Juniors jump ship to solicitors' firms

TWO experienced juniors have left their chambers to join solicitors' firms, each citing a desire to get closer to clients as a key reason for the move.

Libel practitioner David Parsons, formerly of specialist media set 5 Raymond Buildings, and family expert Sara Richards, who practised from Nottingham set King Charles House, have embarked on new careers in law firms.

Parsons, whose clients have included Elton John and Jason Donovan, has joined Lovell White Durrant's computers, communications and media unit. This follows a year of self-imposed exile from the legal world after 10 years at the Bar, although Parsons did help edit Gatley on Libel and Slander.

He approached Lovell White Durrant after deciding to refocus his work on the electronic media. "In 1985 it seemed to me that libel was one of the sexiest areas of law," he said.

Richards has joined Burton on Trent solicitors Goodger Auden as a senior legal adviser in its family department. She said the job enabled her to continue in her area of specialisation, while offering the ad vantage of being the clients' first point of contact.