Irwin Mitchell has appointed former Thomas Eggar managing partner Vicky Brackett as chief executive of its business legal services (BSL) division.
Brackett replaces incumbent chief executive Niall Baker, who led the BSL division for the last five years.
Irwin Mitchell divides itself into business legal services and personal legal services. The firm’s BLS division accounts for more than a third of the group’s revenue.
Baker worked at the firm for over 20 years and has held a number of roles including head of business and private client division. He also sits on Irwin Mitchell’s board and is the chairman of IM Asset Management. He will continue to work at Irwin Mitchell as managing partner of its court of protection and public law practice.
Brackett joined Irwin Mitchell in December after the firm merged with private client specialist Thomas Eggar. After the merger, she was tasked with leading Irwin Mitchell’s corporate litigation practice and was appointed to the firm’s executive board.
She specialises in commercial litigation and began her career as a solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She left the magic circle firm in 2001 to join Thomas Eggar where she was made a partner in 2005.
Irwin Mitchell’s group chief executive Andrew Tucker said: “We’ve seen rapid growth in BLS in recent years and have a very strong base from which to develop it further. It’s been a transformational year for our group and now is the right time to adjust the leadership team to ensure everyone is in positions that play to their strengths.”
Following the acquisition of Thomas Eggar, Irwin Mitchell became one of the UK’s largest private client firms. Despite the increase in size the firm’s profit before tax fell by 25 per cent last year, from £16.7m to 12.4m.
Dentons successfully poached a five-strong team of real estate focused lawyers from Irwin Mitchell in August. The team included London real estate head Rob Thompson and was predominately made up of former SJ Berwin lawyers.
