Titan Chronos. The ancient god of time(sheets).
A virtual law firm set up by an ex-White & Case lawyer has attracted investment from a Big Cheese.
Former Big Law solicitor Tom Bohills set up Chronos Law in 2019 as an entirely virtual firm, with a focus on servicing tech start-ups. It aims to break the traditional law firm mould, by offering profit sharing, no target hours and allowing its lawyers to permanently work from home. It might therefore appeal to partners who are sick of being told they have to come in from their mansions to supervise callow youths.
The boutique firm has now attracted investment from Brent Hoberman's Founders Forum Group. Hoberman is the co-founder of lastminute.com and Made.com, and has fingers in numerous investment pies. He co-created Founders Forum Group as a community for entrepreneurs. Now that Chronos Law has received backing from the group, it will rebrand as Founders Law.
While enthusiasm for law firm IPOs may be falling away, this is evidence that there is still a role for private investment in the right firms.
“Most tech businesses require flexible legal services that don’t fit the traditional law firm model," said Bohills. "I designed the firm to scale with the ambitious start-ups we support. This new investment will enable us to further recruit and satisfy the growing demand from the tech sector and its need for a new way to access legal advice."
Bohills added that the firm's lawyers will "continue to receive quarterly profit share, no billing targets and complete choice of working from home or office.”
Brent Hoberman CBE said: “Tom and his team have built a unique legal practice that’s sensitive to the needs of scaling founders. Their knowledge of the tech ecosystem combined with their agile approach to legal services make them the ideal legal partner. They truly embed themselves in the businesses they support, empowering founders to grow and protect their ideas.”
While Bohills and chums have left Big Law for something a bit different, another lawyer in this week's news has gone one step further.
Comments
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If he wants a good model to follow, Keystone Law is in the ascendant while Knights, Ince etc. are in the dumper...
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/KEYS/keystone-law-group-plc/company-page
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Yes. There’s a well known firm in St Albans, which likes to think it’s cutting edge, that lost two partners to Keystone Law.
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Well done Tom!
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Here's my tip - start from the premise that you are creating an organisation in which there are incentives to co-operate and which bolsters trust between lawyers, which has a transparent and fair remuneration system and which has punitive effects on anyone who acts in a non-collaborative way or who seeks to gain at others' expense.
Build it and they will come.