Former SJ Berwin senior partner David Harrel has joined leading legal services outsourcing (LSO) and intellectual property (IP) management company CPA Global as Chairman. Harrel succeeds Geoffrey Grime, who will remain on the board as a non-executive director.

Harrel was a founding partner at SJ Berwin, which emerged as one of the fastest-growing City law firms and now stands as one of the biggest. While Harrel served as senior partner between 1992 and 2006, the firm grew from 30 partners to 150 and significantly expanded its international network, opening offices in Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan and Madrid.

Since retiring as an SJ Berwin partner, Harrel has taken on a series of corporate and advisory roles – including senior independent director at investment and wealth-management firm Rathbone Brothers PLC; non-executive directorships at property investment company Wichford PLC and broking and investment service provider Kyte Group Ltd; and senior adviser to Proven, an international investigative company. He is also on the board of the English National Opera, and works as trustee of a number of charitable trusts.

Commenting on his appointment, Harrel said: ‘This is a fascinating time for the legal industry and a time of great opportunity for CPA Global. Law firms and in-house legal departments are having to adopt new ways of working, which is leading to unprecedented change in the industry. CPA Global is well positioned to take advantage of that change. The company has a proud heritage of providing high-quality IP and legal services support to many of the world’s leading corporations and law firms. As Chairman, I look forward to helping CPA Global build on that heritage and achieve further success in the future.’

CPA Global Chief Executive Officer Peter Sewell said: ‘I am delighted to welcome David Harrel as CPA Global’s new Chairman at this exciting time in the company’s development. We are continuing to build on our market leadership in IP management and have already established ourselves as a leading player in the fast emerging legal services outsourcing sector. This sector is dramatically reshaping the legal industry and represents a huge opportunity for us. David’s vast experience with one of the foremost law firms in the UK will be invaluable as we work with an increasing number of corporate and law firm clients to help them meet their changing legal services requirements.’

Sewell added: ‘On behalf of the Board I would like to take this opportunity to thank Geoffrey Grime for the contribution he has made to CPA Global. During Geoffrey’s time as Chairman, we have seen strong growth in the company, achieved significant success in our diversification strategy, and attracted major new investment, which has helped position us for further growth.’