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TLT Celebrates Ten Years In Northern Ireland
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TLT Celebrates Ten Years in Northern Ireland
UK law firm TLT is celebrating its tenth anniversary of law practice in Northern Ireland. The firm opened its first office in Belfast in 2012 with the aim of strengthening relationships with strategically important clients, helping win new business and growing its market share.
As well as being part of the firm’s long term-growth strategy, the move into the legal market in Northern Ireland cemented TLT’s position as a national firm capable of delivering legal advice in all three UK legal jurisdictions – England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
In the last decade TLT NI has grown from delivering litigation services to a number of key clients in the Financial Services sector to expanding service lines across Clean Energy, Real Estate and Public Sector. Over the years, the team in Belfast has built a reputation for providing commercially-astute and diligent services, which has helped to cement TLT’s position as a top 50 UK law firm collecting accolades such as the highly competitive Law Firm of the Year amongst many others.
In an active legal market against the backdrop of economic challenges, Brexit and the pandemic, TLT have continued to grow and invest in Belfast to deliver outstanding services for its clients – some of which are Northern Ireland’s largest investors and major corporations.
The office has grown from a couple of employees to a team of over 60 professionals (legal and other) led by 8 partners and boasting an impressive portfolio of cross-sector legal professionals offering a wide variety of expertise and experience.
Katharine Kimber, partner and head of Northern Ireland at TLT said: “Ten years ago, when we first opened in Northern Ireland, we had a small serviced office space and one key client. We have
come a long way and established ourselves as a firm to watch in a vibrant and long-standing legal community. Our people-first approach, our focus and dedication towards our clients, and our ambitions to be the law firm ready ‘for what comes next’ makes us stand out from the crowd and are key drivers of our success”.
As the office has expanded the Belfast team has been involved in some of the biggest and most significant deals in the market. For example, in 2021 the firm acted for Dankse Bank on the refinancing of Clanmil’s existing term debt facilities - one of the largest debt financing transactions completed in Northern Ireland last year (and shortlisted for “Bank-funded deal of the Year” at the Northern Ireland Dealmaker Awards 2022). Other wins have included working with Alpha Real Capital (as advisor to WRIF and Elm) on their first clean energy investments in Northern Ireland, advising on the £87m acquisition of Merchant Square, PWC HQ building, and acting on the purchase of Holywood Exchange for David Samuel Properties.
The firm ‘For what comes next’
TLT’s outstanding success in Northern Ireland has in part been attributed to the firm’s people firstculture, which places inclusivity, diversity, equality and wellbeing at the heart of everything it does.
In 2021, the firm launched TLT World – which embodies a significant, long-term shift in its working practices to create a fully flexible, progressive and inclusive work environment. The new approach – grounded in firm wide consultations with employees and partners – is unique to the market and places TLT among the legal industry’s most progressive firms in terms of workplace flexibility. As well as allowing employees the freedom to decide when and where they work, the new approach also aims to enable an inclusive working culture by acknowledging that no-ones working and personal life is the same. The introduction of TLT World is being supported by a multi-million pound investment
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Law Firm of the Year
TLT has been awarded countless important titles throughout the years serving as a testament to how far the firm has come and how much the team has managed to achieve. Most recently however, the firm hit a new high - being named as Law Firm of The Year at the national Lawyer Awards. The Lawyer editor praised the firm for its long-term reinvention, early adoption of the green sector and achieving a decade of ‘transformation, strategic nous, sector focus and client delivery.’
TLT’s Belfast office has been a key part of the success and growth of the firm in the last ten years and strategic investment in its people, processes and technology has led to the firm’s robust financial performance, with an 11% increase in turnover to reach £110m in 2021. The firm’s 2025 strategy will build on this solid platform for further growth and success for its people and clients across the UK.
Katharine Kimber commented: “Our focus is to protect, prepare and progress our clients ‘for what comes next’. We’re excited to be hitting this ten-year milestone and our ambitions for the next ten years will be to continue to invest and grow. Our knowledge and expertise in the legal market is second to none and we’re fortunate to have a team made up of some of the best professionals in the industry. Thanks to our people-first culture and innovative approach I’m sure we will continue to attract top talent and deliver for clients for many years to come”.
programme to deliver a digital and physical workplace to support choice, inclusion and sustainability.
TLT excels in encouraging everyone to bring their whole selves to work, to have a voice and to contribute. This is reflected in the firm’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy which includes initiatives such as committing to targets to improve senior-level representation (starting with 33% female representation at partner level by 2025), launching two new BAME and LGBTQ+ employee networks, introducing mental health and wellbeing champions.
As well as being one of the firm’s core values, sustainability is also at the heart of TLT’s story of growth in Northern Ireland. The firm has worked in the clean energy sector for over 20 years, advising on everything from electric vehicles to solar energy. TLT knows more clients are choosing to align themselves with businesses that prioritise sustainability and require their chosen law firm to meet ESG criteria. Many clients are keen to understand how they can continue to make sustainable progress and begin or advance their net zero journeys.
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Katharine Kimber
Katharine Kimber, partner and head of Northern Ireland at TLT, discusses the 10th anniversary of the firm in Northern Ireland, the highlights from the last ten years and what is in the pipeline for the next decade.
Katharine joined TLT in 2012 and was one of the first employees on the ground in Belfast. She heads up the dispute resolution team and, in the last decade she has had the pleasure of leading a team that has grown from strengthto-strength and is regarded as a leading practice in the Northern Ireland market. Katharine has significant experience in a wide range of disputes including property litigation, debt recovery and professional negligence. She is recognised for her stand-out experience in managing financial services litigation involving bank security as well as reputational issues and fraud.
Tell us about the journey you have been on with TLT since 2012. How have you seen the firm develop in NI in the last decade?
“As one of the first employees in Belfast, I am immensely proud of how we have grown the NI business in such a short space of time. Our ten year anniversary touches a chord with me as my son was eight months old when I joined the firm so I always reflect on our journey with reference to that and I can’t believe we have reached this milestone so quickly.
“We were one of only a few national firms operating in Belfast when we first opened our office and the market looked very different back then. We have worked hard to establish ourselves as a law firm of choice and to create our success story. Today, we are attracting the best talent in the industry who excel at delivering results for our clients. It’s been a rollercoaster but I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to lead the office and help it get to where we are today.
“It’s incredible to think about the change and expansion of TLT over that time. In 2012, we started our journey with one client and two members of staff. We have gone from offering purely financial services litigation to delivering a full comprehensive menu of support and advice to a wide portfolio of clients. This is what I am the most proud of – we’ve succeeded in breaking out of a mould and into something much broader.”
What are the top personal highlights for you from the last ten years?
“2019 marked a highlight moment for me. This was the year we acquired new office space in River House in the Cathedral Quarter. The move was reflective of how far we had come having grown by over 60% in five years. Our investment in some of the city’s most impressive office space firmly cemented our position as a leading player in Northern Ireland and has allowed us to further develop the services we offer our clients.
“As a female leader I’m also proud to have been part of a law firm that has embraced its equality, diversity and inclusion journey. Law firms have to prioritise and invest in ED&I if they want to succeed and grow and I am confident this is something we are leading the way on within the legal sector and will ensure that our future talent can flourish and contribute to our success.
“We work closely with colleagues across all of our UK locations to foster a deep sense of teamwork. Being part of the wider growth nationally means that we can combine the scale of resource, technology, skills and investment capacity with local expertise and market knowledge to deliver the best here in Northern Ireland for the benefit of our clients.
One of the things I think has really contributed to our success during the turbulence of the last few years in particular has been our focus on the health and wellbeing of those who work at TLT. Whilst many businesses are only just jumping onto this bandwagon postpandemic, it’s something we have been working on for a long time and which is now firmly engraved in the DNA of the firm and has a played a key part in our success and resilience in the last decade”.
In your opinion, what makes TLT stand out from other law firms?
“Culture is at the centre of everything we do at TLT and one of the key things that makes us stand out from the crowd. I’m incredibly proud to work for a law firm that puts people first by investing in its talent and working in partnership across the UK. I strongly believe that creating a healthy and sustainable working culture feeds back to our clients and is reflected in the results we produce for them. We rolled out our new brand and 2025 strategy last year and the values have been embraced across the firm because they feel authentic – without a strong culture you can’t achieve that.”
What is in the pipeline for the next ten years?
“It’s a really exciting time for TLT at the moment, evidenced by our recognition as Law Firm of the Year by The Lawyer magazine which is just fantastic. We are continuing to invest in our growth strategy with ambitious senior recruitment activity underway to support our plans in Northern Ireland. The introduction of TLT World, our progressive fully flexible approach to working practices, has shown that we are truly committed to trusting our people to know what works best for them. We intend to keep trailblazing and working in partnership to support clients, achieve results and ensure the next decade delivers yet more success.
