32 law – the legal 500
South East firms flex their muscles
The Legal 500, published this month, is the annual ‘bible‘ for the legal profession, reviewing firms across the UK and picking out the heavyweight practices and specialist lawyers. Here, the South East region is reviewed
The key issues affecting firms in the South East have essentially been the same as those facing firms nationwide. Namely, the embedding of the impact of the Jackson Reforms on personal injury (PI) teams; the introduction of employment tribunal fees; and the advent of Alternative Business Structures (ABS).
The latter is still at a nascent stage, and certainly not being felt in the South East as yet; and though fees have certainly meant less tribunal work for employment teams, they have not led to wholesale change in the market; the same cannot be said for PI. Blake Morgan LLP launched BL Claims Solicitors, a separate entity specialising in injury claims; Moore Blatch LLP entered into a joint venture with national spinal injury charity Aspire to launch an ABS; and Irwin Mitchell launched in Southampton. Additionally, firms have either shed entire PI departments or retained the brand of strong legacy teams post-merger.
Outside of PI, several high-profile mergers – such as those that created Blake Morgan LLP and Penningtons Manches LLP – seem to have exhausted the appetite for market-changing combinations, with firms concentrating on boosting private client offerings through the acquisition of high street teams; Spratt Endicott‘s and Withy King LLP‘s respective combinations with Alfred Truman Solicitors and Edward Pilling & Co are two examples from the latter half of 2014.
In the Thames Valley, Blake Morgan LLP‘s post-merger group is benefiting from the addition of Morgan Cole‘s market- leading health sector team and, along with Shoosmiths LLP and Osborne Clarke, continues to be the go-to firm for the region‘s major corporates. Reading- based firms Blandy & Blandy LLP, Boyes Turner and Field Seymour Parkes LLP rank strongly across the board.
In
Oxford, Henmans Freeth is well known for an outstanding private client group. Pitmans LLP‘s core focuses include
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banking and finance, insolvency, and disputes in the technology sector. The major news, however, was Penningtons Manches LLP signalling its international post-merger ambition with the opening of a San Francisco office to add to its six offices in the South East (led by the trophy life sciences, IT, IP and corporate groups divided between Oxford and Reading).
The Kent, Surrey, Sussex sub-region is home to newly-merged Charles Russell Speechlys LLP (encompassing the long- established legacy Charles Russell LLP team in Guildford) and Clyde & Co, both of which maintain a client roster reflecting their City-brand names. DMH Stallard LLP and asb law LLP rank highly for their public sector and banking and finance expertise respectively, and Stevens & Bolton LLP‘s one-office model challenges the multi-office strategies of the likes of Shoosmiths and Blake Morgan, through the City experience of a large proportion of its partners, and comparable capabilities in specialist areas such as corporate tax, EU law and aviation.
Dentons maintains a level of work in keeping with its international reputation, servicing both global and regional players from Milton Keynes, where EMW Law LLP‘s huge office advises a large proportion of the major banks based in the town. IBB (Iliffes Booth Bennett) and B P Collins LLP attract exceptional feedback for their trophy dispute resolution and real estate practices respectively. Other major players in the Beds, Bucks, Herts and Middlesex region include Watford-based Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP, and SA Law LLP and Sherrards Solicitors LLP, both based in St Albans. Freeths‘ Milton Keynes office is a key hub in the firm‘s renowned national leisure and hospitality sector group.
In Hampshire, Bond Dickinson LLP has an excellent reputation for corporate and commercial property work, and Paris Smith LLP‘s full-service offering has notable private client capabilities. Clarke Willmott LLP‘s young partnership continues to expand, most recently through the addition of one of the most experienced corporate tax partners in the South East, and Thomas Eggar LLP maintains robust PI, IP and real estate functions. Shoosmiths and the legacy Blake Lapthorn teams at Blake Morgan are strong across the board, with excellent capabilities in specialist areas such as private equity and licensing respectively. Pitmans LLP has taken over the locally powerful LB Claims brand, which has been retained for PI work.
Regional Heavyweights:
Tier 1 Blake Morgan: Southampton, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading
Penningtons Manches: Oxford, Reading, Guildford, Basingstoke, Godalming
Shoosmiths: Basingstoke, Milton Keynes, Reading, Southampton
Stevens & Bolton: Guildford
Tier 2 asb law: Crawley, Maidstone B P Collins: Gerrards Cross Birketts: Chelmsford Bond Dickinson: Southampton Boyes Turner: Reading Charles Russell Speechlys: Guildford Clyde & Co: Guildford, Oxford
Cripps: Tunbridge Wells, Kings Hill, Sandwich DMh Stallard: Crawley, Guildford, Farnham Dentons: Milton Keynes EMW Law: Milton Keynes Osborne Clarke: Reading
Pitmans: Reading, Southampton, Portsmouth
Thomas Eggar: Crawley, Chichester, Worthing, Newbury, Southampton Firms are listed A-Z within tiers
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2015
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