Last Cawthra Feather
No of Partners: 13
No of Assistant Solicitors: 20
Other Fee-earners: 16
While other Bradford-born practices such as Hammonds were leaving the city to seek their fortunes in Leeds, two former Last Suddards (one half of the merger that created the modern Hammonds firm) partners saw an opportunity to develop a prosperous law firm by staying put.
In 1988, the year that AV Hammond and Last Suddards combined, Geoffrey Cawthra and Paul Smith left the latter to form their own private client practice. Their firm subsequently merged with long-established Bradford practice JW Feather Son & Beckwith (acquiring its offices in Shipley and Ilkley along the way) and, in 1999, with Last & Company and again, in 2001, with the Bradford office of Ralph C Yablon.
A further significant stage of development was the recruitment of the present managing partner, Simon Stell, also from Hammonds, in 1996. Since then the commercial side of the practice has developed considerably. It recruited Gordons’ partner, Paul Birkinshaw, in 2002 to launch a construction and property litigation practice. In 2003, it pulled off a significant coup by winning a place on the panel of finance company Provident Financial (which owns Yes Car Credit, amongst other things) alongside Slaughter and May, Eversheds and IP boutique Willoughby and Partners.
The firm has growing corporate/commercial, litigation and employment practices, as well as a debt recovery arm. It has retained a strong private client and family practice and has also developed a niche in licensing law.
Unlike other leading Bradford practices such as Gordons and Lee & Priestley, Last Cawthra Feather has resisted the temptation to open in Leeds. Today the firm has 13 partners and 20 assistants, as well as 16 other fee-earners based in its Bradford, Ilkley and Shipley locations. The firm expects to grow further and add to its range of expertise.
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