Temple Bright, the fast-growing Bristol law firm, has added construction law specialist Doug Masson to its practice as a partner.
Mr Masson joins from top 25 UK firm SNR Denton, where he was a partner. He trained in the City of London and was subsequently a partner in the Hong Kong office of international firm Baker & McKenzie.
Temple Bright, named Regional Law Firm of the Year by the Bristol Law Society in 2012, has expanded its real estate team with two new partners and an increase in property-related work in the past 12 months, making Mr Masson’s entry particularly well-timed.
Temple Bright co-founder Tim Summers said: “With all the growth we’ve enjoyed, it’s perfect to be able to welcome Doug to lead the charge in this complementary area. Given his background, market profile and experience, we could not ask for a stronger start for our construction and engineering practice.”
Mr Masson, who has advised the likes of Westfield, NHBC and Sainsbury’s in recent years, said: “Temple Bright is a unique and dynamic firm and will give me just the right context to spend my time advising clients in the uncluttered way that I have always been seeking.
“I am convinced that Temple Bright’s chambers model is the logical choice for the majority of legal work for clients of all sizes. In my experience all businesses, from start-ups to multinationals, are looking for the same essentials – expertise, pragmatism and certainty on price. Except on the very biggest deals, any company would rather deal with a small team of partners than a large team of juniors. This is what the chambers model allows.”
Mr Masson said he was looking forward to working alongside Temple Bright’s other partners for the firm’s South West clients, where he can start to add support on construction and engineering cases. “Alongside this work I also have my own national clients who will continue to instruct me in this new role,” he said.
Mr Summers said the firm’s exponential growth since its establishment in 2010, in an otherwise difficult legal market, continued to prove the strength of Temple Bright’s innovative business model that lets senior lawyers advise clients directly, without the involvement of juniors. The firm uses cloud technologies to boost efficiency and reduce overheads, enabling its partners to provide sophisticated advice at competitive, often fixed, prices.
“Property and construction is perceived as still being in a slump,” he said. “But there is more happening than many think. We are seeing steadily growing activity by investors and developers, so adding Doug on the construction side is another vital step in getting behind our clients as confidence climbs.”
Pictured below: Temple Bright co-founder Tim Summers, left, with Doug Masson
