Network of Independent Business Lawyers
Andrew is the driving force behind the Network of Independent Business Lawyers (‘NIBL’), which Andrew founded in 2009 when he left the law firm partner world and went independent as OnHand Counsel. NIBL is an extensive local, nationwide and international network of experienced commercially-minded independent business law specialists, and has well over 100 members. Most NIBL lawyers are experienced ‘one person band’ specialists in their own area of business-related law and as such share a lot in common with the OnHand Counsel approach. This makes NIBL and NIBL lawyers a formidable alternative to the traditional providers of legal services. Over the years NIBL has provided a very strong and useful network for its members and their clients.
Andrew James conceived of and started NIBL to help to improve the profile and market perception of independent business lawyers and to provide a mutual support facility for them.
Andrew recognised that whilst there can be a bit of a ‘You never get fired for hiring IBM’ attitude among clients, the truth is that a good experienced independent specialist lawyer usually offers the best option for any particular job because, amongst other things, traditional law firms tend to service clients with the least experienced lawyer possible.
Members of NIBL (‘NIBLers’) each own their own business but form a strong and effective network as they all share similar attributes. NIBLers:
-all have many years of experience in their specialised areas
-operate without the large overheads of a typical law firm.
-provide a personal specialist legal service through an experienced lawyer or with one or two senior associates who provide a similar service (generally, no junior or employed lawyers).
NIBLers provide a different way for businesses to get their legal services compared with the traditional alternatives (the full-service law firm or the full-time in-house legal department).
Individually NIBLers provide a wide range of specialist legal advice. Together NIBLers have the capability and resources to match those of most top full-service law firms or in-house legal departments.
