Big Four accountant Ernst & Young (EY) has appointed Axiom’s Aaron Stewart as a director to head up the launch of a legal services arm in Belfast.
According to EY, Stewart will be working with the accountant’s clients across the UK and will also be responsible for building and running a team in Belfast.
Commenting on the launch, Philip Goodstone, EY’s head of law in the UK said: ‘As we continue to grow our legal services team, we remain focussed on finding the best talent, regardless of geographical location. Aaron brings a wealth of experience to the role and will be a real asset to our clients across the UK.’
The move to expand the legal services team across the UK comes after the accountancy giant was granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in December 2014 in a bid to provide ‘integrated, multidisciplinary’ legal services across England and Wales.
Headed up by Addleshaw Goddard’s former corporate head Goodstone and Matthew Kellet who was recruited from Berwin Leighton Paisner, EY’s UK law practice has grown to a team of 40 since the firm received the licence with former Olswang employment head Daniel Aherne in charge of building and leading the employment law team.
EY’s global law practice has 1500 legal professionals in 67 countries with legal teams in Mexico, Costa Rica, Singapore, China, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Its core legal services are corporate commercial, employment, financial services and M&A/transactions.
Kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk