark Abell as both a fellow professional and a client over the last 15 years. I like him and have always found him to be both a pleasant individual and an excellent client focused awyer. I do hope that he and FFW can sort out their differences in a more appropriate manner. Suspending him seems to have been a rather rash act on behalf of FFW and is definitely not in the best interests of the clients.
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george smith | 12-Feb-2013 10:30 pm
I used to work with Mark and he is a very kind and selfless individual, who always put the interests of clients before his own. He is a man of great integrity who would always tell clients the unvarnished truth, even if they did not want to hear it. If he has a fault, it is that he can be too self-effacing for his own good at times
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Anonymous | 14-Feb-2013 8:16 pm
Very difficult to take this character seriously when he looks like the camp EasyJet air steward from the programme about Luton Airport, Geoffrey or something like that. And when did you last see them photgraphed together? Hmmmm.
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Anonymous | 15-Feb-2013 1:55 pm
The comments on this article are hilarious - half of them making personal attacks on the man, the other half (all suspiciously written in the same tone) painting him as some sort of Da Vinci-esque polymath genius.
Whatever the truth, it seems there are fun times ahead for Bird & Bird.
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Anonymous | 22-Feb-2013 11:51 am
I 've worked with Abell for some years and he is a decent, hard working and easy going chap. Bird & Bird will be pleased that they are recuiting him. They should ignore the mean minded and gratuitously personal comments. Presumably they are all part of FFW's campaign against him.
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Alison | 5-Apr-2013 5:14 pm
I am not a regular blogger, but after reading the above I feel compelled to add this comment. As a client of FFW who has worked with a number of their partners, including Mark Abell, over the years , I have to say that the way that FFW is behaving in this matter is appalling. No one is perfect and I am sure that includes Abell. However, my experience of him is that he is not only a strong technical lawyer who is keenly focused on his client's best interests but he is also an easy going man who inspires loyalty and respect from his clients, team and close colleagues. Why are FFW orchestrating this cruel, cheap blogging campaign against one of their biggest hitters? From what some of the insiders at FFW tell me it is fear and jealousy. Fear that his departure will damage their practice and jealousy that he has the initiative and courage to leave the firm, despite its draconian member's agreement. After 28 years service, he has decided to move on. Why can't FFW just get over it! The small minded nastiness of the comments made against Abell say more about those orchestrating and making them than the man himself. Shame on you.
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Chris | 8-Apr-2013 5:37 pm
Well said Alison! Spot on! FFW's loss is Bird & Bird's undoubted gain.
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