The firm
Twenty-three years of saying less
Halden Rook was founded in London in 2003 by Margaret Halden and Anthony Rook. It is independent and owned by its partners, and it has 61 people in two offices.
01 History
From two rooms in Holborn
- 2003
Margaret Halden and Anthony Rook found the firm in two rooms above a bookshop in Holborn, with one assistant and a client they had both advised before.
- 2004
Anthony Rook writes the firm’s guidance on message houses. Documents begin to carry codenames in place of clients’ names.
- 2007
The firm moves to Wrenfield Place. Twelve people.
- 2010
Matthew Kerrigan joins from broadcast news to lead crisis response.
- 2011
The New York office opens, led by Anthony Rook.
- 2012
Frances Idowu joins to build the litigation communications practice.
- 2013
Nathaniel Cobb joins to lead crisis and regulatory work in New York.
- 2015
Owen Hallworth joins to establish the Desk, the firm’s research team.
- 2019
Helen Barraclough joins as chief operating officer.
- 2021
Anthony Rook retires as a partner and becomes a consultant.
- 2022
The litigation communications practice is named team of the year.
- 2025
A message house prepared for a client is published by a trade newsletter. The firm reviews its document handling and introduces the client extranet.
- 2026
Named crisis and issues consultancy of the year (independent firms).
02 Ownership and governance
Owned by its partners
Halden Rook LLP is owned by its partners and has no outside shareholders. Its New York office is operated by Halden Rook Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary. The firm has 8 partners.
Three committees run the firm. The management committee, chaired by the senior partner, meets monthly. The risk committee approves every new client and every new matter for an existing one, after checking it against every current matter. The editorial committee reads everything published in the firm’s name, including this website.
| Committee | Members |
|---|---|
| Management | Margaret Halden (chair), Nathaniel Cobb, Laura Whitcombe, Matthew Kerrigan, Helen Barraclough |
| Risk | Margaret Halden (chair), Laura Whitcombe, Catherine Dunmore |
| Editorial | Margaret Halden and Catherine Dunmore (joint chairs), Geoffrey Bannard |
03 Offices
London and New York
| Office | Since | People | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 2003 | 40 | 7 Wrenfield Place, London WC1R 4MV |
| New York | 2011 | 21 | 11 Ostrander Place, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10013 |
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