department 16 years ago and has managed it ever since, is leaving next month to become general manager of Mr. Max Quin's law practice.

At AS&K, Mr. Addington was responsible for a staff of about 12 people, but MLH Quin and Co, which was formed eight months ago, has only two lawyers, Mr. Quin and Mr. J. Marcus Smith.

Mr. Addington, a 46-year-old Briton, said yesterday he had decided it was "time for a change'' and added he was leaving AS&K on amicable terms.

"One has to understand something about my personal background to better comprehend my decision,'' he said.

"Although I'm a legal executive, and that's a recognised qualification in the United Kingdom, it does not entitle me to be called to the Bar in Bermuda and the consequences of that are that I cannot become a partner in a Bermuda law firm.

"I'm one of those people who left school at a young age and worked his way up from the mail room, taking such qualifications as I have at night school.'' He added: "After 16 years of running around with writs and injunctions in the hot afternoon sun, I'm going to leave that sort of thing to a younger man and do something different.

"I've known Max for many years and he's a close personal friend. "I will enjoy going back to grass roots with a small, compact firm where I'm doing everything and will have a lot of client contact.

"I'm looking forward to a new challenge after a very enjoyable 16 years with AS&K in Bermuda. In some ways I shall be sorry to go but I believe one should make changes in one's life every so often.'' Mr. Addington spent about 15 years with leading law firms in London before AS&K recruited him to set up its litigation department, which began in 1967 with just a couple of staff but quickly grew.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in the UK, a Member of the British Institute of Management and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He will leave AS&K at the end of February. His replacement has yet to be appointed.

Mr. Addington said there were no immediate plans to set up a litigation department at MLH Quin and Co., which specialises in international corporate and trust law, but did not rule it out in the long-term.

"Further down the road, I think this is a possibility,'' he said. "If one's going to be any sort of practice, one has to consider the possibility of doing litigation work.''