Parabis Law has placed two of its regional offices under review as of today (4 August) affecting 41 employees.
The firm’s offices in Bristol and Colchester were placed under review affecting its legal and administrative support staff, 23 of which sit in the Bristol office and 18 in Colchester. It is also consolidating offices in various locations, including London, in a bid to use fewer sites as part of the firm’s long-term strategy for facilities, resources and cross-team working.
Parabis is ‘seeking to rationalise its national network of law firm offices which has mushroomed as a result of a series of mergers in recent years’, to create greater efficiency between the firm’s relative teams and workloads.
The cuts follow Parabis’ partnership with Direct Line Group which obtained authorisation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) at the beginning of the year.
Group commercial director Tim Roberts said: ‘It is not unusual for a business such as ours which has inherited offices on multiple sites and at several locations as a result of mergers to rationalise property holdings and concentrate teams where there is the highest workload and greatest client demand.
‘Naturally, this affects some of our people very directly and their welfare is important to us. We are consulting fully and will be discussing options and opportunities. Where roles may be lost as part of this process we will help those affected all we can with their next move.’
Parabis has law firm offices in London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Southampton, Croydon, Bristol, Colchester, Milton Keynes, Evesham, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
