Somewhat lost amid last week’s hectic news schedule, a deal that boasts huge significance for the legal industry was finally confirmed: the sale of the College of Law to Montagu Private Equity.
Yet it’s hard to overstate the ramifications of the sale of Europe’s largest law school. The attraction for its new owners is obvious. The College has substantial resource, a commanding position in one of the world’s largest legal markets and has achieved a combination of prestige and thrusting spirit rarely found in higher education. It remains one of the few UK education institutions that could conceivably assert itself globally and challenge the orthodoxies of academia, especially now that it has won more freedom to move and increased access to investment.
