London disputes boutique Bellevue Law has hired a senior manager from Slaughter and May as its first chief operating officer. 

Kay Osborne has joined Bellevue after nearly six years at Slaughters, where she was most recently a senior manager in the firm’s partnership and executive office, working with outgoing senior partner, Steve Cook, who will retire in May 2024.

Before joining Slaughters Osborne was business operations director at boutique employment and partnership law firm CM Murray. She has extensive experience of business management and operational matters, with particular expertise in managing complex, business-wide projects and general operations. She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD).

She joins Bellevue ahead of the firm’s 10th anniversary next year and will work closely with founder Florence Brocklesby to provide managerial and administrative support to the firm’s 21-strong team as it transitions to the next stage of its lifecycle. 

The firm has championed flexible working for ex-City lawyers, with Brocklesby, a former lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Debevoise & Plimpton, specialising in employment and commercial litigation. 

Brocklesby, who was shortlisted at this year’s Women and Diversity in Law Awards, said: “The addition of Kay to our team is a real feather in our collective cap – she brings a vast amount of experience with her from her time as senior manager at a Magic Circle firm and is bound to turbo-charge our operations. She is also warm and friendly, and has excellent people skills, so I know that she will fit right in.”

Osborne added: “I am looking forward to joining the team at Bellevue Law and being part of the next stage of its progression. I am excited to be joining a firm with such an excellent reputation for ethical and flexible working.” 

Nominations for the 2024 Women and Diversity in Law Awards will close on 30 September 2023. More information about the awards can be found here.