Neil Hudgell and Simpson Millar announce joint venture

Neil Hudgell Solicitors and Simpson Millar have entered a joint venture to expand the former's webuyanyfiles.com service.

The two firms will work together to extend the reach of webuyanyfiles.com, which buys legal practices and cases. They will expand the service to move it beyond being primarily focused on personal injury and medical negligence cases by including other areas of the law.

Neil Hudgell Solicitors launched webuyanyfiles.com in 2011 as part of its strategy to grow organically and through acquisition.

To date, through webuyanyfiles.com, Neil Hudgell Solicitors has completed 20 deals totalling £4 million, including the purchase of four legal practices.

Neil Hudgell, managing director of Neil Hudgell Solicitors, said that the collaboration was the start of an exciting new phase in the development of the service.

“It’s clear that the changes in the legal landscape, along with the economic climate, are continuing to prompt many lawyers to reconsider their future. Our offer to purchase practices and files is proving a timely option attractive to many professionals," he said.

Neil Fearn, partner and head of clinical negligence at Simpson Millar, said that the common growth strategies embraced by both firms over the last few years meant that both firms now had even more resources to facilitate further deals.

“The timing of the launch of this joint venture could not be more appropriate given the problems faced by practices through the market changes, lack of bank funding and problems with PII,” he said.

Mark Dugdale