Merger creates new 'top 3' criminal defence legal aid law firm

Two of London’s largest providers of legal aid services, SJ LAW CRIMINAL DEFENCE SOLICITORS E17 and MACKESYS CRIMINAL DEFENCE & FAMILY LAW SOLICITORS SOUTH EAST LONDON have confirmed entering into formal agreement to merge their two high street legal practices.

The terms of the agreed merger between SJ LAW CRIMINAL SOLICITORS and MACKESYS SOLICITORS was brokered by leading legal services & recruitment entrepreneur Sean Smith. The merger will create a successor practice taking the brand name of SJ MACKESYS SOLICITORS and will immediately create the third largest provider of criminal defence legal aid services in England & Wales – the second largest in London.

SJ LAW Partners, Vijesh Saujani and Rob Johnson have during the course of the past 15 years grown their law practice to what is East London’s largest criminal defence law firm and are well known for regularly defending clients accused of committing many of East London’s most serious criminal offences.

MACKESYS SOLICITORS whose sole practitioner is Geoff Wordsworth, has for the past 40 years provided quality legal services to the local communities of South & South East London. In addition to being the largest provider of criminal defence legal aid services in the local area, the firm extends some of the best family law and family mediation services available South of the River Thames through Mackesys solicitors network of offices which include New Cross, Bromley, Brixton, Lewisham and Bexley.

The merger will create a highly innovative and cost efficient law firm with state of the art back-office support systems, employing over 100 fee-earners and one from which clients will directly benefit by having access to more legal aid solicitors in their local areas, a wider range of quality legal services and a larger number of criminal duty solicitors being available for emergency police station attendances 24 hours a day.