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).
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Readers' comments (24)
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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