arch.law has appointed James Mallender as Head of Recruitment, further strengthening its senior leadership team as the leading legal business continues to scale its innovative distributed model across the UK and internationally.
James joins from The Legal Director (TLD), where he was a Director and shareholder. During his tenure, he built and led the firm’s recruitment function, leaving earlier this year with TLD having more than 50 fractional GC’s on their books. His track record in identifying, attracting, and developing top-tier legal talent will play a central role in arch.law’s next phase of growth.
A city-trained lawyer and former equity partner at Bond Pearce (now Womble Bond Dickinson), James brings over two decades of experience in legal practice, business leadership, and strategic recruitment. His appointment reflects arch.law’s focus on attracting entrepreneurial, mid-career lawyers and teams with strong client relationships who want to operate within a more agile, technology-driven framework.
arch.law has a growing international footprint across the UK, Australia, Canada and Dubai with Collaboration Hubs in Birmingham, Brisbane, City of London, Dubai, Lancashire, Leeds, Manchester, Mayfair, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle West (NSW) and Toronto.
James commented: “I’ve long admired what Andrew Leaitherland and the team have built at arch.law – a business that’s truly reimagining how legal solutions are delivered. Having previously worked with Andrew in a non-executive capacity when he was Chair of The Legal Director, this is the first opportunity to collaborate with him in an executive leadership role, which is hugely exciting.
arch.law’s model provides the flexibility, infrastructure, and ambition that modern lawyers and professionals are looking for – particularly those with established practices who want to grow without the constraints of traditional firm structures.”
In his new role, James will focus on developing arch.law’s recruitment strategy and market positioning, building on the firm’s proven ability to attract relationship-driven lawyers and professionals from mid-sized and boutique practices. His remit also includes identifying complementary teams and potential acquisitions, aligning with arch.law’s long-term vision to scale sustainably through high-quality, client-led growth.
Andrew Leaitherland, CEO of arch.law, added: “James is a key addition to our leadership team. His ability to build and scale recruitment-driven legal businesses, combined with his legal pedigree and commercial understanding, makes him ideally placed to help us accelerate our growth.
“At arch.law, we’re creating an environment where ambitious lawyers can thrive -combining autonomy with access to a collaborative, global platform. James’s experience and network will be invaluable in taking that mission forward.”
James will be based in Bristol, working closely with the wider leadership team to expand arch.law’s member base across the UK and internationally.
For further information please contact marketing@arch.law.
