Legal Business

Blazing a trail: DWF unveils 58% H1 revenue growth and increased profits

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Financial results 2013/14 DWF
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It set the market on fire this year after picking of the lion’s share of Cobbetts at the end of an explosive 18-month spell of consolidation, so it comes as no surprise that DWF has posted a 57.5% increase in half-year revenues to £93.6m from £59.4m this time last year.

According to the 984-lawyer, top 25 firm, over 10% (£6m) of its reported revenue growth is organic, the remainder stemming from the firm’s merger with Fishburns and acquisition of Cobbetts, both in February 2013. The firm said profits were also up significantly at the half-year stage, although it was unable to provide any figures yet.

Revenues from its 230-lawyer strong real estate practice, which was considerably bolstered by the Cobbetts takeover, have grown by 92% from £7m to £13.5m and now accounts for 15% of overall turnover. In addition to the Cobbetts hires, the firm bulked up the practice this year with the hire of a 12-strong team from Eversheds, including its former real estate head Adam Heather and former senior partner Adrian Stanley. The firm also hired another six partners, which included former Wragge & Co partner Toby Askin to head up the practice in London and Birmingham.

The firm’s core insurance practice saw revenues increase by 34% to £41m, now accounting for 47% of the firm’s total revenue – no doubt a result of its tie-up with London insurance firm Fishburns. Meanwhile, the firm’s sector focus is also showing signs of eye-watering growth, with revenues in the transport sector practice up by 81%, while turnover in the retail, food and hospitality group has grown by 87%.

Managing partner and CEO Andrew Leaitherland said: ‘We’ve worked exceptionally hard to deliver what are, by all accounts, very robust half year results. We have experienced significant benefit already from our acquisitive phase over the last 12-18 to months and we’re now really beginning to gain traction in our chosen markets as our clients build increasing confidence in our ability to deliver exceptional client service at an affordable pricing point.’

David.stevenson@legalease.co.uk

For more on the meteoric rise of DWF, see ‘Pretenders to the throne – the regional players with national ambition‘

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Key hires for Mayer Brown, Sullivan & Worcester, Harbottle, DWF, Irwin Mitchell and Burness Paull

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Strategic recruitment DWFIrwin MitchellMayer Brown
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Mayer Brown is continuing to beef up its City offering with its seventh partner hire in two months, as Allen & Overy (A&O) employment and benefits partner Stefan Martin joins the firm, the top 25 Global 100 firm announced last week.

The appointment of Martin – who joined A&O in 1992 and has been a partner at the Magic Circle firm for 13 years, having spent most of his career advising financial institutions and corporates on employment issues – comes as Mayer Brown recently revamped its international strategy, re-grouping around its large international clients and naming London as one of five global sites on which to focus much of its energies alongside Washington D.C, New York, Chicago and Hong Kong.

Also boosting its London capability is Boston-headquartered Sullivan & Worcester, which has made a significant double hire to its City finance team of former Squire Sanders acquisition partner Mark Norris and Dentons trade finance partner Simon Cook.

A former Clifford Chance and Simmons & Simmons lawyer, Norris advises on acquisition finance, structured export credit finance, structured trade and commodity finance in emerging markets, which includes financings in Africa and Europe.

Meanwhile Cook is known for his expertise in structured finance, trade and commodities finance, project finance, receivables finance and borrowing-base facilities in Africa, the Middle East and the CIS, with the UK Legal 500, 2013 describing him as a ‘great project manager’ who ‘gets the job done.’

Elsewhere, Vodafone’s chief of legal, consumer services and terminals Daniel Tozer has made the move back to private practice, joining West End TMT boutique Harbottle & Lewis after nine years at the telecoms giant.

In 2009, Tozer became head of the team providing legal support to Vodafone’s global terminals function, handling the contractual relationships with Vodafone’s mobile handset suppliers such as Apple, RIM, BlackBerry, HTC and Samsung, as well as operating system suppliers such as Microsoft and Google. He notably acted as key legal advisor in the negotiations which brought the iPhone and iPad to Vodafone UK and across the world.

Harbottle’s managing partner Glen Atchison said: ‘Daniel is passionate about helping businesses to create, implement, launch and deliver innovative products and services. Whilst at Vodafone he led on the legal aspects of many of its most business-critical commercial transactions, gaining a level of practical experience that will bring real value to many of our clients and make him an excellent addition to the firm.’

His move comes as expansive UK top-25 firm DWF has also appointed former Trowers & Hamlins local government laws commercial contracts and public procurement partner Michael Mousdale to its Manchester office, bolstering its national commercial team.

Just last month the 984-lawyer firm acquired a 50-strong team from insurance specialist firm Greenwoods, following objections from Aviva that Greenwoods recent merger with Plexus Law may compromise the teams’ work for the insurance giant, which it counts as its main client.

Across the Scottish border and Burness Paull has poached two pensions partners, Martha Quinn and Mark Lindsay, from fellow Scots firm Brodies, who join as consultant and director respectively in the pensions team.

Having formerly worked in the City at Berwin Leighton Paisner, legacy Norton Rose and Wragge & Co, Quinn has been involved in some of the largest public sector, insurance and utilities transactions in the UK, while dual-qualified Lindsay was previously at City firms Slaughter and May and Stephenson Harwood.

Head of the pensions team Sarah Phillips said: ‘These two senior appointments coincide with a period of significant growth for the Burness Paull’s pensions team. We have expanded in Aberdeen with instructions from high profile oil & gas clients and achieved further growth in advising on a string of asset backed funding, M&A/restructuring and banking transactions, pensions litigation, and general company and trustee pensions advice. Our trustee company, Burness Paull Pension Trustees Limited, has seen its mandates double in the past year.’

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: Strategic hires for WilmerHale, Eversheds, Irwin Mitchell and DWF

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Strategic recruitment DWFIrwin Mitchell
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As former co-head of Bird & Bird’s London-based international life sciences sector group and rated intellectual property (IP) litigation partner Trevor Cook joins WilmerHale’s New York office, Irwin Mitchell this week took on Pinsent Masons former dispute resolution and litigation head Nigel Kissack and Squire Sanders IP partner Alex Newman, while in Birmingham, Eversheds and DWF pulled in international rail partner Andrew Herring and real estate partner Melanie Williams respectively.

Veteran Bird & Bird IP litigation partner Cook has resigned after 32 years at the 966-lawyer firm to join WilmerHale’s disputes practice in New York.

Bird & Bird’s IP practice is acknowledged in the Legal 500 as being ‘extremely knowledgeable and technically sound’ with a ‘good commercial outlook’, while Cook is described as ‘a master in the field.’

Key mandates secured by the patent litigation focused group co-headed by Cook include successfully defending ConvaTec against a patent invalidity claim brought by British medical equipment manufacturer Smith & Nephew, and obtaining a ruling for Actavis that proceedings for pan-European declarations of non-infringement can be brought before the English courts.

On his new role, Cook said he had ‘found a new home in WilmerHale,’ which is ‘regarded in Europe as a pre-eminent force in the US IP litigation market.’

Elsewhere, top 20 law firm Irwin Mitchell has signaled its intention to expand its Business Legal Services (BLS) division with two high profile partner hires, including former Pinsents dispute resolution and litigation head Nigel Kissack, who will join the firm’s London office as national head of commercial litigation in early November.

Kissack – a qualified mediator who specialises in resolving disputes for private and listed companies, in the manufacturing, technology, finance, retail and energy sectors – left Pinsents this summer after 15 years at the firm to join South African legal process outsourcing (LPO) provider Exigent as global strategy consultant in the company’s London office. Kissack had worked closely with Exigent since 2009, when he set up Pinsent’s LPO initiative, with the firm becoming the first UK firm to outsource legal work to South Africa.

Joining Kissack at Irwin Mitchell is former Squire Sanders IP partner Alex Newman and trademark attorney Kirsten Doherty. Newman previously led Squire Sanders IP practice in the North of England and focuses on the technology and engineering sectors.

At Eversheds, meanwhile, former Greenberg Traurig Maher partner Herring joined the 1,760-firm in Birmingham at the beginning of this month, working under head of construction and engineering Simon Oats. He has been brought in by the firm to focus on expanding its international rail sector.

Recent mandates he has led include advising Birmingham City Council on the redevelopment of New Street station.

Herring spent seven years as a partner at DLA Piper and was part a group of partners who launched Greenberg Traurig’s satellite office in Birmingham. That office closed in the summer of last year and Herring has been based in London until June this year, since when he has been on gardening leave.

Herring said: ‘Eversheds has got a tier one practice in rail and they want to internationalise that, which is something they want me to focus on. It’s a really good opportunity to broaden out what I’ve already been doing in the international sector with a firm which has a leading practice in the area.’

Also in Birmingham this week, DWF has hired former Squire Sanders real estate partner Melanie Williams, who has over ten years’ experience in the investment and funding of development projects and property tax driven transactions and specialises in utilising property tax reliefs in structuring real estate investment projects.

National head of real estate at DWF, Nic Crocker, said: ‘Melanie is nationally recognised for her niche expertise in structuring and transacting projects using specialist tax incentives, having acted for a number of private equity funds in this area. She is a key addition to both our regional and national teams and her appointment demonstrates our continued commitment to growth.’

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Acquisitive streak: DWF takes on a 50-strong team from Greenwoods

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Strategic recruitment DWFGreenwoods Solicitors
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DWF has continued its highly acquisitive streak with the announcement today (11 October) that it has taken on an 11-partner, 50-strong team from LB100 insurance specialist firm Greenwoods.

A statement from Greenwoods said today: ‘Following its merger with Plexus Law in May 2013, Greenwoods has agreed the TUPE transfer of 11 partners and their teams. The transfer to DWF will take place on Monday 28 October.’

A spokesperson for 104-lawyer Greenwoods confirmed to Legal Business that the team, which does a considerable amount of work for Aviva, had been tuped across to DWF after the insurance giant raised concerns that the merger with Plexus would mean it would be acting for other insurers.

The team, which also includes 23 legal specialists and 14 support staff, will strengthen DWF’s catastrophic and large loss personal injury and non-injury expertise. It will be spread across the firm’s offices in Bristol, London and Manchester with a new serviced office set up in Milton Keynes to cater for the 17 staff – including three partners – based in the region.

Andrew Leaitherland (pictured), managing partner & CEO of DWF said: ‘The team has an exceptional reputation for its advisory work on complex cases and this strength in catastrophic and large loss personal injury and non-injury cases enhances our service offering to all insurer clients.

‘This opportunity supports our future growth in London and Bristol, is in line with our business strategy and will further establish DWF’s position as one of the UK’s leading insurance law firms.’

DWF completed five mergers in under 18 months and reported significant revenue and profit increases for the 2012/13 financial year. Turnover at the law firm was up 84% to £188m, while the firm’s net profit has grown 41%, with profit per equity partner standing at £429,000, against £408,000 the previous year.

Prior to its merger with Plexus, 24-partner, 104-lawyer Greenwoods posted revenues of £24.8m for 2012/13.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: Macfarlanes continues lateral hiring spree as DWF and Walkers make key appointments

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Strategic recruitment DWFMacfarlanesWalkers
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As Macfarlanes’ tightly focused business model goes from strength to strength amid testing market conditions, its rate of lateral hires has increased considerably. The firm’s latest recruit is in fact a re-hire, with Michael Parkinson re-joining Macfarlanes in October after four years as private client group partner at West End firm Russell-Cooke.

Parkinson trained and qualified at Macfarlanes before joining Russell-Cooke in 2009. His experience comprises advising high-net-worth individuals on private client wealth management issues including capital gains tax and inheritance tax matters, landed estates and heritage property and trust law.

Charles Martin, senior partner at Macfarlanes said: ‘He is an excellent addition to the practice, adding further depth to our capability and helping us to meet growing client demand domestically and globally, both in established and emerging markets.’

Parkinson is the second former Macfarlanes private client lawyer to re-join the firm as a partner in this summer. Charles Gothard, who was head of international private client at Speechly Bircham, returned to Macfarlanes in May. The firm has been on an impressive hiring spree of late, taking on Ashurst’s former head of construction, Anne Minogue, and Shearman & Sterling real estate partner Clare Breeze in recent weeks. Breeze’s arrival reverses the trend of large US practices recruiting from City firms and followed the hire of Akin Gump London investment funds partner Simon Thomas in February.

The hires come as the firm looks to seize opportunities on the back of yet another impressive year financially, posting a 12% increase in revenues for 2012/2013 from £102.2m to £114.2m. Profits per equity partner (PEP) were up 9% £985,000, while profit per lawyer at the firm stands at £158,000 – a rise of 7%.

Meanwhile, DWF has continued its highly acquisitive year by recruiting Wragge & Co partner Toby Askin to head its real estate team in London and Birmingham. The appointment will see Askin also take on the role of head of investment and funds with a specific focus on shopping centres and retail development.

Askin was promoted to Wragge’s partnership in 2008 and his experience involves the development, investment and funding of real estate projects within retail and the public sector as well as representing private equity funds.

His hire adds further real estate strength to DWF, which significantly enhanced its national capability after taking on 419 staff from stricken Cobbetts earlier in the year. The firm has embarked on a flurry of five mergers in just 18 months, increased its 2012/13 revenues by 85% to £188.2m and putting it in the top 25 firms in the UK.

Nic Crocker, national head of real estate at DWF said: ‘Over his career, Toby has worked on a large number of prestigious real estate projects – from the development of shopping centres and retail parks to acting for private equity funds on investment projects. His varied expertise means he is a key addition and well placed to lead our teams in London and Birmingham.’

Finally, in a rare lateral move between global offshore giants, investment funds specialist Dawn Howe has left Maples and Calder to joins Walkers as a partner in its global investment funds group. Howe will initially be based in Walkers’ London office, after which she will relocate to the firm’s headquarters in the Cayman Islands. Previously, she worked across Maples and Calder’s offices in both London and the Cayman Islands where she advised on the structuring of both hedge funds and private equity funds as well as related corporate transactional and regulatory work.

Her new team in London will be led by managing partner Jack Boldarin who relocated from Walkers’ Jersey office earlier this year. She will work alongside London-based investment funds partners, Jasmine Amaria, Anne Forbes-Harper and Hughie Wong, as well as investment funds specialist David Brennand, who recently joined from Sidley Austin in June.

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Redundancy watch: DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing all confirm job cuts

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Job cuts DWFHill DickinsonTaylor Wessing
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The stream of UK law firm job cuts continues apace as DWF, Hill Dickinson and Taylor Wessing have today (30 July) confirmed that recent redundancy consultations have resulted multiple job losses.

DWF, having completed five mergers in less than 18 months and with a remarkable 84% increase in turnover to £188m, has become one of the most closely watched national practices in the legal market of late. The expansion has led to some significant streamlining of the business however and the firm has confirmed to Legal Business it has cut 38 staff from its ranks following redundancy consultations that began in May.

‘Following a recent restructure, DWF has had a net reduction of 38 roles across the practice groups,’ said a firm statement. The firm would neither specify which offices the job cuts have affected nor which roles.

The redundancies come after DWF announced a review of 80 roles in May, while two months previous to that the firm placed 99 jobs under threat after its run of five acquisitions – and having taken on the heavy load of 419 staff from the collapsing Cobbetts.

DWF also confirmed in May that the redundancy consultation would affect fee-earners and support staff at the firm’s Manchester, Coventry, Teesside and London bases, while restructuring at the Birmingham office was completed with two exiting the office and three others finding alternative roles.

Meanwhile Hill Dickinson, following an announcement in April that it would be reviewing jobs ‘in response to the prevailing market conditions’ has announced a total of 83 job losses, including 14 partners and 69 employees – 44 of which are leaving on a voluntary basis.

The news was confirmed shortly after the firm had announced it has sold its Chester office to Midlands firm Knights Solicitors for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is a first for the James Caan-led Knights following the private equity investment it received from Hamilton Bradshaw in June 2012.

The cuts are a surprise given Hill Dickinson has averaged 10% revenue growth over the last five years and posted a 22% rise in profit per lawyer in 2011/12.

Senior partner David Wareing said: ‘This has been a sensitive time for all involved and we have done our utmost to conduct a professional and thorough consultation process with our staff throughout.

‘We have a strong and sustainable business and indeed many of our teams recorded revenue growth in the last financial year. Inevitably however, we have been affected like all our competitors by the difficult trading conditions which presently exist in our regional centres and accordingly it has been necessary for us to proactively manage the business to ensure the stability of the firm as a whole and to enable us to continue to further invest in the business in the future.’

In the City, Taylor Wessing, having enjoyed modest financial growth this year with UK revenue growing 4% to £104.5m, has confirmed 22 secretaries will be made redundant. This was originally anticipated to be 26 out of a consultation of 96 secretarial roles which began in June.

The firm said the consultation was part of a restructure of its secretarial resource rather than simply a headcount reduction exercise. It also expects a new secretarial support model to improve workplace efficiency with new secretarial services desk that will provide document services support to secretaries and fee-earners alike.

Finally, just four partners and eight staff at DLA Piper have decided to accept permanent relocation from its now closed Glasgow office to Edinburgh. This follows a three-month trial period in which the 10 partners and 30 other staff could decide whether to make the move. DLA declined to comment.

The latest cuts by Taylor Wessing, DLA Piper, DWF, and Hill Dickinson are a string of many across major UK firms under pressure to maintain profit levels, with firms such as Berwin Leighton Paisner and Eversheds both confirming job cuts this year.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Taylor Wessing to review secretarial jobs

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Job cuts Bryan Cave Leighton PaisnerDWFTaylor Wessing
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96 London support staff put on notice of potential redundancy.

Taylor Wessing is to make 26 of its City secretaries redundant with all 96 secretaries in London put on notice pending a consultation.

The firm but expects the process to last for at least 30 days.

A statement released by UK managing partner Tim Eyles said: ‘The realisation of our strategy is dependent on us ensuring that all areas of our business are structured with a view to providing the best and most efficient service possible to our clients.

The redesign of our secretarial support is driven by that focus.’

Taylor Wessing in May announced that its revenues increased by 7% annually in 2012/13 to £228m, with UK revenues up 4% to £104.5m. The firm has yet to confirm partner profits for the financial year.

Taylor Wessing joins a growing list of major UK practices to announce job cuts in recent months including DWF, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Osborne Clarke, with 2013 shaping up to be the toughest legal labour market since 2009, when more than 2,000 jobs were cut in the UK.

Last month Ashurst launched a wide-ranging consultation with 350 support staff in London after announcing plans to launch a ‘north-shoring’ arm in Glasgow to provide back office and legal support.

Legal Business

Reports season 2013 – DWF’s acquisition trail sees bumper revenue and profit increase

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Financial results 2013 DWF
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It has swiftly moved from obscure regional player into one of the most closely watched practices on the national scene and financial results announced today (6 June) confirm the extent of its dramatic ascent. DWF, which has completed five mergers in under 18 months, has unsurprisingly reported significant revenue and profit increases for the 2012/13 financial year.Turnover at the law firm is up 84% to £188m, while the firm’s net profit is up 41%, with profit per equity partner standing at £429,000, against £408,000 the previous year.

Andrew Leaitherland, who has led the firm’s remarkable growth since becoming managing partner in 2006, when turnover was just £34m, said: ‘We have been very clear about our ambition to expand our national presence, and that we see strategic mergers with like-minded firms as a key part of this. The decisions we’ve undertaken in the past year have all been led by market demand and have served to reinforce the expertise we have as a team.’

DWF further underlined its national ambitions this week after announcing that it had appointed former Eversheds chairman David Gray as a non-executive board director.

The past year-and-a-half has seen the firm expand dramatically after merger discussions with the ailing Cobbetts collapsed in January 2012. The firm announced a deal with Newcastle practice Crutes shortly afterwards before insurance boutique Buller Jeffries was acquired to bolster its Birmingham offering in May. July saw the firm complete its most significant tie-up of 2012: adding around 40 partners in Glasgow and Edinburgh through the acquisition of Scottish blueblood Biggart Baillie. This Anglo-Scottish deal was eclipsed only in scale and prestige by McGrigors’ acquisition by Pinsent Masons last May.

By the turn of 2013 the firm was back on the acquisition trail again, this time picking up City professional indemnity boutique Fishburns before rounding off (for now) by picking up 419 staff from the insolvent Cobbetts in a pre-pack deal. The net result is a firm with revenues close to those in the top 20 of the Legal Business 100.

The firm’s rise has divided peers, with some hailing its ambition and drive while others claim its pace of growth will be unsustainable – not that such claims bother the straight-talking Leaitherland. Nevertheless, DWF faces a challenge to integrate its run of acquisitions, with the firm in May announcing up to 80 jobs were at risk in a review of its business. How this ultimately pans out will be watched closely by rivals.

mark.mcateer@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Redundancy watch – expansive DWF puts 80 jobs at risk as gloomy job news continues

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Job cuts DWF
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The steady stream of job cuts seen through May continued this week with the rapidly-assembled national player DWF confirming it has put around 80 roles at risk in a review of the business. The move comes only two months after a previous consultation put 99 jobs under threat following DWF’s recent run of five acquisitions culminated earlier this year in taking on 419 staff from the collapsing Cobbetts.

DWF today (31 May) confirmed that the latest redundancy consultation would affect fee-earners and support staff at the firm’s Manchester, Coventry, Teesside and London bases, while a restructuring at its Birmingham office has been completed seeing two leaving the office with three others finding alternative roles.

In London, 35 secretarial support and administrative roles are under review, although the firm anticipates that only two roles will be lost. The office’s employment team is also awaiting a potential restructure with two or three jobs at risk.

DWF is meanwhile looking to scale back its Manchester finance team with 23 roles at risk, while 11 staff in Coventry and Teesside are currently under consultation with some considering relocation to Birmingham and Newcastle offices. A statement from the firm said that ‘maintaining fully-serviced offices in Coventry and Teesside no longer aligns with the strategy of the firm or the changing needs of clients in these regions’.

This news – which was first reported on RollOnFriday – comes after the firm launched a review of its business in its two Scottish offices, Edinburgh and Glasgow, on 13 May, where 11 roles are at risk. These comprised seven fee-earning roles, three secretarial jobs and one IT position.

Under managing partner Andrew Leitherland (pictured), DWF has sustained a dramatic growth strategy, bulking up through lateral hires and mergers to expand its revenues nearly tenfold over the last decade to a current tally of £200m. However, critics have claimed that the firm will struggle to manage this rate of growth.

DWF’s announcement comes after a run of job cuts across major UK firms with Berwin Leighton Paisner, Eversheds and Osborne Clarke among those announcing recent job losses. On current form it looks likely that more than 1,000 staff will lose their jobs at major UK law firms this year – by far the deepest cuts seen since 2009.

francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Details emerge of terms of Cobbetts’ fire sale

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DWFKPMG
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DWF acquired Cobbetts’ work in progress (WIP) from KPMG in February for £3.8m as details emerge of the Manchester firm’s fire sale.

KPMG was instructed on 17 January to start administration proceedings, although Cobbetts’ lender, Lloyds TSB, had engaged KPMG in September to formulate contingency plans as the firm was beginning to falter. Continued trading was dependent on the support of Lloyds TSB, which was only prepared to provide monies to pay January wages and other outgoings if Cobbetts granted security.