Diamonds are forever
If rich people ever stopped doing dodgy things, getting into sticky situations, or innocently finding themselves in the unwelcome glare of the media, Kingsley Napley would have a problem on its hands. Over the last 30 years it has acted for the likes of General Pinochet, Sir Ian Blair and Nick Leeson – the man who brought down Barings Bank. More recent clients include Dame Shirley Bassey, Kate and Gerry McCann and former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, as well as a host of footballers, pop stars and City slickers. KN's clients are usually wealthy and a running gag is that they're more likely to have glassed someone with a champagne bottle than a pint glass.
The firm's crime, clinical negligence, fraud and immigration practices are all top-ranked in Chambers UK. Over 70% of revenue comes from litigation and there's “a greater emphasis on advising individuals and to some extent small businesses. But we link that well with our other services and there are a lot of cross-referrals,” a trainee said. Real estate, employment and commercial work make up 20% of revenue, while just under 10% comes from the private client department.
The crime and regulatory sides of the business “continue to grow and grow.” The regulatory team was recently separated from crime and enlarged, moving into a new floor, which still has space ready and waiting for other teams to expand into. This firm is on the up: revenue grew to £24.5m in 2010/11, a 25% jump in just two years.
Hacked off
There are now two seats in KN's market-leading crime team. It is very popular with trainees, who love working on “very high-profile cases.” KN recently defended Saudi prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasir al Saud in his much-publicised murder trial. HRH was eventually sentenced to 20 years for the sadistic murder of his manservant at London's five-star Landmark Hotel. KN lawyers also represented England football captain John Terry's drug-dealing dad in his trial after he was caught in a News of the World sting. Most recently, crime chief Stephen Parkinson acted for queen of the red-tops, Rebekah Brooks, after her arrest during the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Obviously, these are the most glamorous cases. Day to day, there's a lot of fraud work – bribery, tax evasion, asset tracing, money laundering – and 'general crime' – theft, GBH, criminal damage, assault, domestic violence. “Ordinarily trainees are involved in one or two large white-collar matters and handle some smaller general crime cases themselves,” one source told us. “I worked on a rape and an assault.” The team tries to get its trainees to visit a police station to assist a client after an arrest. “Clients can be difficult to deal with. But usually we come in at a later stage and do the behind-the-scenes work: research, preparing for trial, gathering evidence, liaising with the CPS, counsel and the client. The work I was doing is what I will be doing as a qualified solicitor.”
Gassing up
The clin neg team acts for claimants against hospital trusts over treatment errors, brain damage, spinal injuries, fatal accidents, orthopaedic injuries and birth defects. “All the cases we do go on for a long time," said one source. "One is a cerebral palsy birth injury case. My role has been to quantify the losses which have built up over the year. I've worked out what we can claim for and what we can't. I've been working with a QC and a junior in chambers.” This seat can be traumatic: “I had to read through a fatal accident case, and was told there's not a person who can read the documents without shedding a tear. I was given space to read these documents alone and told to take ten minutes and walk around the block,” said a trainee.
“Litigation is quite a demanding seat. They give trainees a broad base of work, so you're assisting fee earners on big cases, but you also have some of your own cases which you run from day to day.” Work includes civil fraud, defamation and IP claims. Clients have included former Scottish midfielder Graeme Sounness and champagne house Joseph Perrier. The regulatory team also has interesting work. Its main client is the Health Professionals Council, which “is the regulator for all the supplementary medical professions, like psychologists, hearing aid dispensers, paramedics and podiatrists.”
We've only mentioned a couple of departments here. Other seat options are: corporate/commercial, family, immigration, employment, private client and property. Go to our bonus feature to read more about them.
The “modern” office building that's home to KN's “friendly and relaxed” lawyers is “a bit off the beaten track” in the historic Knights Quarter of Farringdon. But the firm's out-of-the-way location reflects its out-of-the-ordinary culture. “We're smart but not showy," one trainee asserted. "And it's actually fun to work here and people have fun. There is a lot of laughing.” Here's another source: “Sometimes we get lost under this description of KN standing for 'Kind and Nice'. That shouldn't be confused with not being tough lawyers. But without a doubt, this is a good place to work in terms of the way people relate to each other. It is not particularly hierarchical. I wouldn't feel shy e-mailing or calling a partner with a question. And I haven't met anyone here who I wouldn't want to talk to or go to the pub with after work.” Yet another added: “I was overwhelmed by how nice and friendly everyone here is. Nearly the entire department came out for my welcome lunch when I joined one team. And recently it was a secretary's 21st birthday and everyone chipped in and we had wine and nibbles in the boardroom at 5pm on Friday.”
You will often see people "toddling out for lunch together,” and there are firm netball and football teams and “drinks events with barristers and clients.” There's also a yoga class at which “a couple of trainees, the director of marketing and managing partner Linda Woolley can all be found doing the downward-facing dog.” As you might guess from this, the trainees are a mixed bunch. “Most have worked previously. Everyone has a bit of life experience, which helps with the type of work KN does.” The firm kept on four out of five qualifiers in 2011.
And finally...
We can attest that Kingsley Napley is both Kind, Nice and more. Its core practice areas are some of the very best of their kind in London.