The Cork Lawyers - some further findings on the Cork family and insolvency law

In a previous blog entry on the 'Cork Dynasty' I discussed the four generations of Cork men that have been involved in insolvency practice as accountants, namely, WH Cork, Sir Kenneth Cork, Sir Roger Cork, and Mr Stephen Cork. It has now come to my attention that there were a number of Cork family members that practiced not as accountants, but as lawyers. This legal branch of the Cork family also had close connections with insolvency law and the City of London. I am grateful to Mr Colin Cork for the following information.

 

WH Cork, had three sons. The eldest was, Leslie Cork, and then came Norman and Kenneth. Rather than follow his father, Leslie Cork decided to enter the legal profession as a solicitor and after qualifying joined Herbert Oppenheimer, Nathan & Vandyk (HONV), a City firm of solicitors, later becoming the first partner to be made after the founders of the firm. As Roger followed his father into the accountancy profession, Colin Cork followed his father into the legal profession. After serving articles with Herbert Smith, Colin Cork joined HONV where his father (Leslie Cork) was now Senior Partner and HONV had grown to one of the larger firms in the City counting Plessey, Sainsburys and Sea Containers among its clients. There was another Cork in the City and that was Leslie Cork's son (Colin Cork's younger brother), Malcolm Cork.

 

Malcolm left school at an early age and, after being made redundant from his first job, his uncle, Kenneth, invited him to go and work at WH Cork Gully & Co until he found another job. However, he stayed there and that is where his insolvency career started although he never became a qualified chartered accountant like Kenneth and Roger. He was more in the mold of his uncle, Norman. Later on, Malcolm decided to pursue his career elsewhere and joined Grant Thornton (GT)'s insolvency department, for a time being based in Bristol. He then left GT and joined Booth White, a small specialist insolvency firm in the City. It was about this time that Roger had left Coopers & Lybrand and joined Moore Stephens. Later on, through Roger and Malcolm, Moore Stephens' insolvency department was merged with Booth White under the initial name of Moore Stephens Booth White. Malcolm retired just over a year ago although he still retains a number of contacts with the City.

 

Leslie Cork was Master of The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, a City livery company. His son, Colin Cork is still a member. Both Leslie and Colin worked closely with Cork Gully on the legal aspects of insolvency cases.

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