extract from an article posted on the OPP (Overseas Property Professional) website:
JOHN HOWELL’S LAW FIRM TO CLOSE
John Howell’s International Law Partnership is to close due to a collapse in income.
The UK-based law firm, which specialised in cross-border legal issues and international property, announced it will cease to practise from 10 July 2009.
In a statement issued to OPP, Howell revealed that the company had written off over £500,000 of anticipated income so far this year, while actual income had fallen by nearly 75%. Howell has subsidised the firm with over £100,000 of his own money over the last year.
“Over the last few months our clients – and, in particular, our developer clients – have been going bust at a catastrophic rate and many of our other clients are unwilling or unable to pay their bills,” said Howell. “We have, therefore and with great regret, decided to close the business.”
Howell will take the opportunity to retire from frontline legal practice, although he will continue to provide trustee and general consultancy services for a small number of personally chosen cases. He also plans to write and lecture and hopes to continue encouraging international cooperation between lawyers.
The International Law Partnership was founded as John Howell & Co in Sheffield in 1979 and began undertaking European work in 1986. Howell left Sheffield and took over the firm’s London office in 1996, expanding the practice to deal with legal issues in over 30 countries. In 2004 the company was voted the best international property lawyers by the Bentley Awards.
Source OPP Website 30.06.2009
Little by little everything comes to its logical end...Probably I should line them along with MRI and the rest.
Rockarch, anything to say?
This comes once again to confirm that many companies who have all sorts of "property awards" or "memberships" on their websites sooner or later go bust.
Resorts
