The former joint heads of Foot Anstey’s IP practice, Paul Cox and Roy Crozier, have formed a specialist IP law firm called Ionic Legal in partnership with UK firm Excello Law.

Ionic Legal will operate from Manchester and London with Cox and Crozier leading an initial team of 10, of whom six are from Foot Antsey including two more partners, who will join in July, as well as a solicitor and three paralegals. 

Ionic Legal has been formed as part of Excello Law’s incubator programme. This, the firm says, offers a “set up solution” for lawyers who want to establish their own firm, including capital investment, marketing, PR, website development and law firm management.

The creation of Ionic Legal is the fifth firm launched by the programme by Excello, which operates a fee sharing model. The first, SPG, came from the US to the UK in 2018. It went on to form the claimaint firm PGMGM Law, which trades as Pogust Goodhead. It no longer receives support from Excello Law and is completely independent.

Law firms Lowry Legal, 458 Law and Roberts Law currently receive Excello’s backing through the incubator.

Crozier brings more than 25 years of experience from leading law firms including Baker McKenzie and Clarke Willmott. He advises high profile brands, fashion houses and retail businesses on both contentious and non-contentious IP matters.

Paul Cox has 20 years of experience conducting litigation through the High Court and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. His expertise includes securing interim injunctions, search and seizure orders, judgments and summary judgments

Crozier said it was a “long held” ambition of theirs to create their own law firm together and they were “excited to have broken free from traditional constraints and politics, focusing instead on delivering outstanding service to our clients and developing our business on our own terms”.

Cox added that “partnering with Excello Law allows us to avoid the administrative burdens that come with starting a new practice” in order to focus on serving clients and developing our practice.

Jo Losty, COO at Excello Law, commented: “We have ambitious growth plans at Excello Law and Ionic Legal is a valuable addition to our house of brands.”

She added that its incubatory programme was designed for “entrepreneurial lawyers like Roy and Paul who have bold ambitions that go beyond the constraints of traditional law firms”.

Excello has a network of offices across the UK, including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. Lawyers can join Excello as consultants, merge their firm, or launch their own firm with Excello’s help.