Sector Focus
Legal
Law firm enjoys period of growth
Law firm Pinsent Masons, which has an office in Birmingham, has announced an upturn in its turnover for 2015/16. The firm achieved a global turnover of £382.3m during the year, a 5.5 per cent revenue growth on the previous 12 months. The firm has recorded a cumulative revenue growth of almost a fifth during, the
past three years, with a significant contribution from its Birmingham office. The firm’s advanced manufacturing and technology, financial services and
infrastructure sectors all contributed around 20 per cent to global turnover, while the energy and real estate sectors contributed around 12 per cent each. The Birmingham team continues to develop with four legal director
promotions and six senior associates promotions last month. The firm was named ‘Law Firm of the Year 2016’ and ‘Corporate Social
Responsibility’ and ‘Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year’ at the Birmingham Law Society Awards. It was also recognised for ‘Excellence in Innovation’ at this year’s Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Business Awards. Greg Lowson, head of the Birmingham office said: “It has been a positive
year in which we have helped a number of our clients in the region achieve their commercial ambitions. Our international expansion will continue to benefit our regional clients. “The region is undergoing an economic renaissance, the increasing
levels of investment and quality developments that make this a great location for businesses and investors.” John Cleland, managing partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “Our vision
is to be recognised as an international market leader in the global sectors in which we operate, and this latest set of results demonstrates further progress. It is particularly pleasing that we have managed to sustain growth and profitability while making unprecedented levels of investment into our business. “We have a good deal of momentum in the business and our
focus now is on supporting clients based in the UK and elsewhere through what is likely to be a volatile and unpredictable trading period. Some time ago we assembled a multi-disciplinary Brexit advisory team which is already engaged with clients globally to address the challenges and opportunities linked to Brexit.”
Greg Lowson: a ‘positive’ year
Record turnover for Mills & Reeve
Increased client demand has led to a record turnover and above average growth for Birmingham- based law firm Mills & Reeve. Its 2015-16 financial results have
confirmed a turnover of £87.2m – a rise of more than £5.5m compared to the previous 12 months. The firm, which employs more
than 900 staff across six UK offices, enjoyed a 6.8 per cent increase in turnover, comfortably outperforming the 5.4 per cent average growth of the UK’s top 100 firms. As a result of the strong financial
performance the firm also announced the largest ever all staff bonus pool of £1.28 million, or 5.2 per cent of its salary bill. Managing partner Claire Clarke,
said: “This strong financial performance was achieved through growing demand for our services. It’s also a great tick in the box in terms of our 2020 firm strategy, with one of our key objectives to grow faster than the top 100 average.”
54 CHAMBERLINK September 2016
Game poses trespass issues
It may only be a game – but players of the new smart phone phenomena ‘Pokemon Go’ may find themselves in court for trespass, according to a Birmingham law firm. Lawyers from Clarke Willmott LLP in Birmingham
have warned people using the game to be aware of the potential legal consequences of it.
‘Residents have discovered large groups of Pokemon hunters entering gardens and private land’
Pokemon Go is about capturing, training and fighting with various cartoon characters (the Pokemon) that can be found at different locations – they pop-up on mobile phone screens as though they are in the real world. There have already been complaints
about some of the locations where the the cartoon creatures appear, such as cemeteries and memorials. And Clarke Willmott has warned that some Birmingham residents have
discovered large groups of Pokemon hunters entering gardens and private land to hunt for the creatures. And although the firm said that the occasional misguided trespass was unlikely to result in court proceedings, repeat offenders may find themselves catching an injunction, as well as a Pokemon. Neil Ham, partner in property litigation at Clarke
Willmott, said: “If there is a real and apparent risk that the regular mass gathering of Pokemon hunters could cause injury to property or people, there is a case law that suggests a landowner can obtain an injunction against ‘Persons Unknown’ prohibiting them from causing the threatened nuisance or trespass. “It is unlikely that Nintendo, as the producer of
‘Pokemon Go’ would however be liable since it does not encourage trespassing and in that regard is in a similar position to the manufacturers of Satnavs, and to protect itself it also ensures that a prominent warning and disclaimer appears on screen at the start of the game. “Landowners are well advised
to ensure that accessways to their properties are secured as best they can be, to prevent unwanted intrusion.”
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