Leading legal consultancies announce merger

London – 2nd June 2008 – H4 Partners and The Kite Consultancy, two of the UK’s leading consultancies for law firms and in-house legal departments, today announced the merger of their businesses. The resulting organisation offers a unique blend of expertise, focused on providing clients with new, world-leading levels of advice on strategy, leadership and development.

The combined company will be known as H4 Partners and brings together a wealth of experience. The Kite Consultancy, founded in 2005 by Julia Chain, has specialised in providing performance management, assessment, development and coaching to general counsel and in-house legal departments. H4 Partners was founded in 2007 by Alan Hodgart, who has worked with a large number of law firms to provide high-level advice with a unique, strategic emphasis on building business competitiveness.

The combined company comprises ten consultants and is based at H4 Partners’ offices, close to Hyde Park Corner in London. Both Kite and H4 bring a large number of existing UK-based clients to the table, as well as an increasingly large international pool of clients.

H4 Partners will be jointly managed by CEO Alan Hodgart and Julia Chain, who both have extensive experience in both legal and management positions. Julia joined Garretts, the law firm associated with Andersens, in 1993 and then became the first female managing partner of a Top 100 law firm in the UK. Alan has worked with law firms globally for more than 20 years, and has built an unmatched reputation in helping them align their organisations with their strategic goals through practical steps.

Julia Chain, founder of the Kite Consultancy, said: “I have known Alan for many years. His knowledge of the legal profession, together with his ability to advise law firms in a way that is both strategic but also highly practical, is without equal. Our merger with H4 Partners will allow us to take advantage of a well-developed infrastructure so that we can broaden our offerings. It will also significantly increase the number of consultants working with us, so that we can undertake major international projects in multiple locations.”

Alan Hodgart, founder of H4 Partners, said: “With the legal market becoming increasingly dynamic, the merger provides us with a greater depth of resource and increases our ability to continue our data-driven market analyses – which has importance for both in-house and private practice law firms. The new firm continues the practice of working with clients globally and this broader market knowledge provides greater advantages for our clients.”

For further information, please contact:

Alan Hodgart, H4 Partners Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7152 6125
Email: alan.hodgart@h4partners.co.uk

Julia Chain, H4 Partners Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7152 6096
Email: julia.chain@h4partners.co.uk