Is Irwin Mitchell making a list(ing) and checking it twice?

Yet the firm continues to keep us guessing about what exactly it plans to do, leaving many to ponder whether it will actually become the first law firm to list, as chief executive John Pickering said it would last year.

Today’s news is a step in the right direction, though. The firm has appointed Andrew Merrick from AIM-listed airline and logistics company Dart Group as its chief financial officer. And it doesn’t take a lifetime of sleuthing expertise to read the subtext behind this move. After all, if you are going to be the first listed firm it’s best to have on board someone who has worked at a listed company.

Merrick is the third non-lawyer to be appointed to IMCO Holdings following on from the hire of PricewaterhouseCoopers vice-chairman Glyn Barker as executive chairman and KPMG partner Mel Egglenton as a non-executive director.

Still, given how long it took Irwin Mitchell to get over the hump and actually become an ABS, it may be some time before our suspicions are confirmed.

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Also on TheLawyer.com:

• Ofgem’s picks 11 firms for its £3m panel, leaving only three firms out in the cold. Not bad odds, really.
• DLA Piper’s staff-cutting measures spread to Asia Pacific, with staff and lawyers at risk from the axe.
• And, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is advising HSBC over its headline-grabbing $1.9bn fine from the US authorities over its failure to comply with money-laundering laws.