About Us

Bennett Briegal was launched by two experienced Professional Practice Solicitors in March 2019.

We are a specialist firm for other lawyers and professionals, including accountants, architects, surveyors, doctors, investors (institutional or angel), financial advisers and business consultants. We offer bespoke legal advice to their unique circumstances. 

We operate throughout England and Wales and have meeting rooms in London by appointment.

Paul Bennett and Mark Briegal have advised the professional community for many years, latterly together leading the Professional Practices team at a Top 200 firm and are recognised by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners Directories (lawyer to lawyer review). In 2018 they decided that the market was best served by a specialist offering and created Bennett Briegal LLP to respond to the changing needs of the professional community.

Bennett Briegal advises other professionals on the following areas of law:

Professional Regulation and Compliance
Partnership and LLPs – Agreements and Restructuring
Partner Entry and Exit
Mergers and Acquisitions in the Professional Sector
Company and Commercial Law
Employment Law

Paul

Paul Bennett is a specialist in both Professional Practice and Employment law work. Paul is a nationally recognised expert who can help if the situation is challenging or potentially career-defining. Paul works across England and Wales, with London and Manchester dominating as the locations of key regulators.

Contact Paul now on paul@bennettbriegal.co.uk or call 07785 623644

Who instructs Paul?

The majority of Paul’s clients are:

Law firms – Sole Practitioners, Partnerships, LLPs, Limited Companies and Alternative Business Structures (ABSs).

In respect of Anti Money Laundering Paul has advised international law firms in the UK and abroad and acted for government departments in Court proceedings.

Lawyers – including Judges, QCs and Solicitors.

Accountants and Financial Service Professionals.

Doctors (both consultants under GMC investigation or facing Fitness to Practise hearing and GPs with partnership issues).

Dentists and Healthcare Professionals (particularly those regulated by the GMC, MPTS, GDC, NMC or HCPC).

Other professionals (politicians, teachers, scientists etc.) needing support.

 

What does Paul advise on?

Paul’s work focuses on:

Complex employment matters (including for law firms and individual senior professionals).

Compliance with regulatory rules – Paul has written two legal books for Law Brief Publishing on the rules for Solicitors and law firms.

Professional disciplinary work – successfully defending professionals’ reputations when regulators investigate.

Partnership matters – disputes, setting up and mergers.

Paul is a trained Solicitor Advocate (All Proceedings), an experienced mediator and an arbitrator in professional sector disputes. Paul accepts appointments by the parties or their advisers as a mediator and arbitrator directly through the firm or is comfortable acting as an advocate to assist the parties in such matters.

This workload includes partnership and shareholder advisory work focused on drafting agreements, compliance and business structure, particularly for law firms, ABS investors and claims management companies.

Clients benefit from both advisory expertise and litigation experience in all work on which Paul is instructed.

Paul often advises on matters of procedure and evidence, breaches of professional obligations (such as to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), General Medical Council (GMC) and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)) matters.

Paul is a hugely experienced Solicitor Advocate and his expertise includes a four year appointment as Attorney General Panel Counsel representing the Government in complex matters before the Courts. He has also appeared in arbitration and adjudication proceedings including before the Football League, and other sporting and professional bodies. In many cases the regulators will be represented by a QC which demonstrates the importance and complexity of the cases which Paul routinely is involved in and successfully acts for clients.

 

Outside appointments:

Chairman of the Professionals Partnership, supporting professional service businesses in Shropshire (2016 to present).

Law Society of England & Wales Council Member – One of around one hundred members of the governing council (2017 to present).

Chair of the Shropshire Business Board and the boards member on the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) (2019 to present).

About:

Outside of work Paul has a young family, is a music and football fanatic who is a season ticket holder at Shrewsbury Town FC.  A keen cyclist he has completed the Coast to Coast Challenge and London to Paris rides in the last couple of years.

Paul dreams of writing a sitcom for the BBC based on the absurdity of professional life or of a successful series of crime novels. Instead of this, he writes on law for the professional press.

Mark

Mark advises professionals on the corporate aspects of their partnerships and LLPs.

Mark came to law following a career in banking and industry. He worked for Chase Manhattan Bank where he ran syndicated lending, loans agency and trade finance operations before heading north and setting up his own business, providing consultancy and training to businesses across Europe.

He has a degree in Classics from Cambridge University and an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Contact Mark now on mark@bennettbriegal.co.uk or call 07973 283678

Who instructs Mark?

Mark advises solicitors, doctors, dentists, accountants, haulage contractors, farmers and a range of other professionals on all aspects of their partnerships and LLPs.

He also advises professionals who are incorporated into limited companies.

What does Mark advise on?

Mark deals with the creation of partnerships and LLPs, the exit of partners, whether by retirement or expulsion, the conversion of partnerships and sole traders to LLPs and the dissolution or incorporation into limited companies of partnerships and LLPs.

With a pragmatic approach, he acts for both the continuing partners and for those exiting the partnership or LLP in a range of disputes.  His aim is to resolve the dispute as quickly and painlessly as possible whilst getting the best deal for his clients.

Additionally, Mark has extensive experience of mergers and acquisitions in the professional partnership sector and has advised on a number of law firm and accountancy mergers.

Mark advises solicitors’ practices on the formation of alternative business structures (ABSs) and on dealing with the requirements of the referral fee ban under LASPO.

Mark originally trained as a corporate lawyer, and so also deals with company matters and prepares shareholder agreements and commercial contracts.

 

Outside Appointments

– Chair of Archery GB –

– Set up and chaired the Association of Partnership Practitioners in the North West –

– Trustee of The Rowing Foundation –

– Former Chair of Scout Group –

 

Additionally, as an experienced and well regarded presenter, Marks regularly speaks on all aspects of partnership and commercial law.  He has presented at Manchester Business School, the University of Law, the Lexis Nexis Partnership Conference, The Law Society, MBL Seminars, Chester University, and UKTI, as well as designing and teaching on the legal module on the University of Glyndŵr MBA programme.

About

Mark is married with adult children (and a cat) and lives in Cheshire.  He is heavily involved in rowing and is a qualified rowing coach and national and multi-lane endorsed umpire; he volunteers at rowing events around the county.  Trips to the gym counter Mark’s love of food and wine.  Travel also features where possible.

“I thoroughly recommend Mark who assisted us with our financial restructure and conversion to LLP with ABS status as part of our succession planning strategy. His unique blend of legal and wider commercial knowledge meant that we were able to navigate this complex transition knowing that we were in safe hands. Mark is a pleasure to work with and responds quickly! Highly recommended

AP

Partner, Regional Law Firm

Legal advice for law firms, professionals & partnerships

Contact us now on 07785 623644 (Paul) or 07973 283678 (Mark) or fill in the form below: