Nabarro climate change and energy team leaves for Temple Bright

Three projects lawyers from law firm Nabarro have joined Temple Bright in its recently opened London office. They are former Nabarro partners Tom Bainbridge and Louisa Cilenti, and senior associate Sandy Abrahams, who made up the core of Nabarro’s Climate Change & Energy team. All will join Temple Bright as partners, launching a new practice area for the fast-growing firm.

Bainbridge, Cilenti and Abrahams are market leaders for “distributed generation” and are involved in some of the largest district heating projects in the UK, as well as developing new routes to market for local energy projects.

Temple Bright, established by two former City lawyers in Bristol in 2010, now has 27 partners based in Bristol and London. The firm’s most distinctive feature is its “chambers practice” model, based broadly on a barristers’ chambers, in which experienced solicitors work in teams from the firm’s two offices.

Costs are reduced through technology and lawyers are able to adopt client-friendly ways of charging, generally involving fixed and capped fees.

Our fees are reasonable with no surprises. Our partners charge the same as junior lawyers in many large commercial firms. We offer our clients flexible fee structures including fixed and capped arrangements.We promise attention from your regular senior lawyer. Your work will be handled by experienced specialists, who will get to know you, your business and your aspirations. There will be no delegation to junior lawyers.

Tom Bainbridge said:

“We’re really excited about moving to Temple Bright and our clients seem to be just as excited as us. The firm’s streamlined model gives us the ideal opportunity to offer them the nimble, expert service and tailored pricing that the market is calling for. We have a great order book of work already and we are looking forward to building our practice within this new context. It’s the perfect fit for us.”

Louisa Cilenti said:

“The legal marketplace is changing fast. The Temple Bright model fundamentally changes the way that lawyers can interact with their clients. With no imposed management hierarchy or billing targets, we are released to focus solely on supporting our clients’ objectives and building common goals with them, in an industry we care about deeply.”

Temple Bright co-founder Tim Summers said:

“We are delighted to welcome Tom, Louisa and Sandy to the team at Temple Bright. They bring unsurpassed expertise in a niche area which is of vital importance today, and for which we hope to see increasing demand as governments and the private sector take action to halt climate change.”

Summers continues:

“We feel that the recruitment of a high profile team from a major City firm, just over a year since launching in London, is a significant endorsement of Temple Bright’s innovative approach. Our model means that senior lawyers like Tom, Louisa and Sandy can work with their clients in an efficient way, and the clients get hands-on involvement from experts, with certainty on fees. Everyone wins.”