London firm Wiggin adds non-lawyer CEO to partnership

London media boutique Wiggin has announced the addition of a non-lawyer CEO to its partnership, a move that is now permitted under the Legal Services Act. The firm’s new CEO is longstanding Chief of Operations John Banister, who is now a part of the firm’s partnership. On 1 December last year Wiggin converted, with the approval of Solicitors Regulation Authority, to a legal disciplinary partnership (LDP). The firm intends to extend its business beyond the provision of legal advice, with plans to launch a strategic media consultancy arm, and an eye to developing other "complementary" services. Commenting on the conversion plans, Banister said: "We already run ourselves as a fairly corporate practice anyway. We need to convert before October but are not in a particular rush. We are not currently looking at taking external capital but rather at widening our services beyond the traditional law firm scope." "We are in the process of creating other businesses which are complementary to the legal practice. This includes strategic consultancy advice as we have become experts on the sector and are not just lawyers."

London firm Wiggin adds non-lawyer CEO to partnership legalweek.com Thu, Jan 26, 2012