Franklin Morton We must empower the youth. Company: Beachcroft LLP Location: London, England Website: www.beachcroft.co.uk

Biography:
Franklin Morton, an ex-Linklaters lawyer, is a partner at Beachcroft, one of the UK's top 100 law firms and largest national law firms with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Winchester and London.

Frank was born in May 1964 in Northampton to working-class West Indian parents. He read Law at Kingston, graduating in 1986. He did his Solicitors Finals at the College of Law, Chancery Lane, London and his Articles at Lewis Silkin and qualified as a solicitor in 1990.

On qualification, Frank joined Linklaters as an assistant in their employment law department and he remained at Linklaters for nine years. He described his time there as "an enjoyable experience". He said: "I worked with some of the best employment lawyers I know and importantly made a number of friends. There was a lot going on and the team in the then Group 20 was brilliant, as can be seen by the careers of those who were in the team from 1990-2000. I made a lot of very good friends there which I feel is very important in life."

In 1998/99 Frank moved to Bristol for family reasons and worked in Bristol and Reading. He joined Osborne Clarke in Reading in 1999 and became a partner there in 2001. He left Osborne Clarke to join Beachcroft as a partner in 2004.

He specialises in non-contentious employment law issues, restructuring programmes, discrimination and major change issues in the UK and to multi-national companies. In April 2007 Frank led a team advising MITIE on its successful tender for the cleaning services contract for the new BAA Heathrow Terminal 5. In The Legal 500 for 2006 Frank (and Alex Lock's) employment team increased its ranking as the "growing reputation of its (Beachcroft) Bristol offering continues to strengthen".

Frank is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and the Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a governor of a school in Bristol and a trustee of the Freeway Trust, a charitable trust that cares and houses those with learning disabilities.

He is married with three children.

Availability:
Available as a speaker and legal consultant.