Le Brasseur loses health specialists

Le Brasseur J Tickle is losing a team of healthcare lawyers to Vizard Oldham after being dropped from the National Health Service's litigation panel.

The NHS Litigation Authority slashed six firms from its panel last month (The Lawyer, 15 January), and Vizard Oldham picked up more work following the shakeout.

The firm is hiring partner Rena Field and a team of three assistants from Le Brasseur to ramp up its ability to handle the work. At the moment a tenth of the firm's work is in NHS litigation.

Vizard Oldham senior partner Richard Foster says the move is similar to that of Kennedys - which has decided to open in Cambridge and has taken on two partners from Mills & Reeve after the latter failed to secure a place on the panel (The Lawyer, 5 February).

The firm's healthcare group has grown from nine to 15 people since the decision of the NHSLA was announced. Le Brasseur was unavailable for comment.