Mid-tier international firm gives University of Law a boost in wake of sale to Netherlands-based conglomerate
City-based Trowers & Hamlins has cut a deal with the University of Law to handle all the mid-tier City firm’s legal and business training needs, it was announced this afternoon.
From this September, all Trowers’ future trainees will be sent to ULaw as the firm shifts its training away from Kaplan Law School.
The move comes on the heels of the market-shaking development earlier in the week, when the university announced it had been sold for the second time in three years.
According to a ULaw statement, the three-year deal with Trowers will make the university the exclusive provider of Graduate Diploma in Law, Legal Practice Course and masters-level business education and training for Trowers’ trainees.
The university claimed that its MSc in Law, Business and Management was a key draw for the law firm during the tendering process.
Trowers’ training principal, Tonia Secker, said:
“We were very impressed with ULaw’s offering, from the resources they will make available to our future trainees to the locations of their branches, which are all a stone’s throw from our London and regional offices.”
In addition to its London HQ — which is across the road from the university’s Moorgate branch — the firm has offices in Birmingham, Exeter and Manchester.
Two days ago it emerged that the university’s owners, London private equity house Montagu, had flogged the law school to the Dutch education business, Global University Systems.
Both sides have remained relatively tight-lipped about the sale, which will see former UK Education and Home Secretary David Blunkett take over as the university’s chairman.
No cash amount has so far been disclosed in relation to the deal. However, GUS founder and chairman, Aaron Etingen, said in a statement that the sale would trigger an “options review exercise” of the university.
That process, said Etingen, “will deliver us a blue-print for one of the most comprehensive private universities in Europe. Having ULaw ultimately provide a proven governance and quality framework for GUS’ UK interests is a major benefit to us and will further enhance the impact of our work with students and employers alike”.
Meanwhile, Blunkett, who was seen as being on the right of the Labour party when in government, said:
“This combination of the global reach and resources of GUS with the record and strengths of ULaw will enable us to accelerate delivery of the university’s existing and ambitious plans for international growth, diversification, and further enhancement of the student experience.”
Previously:
The University of Law has been sold for the second time in three years [Legal Cheek]