A new broom is sweeping into top-100 firm JMW Solicitors with major changes at the top of the business.

From the end of this month, managing partner Paul Walker will retire from the firm after working at JMW for more than 33 years – the last eight of which were in his current role. Joy Kingsley, senior partner since 2010, will become joint senior partner for now and will stay on as a consultant after leaving that position next April.

The new management team comprises Marc Yaffe, Warren Martin and Chris Sutton.

Yaffe has been with the firm for more than 10 years and grown the commercial litigation under his leadership from 14 people to 60, taking departmental annual turnover from £1m to £6.6m. He will become managing partner from next month.

Martin will become joint senior partner. Current head of operations Sutton will become chief executive, marking a career path that started 25 years ago when he joined JMW as a trainee and which included 16 years as joint head of the personal injury team.

Kingsley said the new appointees ‘are all embedded into the culture of JMW and committed to its growth'. 

The Manchester-headquartered firm has grown rapidly in the past decade, increasing revenue from £10m to £66.6m and expanding from 170 to 650 people. It opened a London office in 2019, which now has 150 staff and partners. Lee Adams will continue as managing partner of JMW’s London office.

 

Pictured above (L-R): Chris Sutton, Marc Yaffe and Warren Martin

 

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