Ed Whittington

Moore Barlow

Getting any law firm merger away is rarely easy. Try doing one during a global pandemic. That was the task facing Ed Whittington, now managing partner of newly minted Top 100 firm Moore Barlow.

Whittington admits that the move into lockdown had given rise to one meeting where he raised the spectre of calling time on 18 months of planning and preparation between legacy firms Moore Blatch of Southampton and Guildford’s Barlow Robbins. But he adds, “we couldn’t find a single reason not to carry on”. People were “emotionally invested” in the deal by that point, continued Whittington. “We knew that we’d be stronger together,” he says. “So we kept going.”

The result, on 1 May 2020, was a new, £40m-sized denizen of the UK 200 Top 100. Whittington is adamant that Moore Barlow is not simply just another corporate law firm. For starters, it has a 50:50 male/female equity partner ratio along with a high proportion of part-time female equity partners.

More broadly, Whittington’s aim is to build a City-style firm, with the appropriate level of expertise and confidence that this suggests, but in the regions. “The merger is a game changer,” he adds.