KPMG legal services arm enlists Travers Smith operations boss
Big Four professional services firm KPMG has launched a UK branch of its legal consultancy service for in-house lawyers. It will be headed by Nicola Brooks, who returns to KPMG after having most recently been an Operations Director with legal firm Travers Smith.
The Big Four of the professional services world have been gearing up for an assault on the lucrative legal services market for some time, and already boast larger headcounts than many traditional law firms, while offering a more holistic, end-to-end service. Amid booming demand from multinational organisations for legal services, KPMG became the latest member of the Big Four to announce it would launch a legal consulting arm in the UK in 2019.
KPMG Global Legal Services reported record growth in 2018, skyrocketing by more than 30%. The practice now has in excess of 2,300 legal professionals worldwide, including more than 20 new Partners added during 2018. In order to meet the rising demand for its services, KPMG’s legal arm has also sought to continue the marked expansion of its talent base and network into 2019.
On the back of this, KPMG has launched a branch of its legal consultancy service for in-house lawyers in the UK – its fourth worldwide alongside similar wings in Australia, Germany and Switzerland. The Legal Operations & Transformation Services (LOTS) operation will be headed by Nicola Brooks, a KPMG alumnus who was most recently working for one of the UK’s leading full service city law firms. Brooks was Operations Director at Travers Smith, having previously worked with law firm Seddons.
Returning to KPMG, having previously been a Marketing Manager at the firm, Brooks will lead the new LOTS offering, helping in-house counsel identify “technologies, flexible resources and managed services that can support delivery of legal services.” The wing will also work to help clients and their general counsel “re-imagine how legal services are delivered to the business.”
Commenting on her new role, Brooks said, “We want to help them develop solutions that maximise cost efficiencies, optimise operations and continue to position them as a strategic business facilitator and manager of legal risk. Much of this will be enabled by the right people strategy, good process and underpinned by technology.”
Nick Roome, Partner and UK Head of Legal Services at KPMG, added, “The demands on today’s in-house legal teams are increasingly changing, which is putting more pressure on budgets and resources. That’s why we are excited to launch LOTS to help in-house legal functions adapt and become the legal teams of the future.”
