West Sussex-based law firm Lewis Denley has partnered with Lantern Legal, an Australian law firm which provides cyber and corporate/commercial legal advice.
Colin Secomb, the Australian-born joint managing partner of Lewis Denley, has been in discussions for some time with Lantern Legal about bringing the firms together to offer a boutique cross-border legal service. Both firms agree this is the next logical step in their growth.
Dr Allison Stanfield and Zita Allen, joint managing partners of Lantern Legal, will bring their corporate and tech-focused expertise to complement Lewis Denley’s existing commercial property and private wealth practices.
Lantern Legal will re-brand as Lewis Denley Australia, completing the last piece in the partnership.
Under this strategic partnership, private wealth clients and global businesses operating and/or expanding across Europe and Australasia will now have an alternative choice for cross-border legals with Lewis Denley Global.
The expansion coincides with the delivery of Yao, a legal practice management platform developed by lawyers for lawyers by Colin and his business partner Natasha Lewis.
Lewis Denley Australia will be adopting Yao as its case management platform, which will be the catalyst to allow this cross-border partnership to work effectively.
All partners agree that exciting times are ahead as they start working with experienced and trusted professionals in the UK and Australia to expand their respective practices.
Colin said: “This is timely for both firms as we respond to our clients’ needs – they are constantly expanding into new global markets.
“Since launching Yao our legal tech platform last year, this was an obvious next step. We can enhance Lewis Denley’s commercial, cyber and privacy offerings whilst utilising our bespoke technology to deliver efficient legal services.”
Dr Allison Stanfield and Zita Allen added: “Our clients offer services in a global marketplace, and this merger is in response to our clients’ need for a boutique law firm, which provides cross-border legal and strategic advice, with a cost-effective service delivery model.
“We are already providing legal advice in privacy, cyber, intellectual property and corporate structuring so it is exciting that we can now provide the full suite of corporate legal solutions for our clients both in Australia and the UK.”
