This month marks a massive milestone for us as we celebrate our 30th anniversary. We first opened our doors in Cardiff on 1st May 1996, making history as the first specialist family law firm in Wales and one of the first of our kind in England and Wales. We started as a small team of just six people, including our co-founder Melanie Hamer, who is still a vital part of our leadership today.
Humble beginnings
We began our journey as the former Eversheds Cardiff Family Law Department. At the time, it was a significant leap of faith. Our founders faced the typical risks of any new business, but they believed in the vision of a specialist firm.
There is a small secret from our early days that we can now share. We actually started our filing system with client number 100. We did this because we wanted to appear established and didn’t want our very first clients to feel like they were part of a brand-new experiment. Today, we have reached client number 13365. This means that over the last thirty years, we have had the privilege of helping over 13265 individuals navigate their legal journeys.
Growth and evolution
The scale of our firm has changed dramatically since 1996. We have seen our turnover grow from £220,000 in our first year to nearly £3,000,000 in our most recent year of trading. Our team has also expanded from those original six members to a dedicated group of 22 professionals.
Our structure has evolved alongside our growth. We began as a traditional partnership, moved to an LLP as soon as regulations allowed, and eventually became a Limited Company. We have grown from two partners to five directors and three shareholders. Our physical footprint has expanded too. We went from renting a small top floor office at 26 Windsor Place to owning our own 10,000 square foot premises at 12 and 13 Windsor Place.
Our success and our people
We are often asked what the secret to our longevity is. For us, it is a combination of things. We hire clever and conscientious people, and we make sure we look after them. We have always focused on organic growth, often bringing in talented individuals as paralegals and supporting them through their training to become solicitors and directors. In fact, one of our current shareholders started as a trainee with us in 2000, while another began as a paralegal in 2011. To us, this firm feels like an extended family.
Our clients come from all walks of life. We have represented high net worth individuals, celebrities, sports stars, and business owners, including a recent case valued at £77,000,000.
Adapting to a changing world
The legal landscape has shifted significantly over three decades. We have adapted to major changes such as the introduction of no-fault divorce and the new requirements for mediation. The way we practice law day to day is also unrecognisable from the early days of fax machines and hard copy letters. While we now handle hundreds of emails daily and conduct our research online, which is far better for the planet, we still maintain the same level of care and detail that we had in 1996.
Looking to the future
While we are celebrating our past, we are firmly focused on what comes next. Melanie Hamer remains a key part of our team with no plans to retire, as her passion for the work is as strong as ever. We are also incredibly proud of our succession planning. With directors like Rebecca Knight and Sarah Wyburn, alongside a new generation of talented lawyers rising through the ranks, our future is secure.
We never set out with an ambitious plan to be one of the best family law firms in the UK. In the beginning, the goal was simply to work hard and serve our clients well. The success we have achieved has exceeded all our expectations. We continue to punch above our weight, attracting high level work from across Wales and London, and we look forward to maintaining our reputation for many years to come.