A fresh thinking law firm has just launched and joins a wave of new businesses opening in Newport – which was recently crowned ‘the best startup city in Wales’*.
Slate Legal provides specialist employment law and HR advice to businesses and individuals across Wales and England. But, what’s different about this firm is its modern approach to working – delivering services in a sustainable and agile way, without the expensive overheads or clunky processes associated with the traditional law firm model. It means the firm can pass on the savings it makes to clients, offering them partner-level advice without the hefty price tag, bureaucracy and carbon footprint of traditional law firms.
Slate Legal is owned and managed by leading employment lawyer, James Moss, who has over 17 years’ experience in his field and is described as “brilliant” in the Legal 500 UK, 2015. After studying law at King’s College London and the Sorbonne in Paris, he completed his training contract with international law firm Eversheds. Since then, James has worked for Capital Law in Cardiff, TLT Solicitors in Bristol and, most recently, Acuity Legal in Cardiff Bay where he was a Partner and Head of Employment.
James has advised a wide range of clients, many of them high-profile, on a variety of matters including redundancies, sickness and absence management, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, TUPE transfers, employment tribunal claims and settlement agreements.
He said: “During my career, I’ve seen both good and bad examples of how to run a law firm. I’ve taken the best bits and adapted them to create Slate Legal.
Business owners, managers and employees need to be able to access high quality legal advice at a price they can afford and in a way that is flexible and relevant to them.
But many law firms are slow to adapt to modern and sustainable ways of working. Slate Legal isn’t one of them. I’ve always wanted to set up my own business and doing this in my home city of Newport is the icing on the cake.”
*Newport was crowned "best startup city in Wales" in a study published in January 2016 by one of the UK's leading company formation agents, Quality Formations.