LDC Top 50 2026
Eliot Hibbert
Founder and CEO
Nexa
Eliot Hibbert set up his Shropshire-based virtual law firm in 2017 after practiing commercial law for 15 years. Nexa now has over 200 lawyers on its books, with more than 30 staff and over 100 assistants supporting the lawyers.
“Most of our rivals struggle to scale beyond 25 lawyers,” says Eliot, who found success by offering a diverse range of services and focusing on both London and regional growth. Turnover should hit £30 million this year and Eliot is seeking to leverage AI to help his people work more efficiently. “I want Nexa to be the best tech-enabled ‘new model’ law firm in the UK,” he says.
We have grown every year since inception and the plan is to keep growing sustainably by finding the best lawyers and treating them well.”
Q&A
How have you grown this business?
My background as a commercial lawyer, working with business owners on exits, has definitely helped me build Nexa. We have a broad church of disciplines and seek to limit consumer work. I also lean on my investors, who are experienced business owners, for advice. We have grown every year since inception and the plan is to keep growing sustainably by finding the very best lawyers and treating them well.
What gave you the idea?
I knew I wanted my own firm but it’s hard to scale a traditional boutique firm and even a small entity comes with a lot of admin. Back when I was a commercial lawyer I acted for the sale of a mortgage broker business. Their most successful consultant was living in Tenerife and only working 6am to 12noon. That was made possible by IT so that’s where I started – a virtual, IT-leveraged business that gives lawyers the best of both worlds.
What’s the secret to your success?
I play golf and that has always been useful. A lot of my former clients subsequently became investors in the business because we played golf together. You don’t usually get to spend five or six hours one-on-one with your clients. I play a lot of sport generally, which also teaches resilience. Right from the start of my career I was encouraged to network and build my own practice.
