Following his death in 2014, we have created this tribute to our co-founder, the late Leslie Black. Find out more about him below and the impact he made on his local Crosby community.
Leslie Black makes up one half of our practice’s name Black Norman, the other half belonging to co-founder Howard Norman. Leslie Black and Howard Norman founded Black Norman in the late 1980s, but were practising law together for many years before their joint venture.
Mr Black had been in the law profession for more than 70 years when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, before going on to retire at the unprecedented age of 95.
Before our inception, Leslie became a partner at a law firm called Black Davidson Solicitors in Liverpool’s thriving city centre. He worked there for many years and in 1986, the founders of Black Davidson opened up several new branches, including an office in Crosby. This culminated in Leslie and Howard moving to Crosby and eventually led to them forming their own company, Black Norman, in 1989. And as they say, the rest is history.
Having been practising law for over 70 years, and refusing to let his age prevent him from working, Leslie was a true marvel of the legal world, his name often spoken about to this day. Leslie passed his final legal examinations in 1940. After which he trained as a pilot in The Royal Air Force during WW2. This is something he was immensely proud of and loved to recount.
Initially a sole practitioner, before eventually becoming partner, Leslie received international acclaim and recognition for his professionalism and expertise, and was flown out to many places, including New York, Monaco and the Caribbean to assist with legal advice and guidance. He even assisted with the drawing up of many title deeds for buildings in the New York district of Manhattan.
Most of the work we carry out today is based on work Leslie completed and carved out a path for us to achieve. We feel proud to have worked under his guidance and to still be maintaining this company decades after it was formed. We hope to continue to do so for many more years to come! Leslie would be proud to see the commitment and dedication to the community that we maintain.
It’s safe to say that Leslie was a great inspiration and continues to be, in the legal profession and to encourage others to enter the world of law. Despite the hardships he faced in his life, he was passionate about his work and completed it with vim and vigour even into his 90s, which is something that keeps inspiring us all.
We are fortunate to work with many great clients, and we thoroughly enjoy receiving feedback from our hard work and assistance in many legal matters. Thanks to Leslie, our team has great ethics and works hard to deliver equally exceptional results.
If you want to find out more about us as a company, visit our about us page. Additionally, take a look at our services page if you have an inquiry that needs resolving.
