Kaltons to dissolve due to lack of heart

The niche property and IT practice consisted of Kalton himself plus three salaried partners, a legal executive and a consultant. Kalton last week told his staff they would be made redundant.

Kalton admitted that the firm had struggled financially in the last year, blaming the performance on mismanagement because "his heart wasn't in it". The firm also invested heavily in a new case management system. Although Kalton stood by the decision to launch the system, he did agree that it had put a financial strain on the firm.

In light of his decision, partners Chris Phillips and Vivienne Haynes will be launching a new firm.

Kalton and fellow partner Raj Godfrey-Mahapatra, a former solicitor with LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae in New York, will continue to run their other business venture vLegal, a company which provides outsourced in-house legal services.

Kalton also hopes to find a consultancy role at another firm.