Bristol and London law firm Temple Bright has expanded its team in the capital with the addition of two high-profile City partners.
Commercial and IP/technology lawyer Ben Chivers joins from Travers Smith, with corporate lawyer Nick Cheshire arriving from Ashurst. 
Ben, pictured right, has wide experience across multiple sectors including leisure and hospitality, entertainment, retail, real estate, infrastructure and energy and financial services.
He said: “I am so excited to be joining Temple Bright. For this next stage of my career, I wanted to explore advising a broad range of clients at different stages of development, who will benefit from a streamlined model but with zero compromise on quality.
“Among the many non-traditional firms that have sprung up over the last two decades, Temple Bright is distinctive for its high standards and selectivity in recruitment – being, in effect, a differently structured City firm.
“This enables longstanding City lawyers like me to continue to offer a premium service, working alongside talented and experienced partners, at a competitive price.”
Nick, pictured below, has extensive private company advisory experience particularly in the banking, financial services and real estate sectors, with wider experience in the hospitality, life sciences, media and insurance sectors.
He said: “I have been aware of the growing group of non-traditional law firms and was interested in exploring how such firms can enable lawyers to advise their clients in a different way. 
“What distinguished Temple Bright was the unremitting emphasis on quality in its messaging, which was backed up by the founders in person.
“The firm only recruits the best and maintains the traditional priorities for careful growth and a cohesive firm culture.
“This makes it the perfect fit for an experienced City lawyer wishing to continue and develop a thriving practice.”
Launched in 2010, Temple Bright is a firm of 76 partners from a City and leading regional firm background, with offices in London EC2 and Bristol.
It operates a non-traditional structure that it calls a “chambers practice,” making a comparison with barristers in chambers.
As a ‘new model’ law firm, it distinguishes itself from other such firms by its priority to preserve the best virtues of traditional firms: selectivity, working in teams, and a distinctive service for clients.
The Temple Bright service involves four promises – City quality; reasonable fees; senior lawyers; responsiveness – which the firm keeps through its streamlined model.
Temple Bright co-founder Tim Summers said: “We are delighted to welcome Ben and Nick, two highly regarded lawyers with an outstanding reputation, from leading City firms.
“We think Temple Bright offers both clients and lawyers something unique. We are a cohesive group of partners who work in a distinctive style, without delegation to juniors, with autonomy and flexibility.
“We want to be a viable alternative to the traditional City firm, for clients at every stage of growth.
“Our ability to attract lawyers of Ben and Nicks’ calibre is a vindication of our approach.”
Last year the firm recruited leading pensions specialist Rosalind Connor, a former chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers who was a partner at Jones Day and Taylor Wessing and then managing partner at Arc Pensions Law.
