Sun burnt

News that DLA Piper’s inimitable joint CEO, Nigel Knowles, received a knighthood in the New Year Honours List will do nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of UK managing partners with similar ambitions: namely, to grow a business beyond self-imposed regional boundaries to become a global player. A few laterals here, a few mergers there and you’re ‘doing a DLA’. How hard can it be?

But, even the most rapid growth must be measured; the risks assessed. Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to invest. And the gamble must not be taken lightly. The consequences of getting it wrong can be devastating.

It was February 2004 when Ian Austin, Halliwell Landau’s youthful commercial litigation head, beat incumbent Paul Thomas in a contested election to become the firm’s managing partner. The appointment was to herald a radical series of changes for the Manchester firm. Austin embarked on a course of relentless expansion that would revolutionise what was already considered an entrepreneurial and aggressive outfit. ‘When I took over, we were still very much a Manchester firm,’ Austin explains. ‘It was quite apparent that we were increasingly competing against firms that were recognised throughout the UK and we were losing out. We weren’t able to get the bigger ticket, more profitable instructions, and it also put us at a disadvantage with recruitment, as people saw greater strength in those national practices.’

Encouraged by the success of regional rivals DLA Piper and Addleshaw Goddard, Austin set out to transform the firm into what he describes as a ‘national brand’. ‘The primary goal was to take the firm forward, give it some direction,’ he says.

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