It was another strong performance from Legal Business’ 2015 Law Firm of the Year, Osborne Clarke (OC), which saw revenues grow from £142m to £151m, with profits per equity partner up from £513,000 to £550,000.
‘We had a fantastic year the year before and just to keep that momentum going was key for us,’ says UK managing partner Ray Berg (pictured). ‘There was no complacency. We continue to do well in our core areas and retain a strong sector focus.’
By any margin, the firm has been in robust form in recent years, with revenues growing 80% since 2010. Perhaps the firm’s biggest achievement has been a perilously hard repositioning from a quality regional outfit with limited resources to a more confident upper-mid-market player with real clout in its core technology, venture capital and IP practices. It has been a deft balancing act between niche and general, and regional and City (and increasingly international). On paper it looked a long shot; in practice the firm has leapt into that select camp of imaginative, mid-tier legal brands that linger in the professional mind.
Part of that shift has been making the business increasingly cross-border, though OC was an early internationalist. The last 18 months have seen a quickening of its expansion: in Europe through a new office in Amsterdam; in the US with a new San Francisco office; and an entry into Asia, through strategic alliances with Hong Kong law firm John Koh & Co and BTG Legal in Mumbai.
‘There is a massive, intangible benefit for us in having an international platform,’ says Berg, who took over at the start of 2015 from well-regarded, long-time OC head Simon Beswick. ‘You get taken more seriously by clients.’ Perhaps the best evidence of that was in 2014 advising longstanding client Carphone Warehouse on its £3.8bn merger with Dixons Retail.
‘Some of the glass ceilings have been removed,’ argues Berg. ‘Big in-house teams will not automatically default to the Magic Circle if law firms can be innovative and fleet-of-foot, and come up with solutions, charging structures or good client service, fundamentally.’
LB: What are the key challenges for OC?
Ray Berg: ‘Our people. There is such a huge war for talent – how we recruit our people and make this the best destination for lawyers. The economy, while stable, is prone to being thrown off course by the odd curveball and therefore one would hope we would continue to grow at a rate that is sensible and not short-termist. But it will be challenging. We see competition from above, below and to our side. There are a lot of successful law firms out there doing really well so we have to continue to be at the top of our game and prove why our clients should chose us.’
How have you found the transition to managing partner?
‘One of the biggest successes is the fact I’ve managed to step into Simon [Beswick]’s shoes, continue and build on the success that he’s done without any obvious disruption to the business. To me, that is testament to what Simon did and the platform he’s created.’
Firms with a strong sector focus seem to have outperformed their peers this year. Any thoughts on that?
‘The sector focus positions you really well with your clients to understand the markets they’re operating in and, when they are looking to choose lawyers, they can go out and say: “We know these guys can actually help us above and beyond the black-letter law.” We have been able to focus on areas in the market where the economy is performing better and place our strengths in those fields.’
The firm has embarked on a period of heavy international expansion. Where’s next?
‘We need to consolidate where we are already and the important thing is: where will our clients take us? We will look to see what we do with our presence in Asia, whether that is building up in Hong Kong or having another couple of bases in the region. But the flip side is the number of firms you are seeing close down offices out there. Just because we have a Hong Kong office, it is not a given that we need to have another three offices in the region.’
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