History

LeeLanes LLP hails its legal tradition to March 1935 when Gabriel Maria Malzer was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, following which it is understood that he set up in practice. According to the 1936 Law List he was practising at Avenue Chambers, Southampton Row, in London, which was repeated in the 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940 Law Lists. Having changed his name to Gabriel Maria Manley after the start of the World War II, Mr. Manley continued practising, and the 1941 Law List show him as practising under G M Manley & Co.

In 1942 Mr. Manley joined Britain’s war effort against Germany, and in order to keep G M Manley & Co operational a new solicitor, Mr. A J Clements, was invited to join the practice. In 1944 Mr. Manley has completed his military service and rejoined Mr. Clements resuming common practice. In 1949 the practice became known as Manley & Cooke, after B I C Cooke became a partner. By 1971 the practice once again became G M Manley & Co, and in 1972 Charles Mayes joined the firm followed by the retirement of Gabriel Maria Manley in 1973.

Independently from G M Manley & Co the law practice of Lee Lane Smith was founded at Sardinia House, 52 Lincolns Inn Fields, in London in 1976. The principals of G M Manley & Co and Lee Lane Smith have established a particularly close professional relationship between themselves in 1994 through a mutual consultancy arrangement. In 2003 the principals of both practices have successfully concluded merger negotiations, which had been pursued on and off for a number of years, and the merged practice of Manley Lee Lane Smith became operational on 1 November 2003.

The firm was renamed LeeLanes Solicitors in mid-2005 and following conversion to a limited liability partnership in autumn of the same year continued its practice under the current name.  In summer of 2007 LeeLanes Solicitors LLP opened a new chapter in its history by moving to the heart of the London’s City, where the firm is currently based at 68 King William Street.  Despite these changes, the firm has retained its familiar non-institutional approach to assisting its clients, and the firm’s practice has been reinforced by several solicitors and consultants who joined it since 2005.