FRY LAW Ltd (10272473): administration
- Status
- Administration ended
- Administration began
- 2021-09-22
- Administrators
- Stephen Powell, Joanne Louise Hammond
- Administrators' firm
- Begbies Traynor
- Formerly
- CFA LAW Ltd
- Incorporated
- 2016-07-11
- Location
- Ocean Way
- Industry
- 96090 Other service activities n.e.c.
Why it went into administration
- COVID-19
From the administrators' statement
Fry Law Ltd (‘the Company’) was incorporated in 2016 and acquired its work from the administrators of Unity ’ Law. As the successor practice to Unity Law the Company also inherited its client data. In February 2017 the Company acquired further personal injury work from Joseph Frasier Solicitors and in 2018 it acquired further caseloads from Drake Legal, Mellor Hargreaves and North Solicitors. The firm grew to a work in progress (WIP) value of over £3m and 20 salaried staff. Business was supported by a WIP funding facility of £350k from Spectra Legal Finance with facility to draw down 30% of the value of WIP on a rolling basis.
During 2018 the Company suffered several blows; namely the sudden death of the solicitor leading the Personal Injury Team, the resignation on ill health grounds by David Mellor and the withdrawal of Spectra Legal Finance from the market. As a consequence, and as Spectra Legal Finance was the only Chargeholder, the Company took out a costs factoring facility with Doorway Capital Limited to release funds to pay the Spectra Legal Finance debt, and in addition sold most of its Personal Injury caseload. The Company also made significant redundancies, which allowed a formal refocus of the practice to disability rights work only.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, the Company generated significant volumes of disability rights cases and substantially improved its profile. The firm was approached by a large law firm and terms of sale were agreed in July 2020, leading to the generation of further additional volumes of work. As cases could not be completed during Covid because of the closure of Courts, they became ineligible for drawdown meaning that the cash from the facility was restricted. The terms agreed with the connected law firm also then changed. The impact of this was to further weaken the Company's ability to trade, whilst facing increasing demands from its creditors.
Administrators' statement of proposals (2021-11-11) · Companies House register