One of the North East’s longest established law firms, Jacksons, is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year having been formed by the merger in 1989 of Jacksons Monk & Rowe, founded in 1876 by solicitor Gilbert Benjamin Jackson in Middlesbrough and Cohen Jackson, founded by Reuben Cohen in Stockton in 1902. Mr. Jackson continued to practice as a solicitor for 55 years opening offices in Loftus, Saltburn and a prestigious address in Lincolns Inn!
The firm has come a long way since then and now offers a full range of business and personal legal services to clients based in the north east, and throughout the UK, from is offices in Stockton and Newcastle.
The firm has had an eventful history. A number of members served valiantly in the first World War including the son of the founder – Major Basil Jackson D.S.O. who tragically died of wounds sustained in 1915. On a lighter note, the firm has a claim to minor celebrity. Not many if, indeed, any practices can have had a pop song named after them. In 1993 Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet released a single called Jacksons Monk & Rowe, apparently a reference to a childhood nickname of the cellist in the quartet who had grown up in Middlesbrough. It reached no. 18 in the UK charts.
Jacksons has, over the years, built a solid reputation in the region for its legal expertise and commitment to client care, with many of its clients returning year after year and in some cases Jacksons having advised generations of the same family on their business and private matters.
Many of the staff are long serving employees, joining the firm in the 1970s and early ‘80s. In the private client department alone, secretary Gail Tattersfield has worked at Jacksons for 46 years and legal assistant Christine Westwood, for 40 years and more than 15% of the staff have been with the firm for over 20 years.
The firm is delighted to announce it is ahead of target for the financial year for both the Stockton and Newcastle offices with the company law team fees increasing by 52%, the commercial litigation team seeing an increase in 47% in fees, while commercial property fees are up by 34% in Newcastle and matrimonial team fees by 63%. Staff numbers rose by 10% and in November 2015 the Newcastle office launched its residential conveyancing department.
Geoff Skeoch, senior partner and head of commercial property, who has served 39 years at the firm said, “The team worked very hard to achieve the growth we experienced last year and we are very grateful for their commitment to the firm. We are proud of the fact that many of our staff have been loyal to the firm during the tough years we’ve experienced, particularly through the latest recession. We’ve seen some of them coming into Jacksons at a very junior level and working their way through several promotions and in some cases, achieving partnership. It’s reassuring to know that we have a good succession plan in place and I’m confident that the next generation will see that Jacksons continues to build on its reputation and client commitment in the region”.
Jacksons Law firm is one of the North East’s longest established law firms and has been practising in the Tees Valley for almost 140 years. Operating from its head office in Stockton on Tees, and an office in Newcastle upon Tyne, it is well placed to assist clients across the region on a wide range of business and personal legal advice.
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