Russell-Cooke Solicitors

Suffragist Mrs. William Russell Cooke, John Singer Sargent, 1895

Russell-Cooke was founded in London in 1880 by William Russell Cooke and Sir Henry Paget-Cooke.[3]

In the 1890s the firm moved into Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, where clients included the Liberal Party and members of the Royal Family.

Following the Second World War, Russell-Cooke aligned itself with suburban firm Sloper, Potter & Chapman, based at 2 Putney Hill. The two firms eventually merged in 1958 to form Russell-Cooke Potter & Chapman, with Edward Chapman as senior partner.

During the 1960s and 1970s Russell-Cooke Potter and Chapman expanded, developing a large commercial property department and attracted a number of famous clients from the pop and entertainment world. Edward Chapman’s son Lewin became senior partner.

A new office in Kingston-upon-Thames was opened in the early 1990s which is now located on the river next to Kingston Bridge. After 100 years occupying the upper two floors of 2 Putney Hill, the firm took over the ground floor from the National Westminster Bank. Further growth during the nineties saw the Central London contingent move from Old Square into grade 2 listed buildings at 8 Bedford Row. In Putney, the firm later expanded into a nearby office block.

In 2000 Russell-Cooke Potter and Chapman merged with Putney based firm Evill & Coleman’s Commercial Property, Private Client and Commercial departments.[4]

The firm shortened its name to Russell-Cooke in 2001.

In 2003 Russell-Cooke merged with charity law specialists Sinclair Taylor & Martin, one of the leading charity law practices in the country.[5] The merger saw the firm take on over 600 charity clients. A further merger, with Evill and Coleman’s PI and clinical negligence department in 2005 followed.[6] In 2005 the firm celebrated its 125th anniversary and in May 2007 the firm converted to a limited liability partnership [LLP] practice, Russell-Cooke LLP.

Russell-Cooke is now a top 100 law firm with around 200 highly regarded specialist solicitors and lawyers bringing the total number of staff to over 300.[7]

Russell-Cooke is currently recognised by The Legal 500 in 23 categories[8] and by Chambers UK in 14 categories.[7]

Russell-Cooke's headquarters is located in Putney (SW15). It also has an office in London (Bedford Row WC1R) and another in Kingston-upon-Thames.[9]