Capsticks was founded in 1979 by Brian Capstick, who spotted a niche in clinical negligence and built a practice from there. The firm won the NHS as its main client and for many years stuck with what it knew: acting for hundreds of NHS trusts and primary healthcare trusts, with a handful of private sector healthcare organisations for good measure. Capstick himself believed it to be the first firm to reach the UK top 100 in the working life of
Capsticks was founded in 1979 by Brian Capstick, who spotted a niche in clinical negligence and built a practice from there. The firm won the NHS as its main client and for many years stuck with what it knew: acting for hundreds of NHS trusts and primary healthcare trusts, with a handful of private sector healthcare organisations for good measure. Capstick himself believed it to be the first firm to reach the UK top 100 in the working life of its founder.
This state of affairs continued until 2008 – the year Brian Capstick departed the firm, and also the year of the great financial crash. This was the moment when the rates for public sector work stopped going up. The firm made the decision to diversify. Previously around 95 per cent of its work was healthcare, but it moved into new areas of practice, particularly the housing arena.
It also expanded geographically, opening its first office outside London in Birmingham in 2008. Another followed in Southampton (later relocated to Winchester) with the hire of a social housing team from Coffin Mew, while a Leeds office was set up in 2011. The firm also now has an office in Manchester.
Capsticks’ leadership 1980 to present
| Managing partner | Senior partner | |
| 1980 | Brian Capstick | |
| 2007 | Alison Morley | |
| 2008 | Peter Edwards | |
| 2017 | Rachael Heenan | |
| 2018 | Martin Hamilton |
