After one accident solicitor firm based in Manchester has gone into administration, in excess of 40 positions have been lost as a result.
Personal injury claims specialist Donns LLP recently went into administration after reporting that significant historic liabilities and recent cash flow difficulties for its shuttering, which led to 42 staff being made redundant. PricewaterhouseCoopers staff members Robert Hebnton and Toby Underwood were named joint administrators of the firm, and its 2,500 personal injury compensation cases currently in progress have been sold off to legal firm Irwin Mitchell in order to minimise the amount of disruption faced by Donns clients.
Mr Hebenton remarked that he and Mr Underwood are quite appreciative of the worries clients of Donns will have at this time, but assured them that all necessary arrangements have been taken care of in order to minimise and client issues by transferring every live client file upon the appointment of the joint administrators. Each accident claim client will be contacted by Irwin Mitchell in order to be apprised of their case’s particulars, offering them to either appoint their firm or another one if they wish to pursue their case, Mr Hebenton also added.
Founded in 1969 by Raymond Donn, the Manchester-based Donns LLP had been in dire financial straits since at least April of 2010, according to Companies Ouse. That year, the solicitor’s assets were outstripped by its liabilities by a massive £5.5 million, official figures say, and many other solicitor firms have fears that the new legal aid bill, once signed into law, may make it even more expensive for them to operate in the current economic landscape.