Legal: Pandemic fails to dent law firm growth

Pandemic fails to dent law firm growth

Stephen Rosser: Pandemic was ‘unprecedented’ Law firm Clarke Willmott has seen its turnover shoot up by 2.5 per cent in the past year, to £53 million.

This is despite the effects of the coronavirus, which the firm’s chief executive, Stephen Rosser, described as ‘unprecedented’.

He said: “In unprecedented circumstances for the firm, our clients and the world as a whole, I am delighted with the excellent response of our team.

“Our culture has always been recognised as being highly collegiate and supportive, in 2020 this really came to the fore.

“There are many lessons from the pandemic, but the biggest for Clarke Willmott is the ability and willingness of our staff to adapt and to adopt new flexible ways of working, supporting each other and also our clients,” commented Rosser.

“Our future is one that sees us committed to growth. This will continue to be based on excellent service for our clients, delivered by a team of lawyers and support staff who will operate on a fully flexible basis.

“Other than for a few specific roles, our people will be encouraged to work where they can best deliver for our clients. If they want and need to be in the office, they can be. Equally if they can get their best work delivered by working remotely, then they will be supported in doing so if they wish.” During the pandemic, the firm surveyed staff about home working, and found that most of them (70 per cent) have welcomed the opportunity to work flexibly.

However, some ten per cent of the firm’s staff did not enjoy the experience, primarily because of a preference for working in an office environment –although a massive 90 per cent said they wanted to carry on with remote working in some form or other.

‘If they can get their best work delivered by working remotely, then they will be supported in doing so’

Mr Rosser said: “As we look to the future we have been turning our minds to further supporting our staff to deliver their best performance. In addition to general management support, we have provided a range of broader initiatives including wellbeing activities such as online yoga and Zwift cycling sessions, art club, cream tea events and a coffee club that connects staff members across teams and offices for an informal get together.”

The firm has also rewarded staff for their hard work with a two per cent bonus for all staff in addition to the firm’s usual bonus and pay review processes, an additional ‘bank holiday’ to coincide with the easing of lockdown and gifts including a luxury hamper.

Appointees planning for the future

Julie Russell

Anna Cartledge

Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has hired two new property specialists in the Midlands.

They are legal planning partner Anna Cartledge, and legal planning legal director Julie Russell.

Anna Cartledge, based in Birmingham, has more than 15 years’ experience in legal planning, compulsory purchase and highways law, acting for a variety of clients.

She has a particular interest in heritage issues and has advised a number of local authorities and private sector developers on various listed building consents.

Legal director Julie Russell has joined the firm’s Leicester office and has more than 14 years’ experience, working on all aspects of legal planning, development and infrastructure work.

She has particular experience in dealing with nationally significant infrastructure projects.

She also regularly deals with planning enforcement, public rights of ways issues, planning appeals, planning due diligence on site acquisitions and challenges to planning permissions.

Anna Cartledge said: “I am very much looking forward to being part of such a highly regarded and market leading planning team, full of supportive people who want to work together to flourish and grow the business. There is a real energy and sense of dynamism across the firm as a whole.”

Alex Smith, managing director of Shakespeare’s infrastructure and specialist markets business unit, said: “From small listed buildings to large development projects, planning is a complex area law and it requires specialist knowledge, both Anna and Julie have great expertise and are well-placed to advise clients across the Midlands and nationally.”

Anna and Julie’s appointments follow a raft of announcements including 13 internal promotions, six appointments in Milton Keynes and a further two in the East Midlands.

HCR advises on major acquisitions

Law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ (HCR) Wye Valley corporate team has advised financial services firm Tavistock Investments Plc on the sale of Tavistock Wealth Limited to Titan Wealth Services Ltd for £40m.

HCR has also acted for Tavistock on the acquisition of the advisory business of Chater Allan Financial Services LLP for around £1.6m.

Tavistock is an AIM-listed company offering independent financial advice and institutional quality investment management services to more than 30,000 clients across the UK.

The HCR corporate team has advised Tavistock on various acquisitions in the past. The sale of its investment management arm will provide Tavistock with the funds needed to support a planned acquisition programme.

HCR’s team on the latest deals was led by Jennifer Staples, who said: “It’s always good to help a longstanding client to achieve their growth plans and it was particularly interesting on this occasion to advise on a major disposal.”

Tavistock chairman Oliver Cooke said: “Being supported by a firstclass team of lawyers takes a great deal of stress out of the process.”

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has more than 780 staff and partners based at 12 offices in the UK.

Solicitors’ busy year of corporate activity

Thursfields Solicitors has recorded its busiest-ever 12 months of corporate activity, providing legal guidance on 29 deals worth a total of more than £125 million.

Gareth Burge, director and head of corporate at the firm, said that he and his team had coped with the hectic period despite the covid crisis.

Mr Burge said: “The last 12 months have been our busiest ever, and the team has worked incredibly hard to ensure all projects were finished to our usual high quality.

“During the pandemic, we completed a total of 29 deals worth over £125 million and consolidated our position as a leading legal adviser to the owner managed business and SME market. As we start our new financial year, we look forward with real optimism. The local mergers and acquisitions market is looking increasingly buoyant and we have some fantastic new deals in the pipeline.”

Deals which Thursfields worked on last year have included advising shareholders on the sale of technology specialists CloudThing to Kerv, the sale of PCMS Eng Group to the British Engineering Services Group, and the sale of CJN Insurance to The County Group.

Meanwhile, Thursfields advised creative agency DRPG on its acquisition of screen content specialists A-Vision UK, and advised Tenn Holdings on the acquisition of data company National Business Register.

The company also advised the management team of technology firm Smartbox on their joint acquisition of Smartbox with social care company Caretech plc.

Mr Burge added: “These are just a few examples of the complex deals which have seen us all busy in the last 12 months, and where we have helped clients to successfully complete their deals.”

Working with Mr Burge on the 29 deals were corporate director Tim Edwards, corporate and commercial director Philip Chapman, corporate associate director Fiona Boxwell, corporate associate solicitor Joe Rollins and corporate solicitor Reece De-Vaney.

Duo promoted to key roles at Sydney Mitchell

Promoted: Gemma Whitchurch

Promoted: Kim Hopkins

Sydney Mitchell, which has offices in Birmingham and Solihull, has made two senior promotions.

The firm has promoted Gemma Whitchurch to senior associate and Kim Hopkins to senior legal executive.

The former is a family lawyer who has helped clients on all aspects of family law from divorce, finances, children matters, adoption, surrogacy, pre-nuptial agreements, cohabitation, domestic violence and emergency remedies.

During the last 12 months she has worked on numerous cases where domestic abuse is an issue. She is an LGBTQ community ally and has represented clients on same sex marriage/dissolution and in complex children matters.

Kim Hopkins is a key member of the private client team and assists on a wide variety of matters including the administration of estates and the preparation of wills and powers of attorney.

Sydney Mitchell senior partner Karen Moores, said: “I thank Gemma and Kim for their hard work and determination and contribution to the business. During the last 12 months everyone has gone that extra mile for their clients and the firm.”

While many key-worker employees have stoically continued to attend their normal workplaces throughout the Covid pandemic, many employees have been furloughed, or working at home for over a year. With the gradual release of lockdown, employers should now be turning their thoughts to the “new normal” and how they are going to manage the “return to the workplace”. But what are the legal implications? It is inevitable that as soon as the government’s dictat of work from home if you can is lifted employers will be at the receiving end of requests to continue working at home for some or all of the time. A request to be based at home is effectively a flexible working request. Employers can agree to such a request on an informal basis, but it is still advisable to clearly document the terms of such arrangement going forward. If you are going to deal with the request as a formal flexible working request, you can only decline it for one or more of eight ‘permitted reasons’. This could be tricky given the fact that people have been working from home relatively successfully for months. Remember too that the employee’s reason for wanting to work at home is not relevant to your considerations – the focus is on the impact to the business. Employers may also have to deal with those who continue to be fearful of the Covid risk. Much has been talked about of the right for employees to stay away from work (on full pay) if they have a reasonable belief that their health will be endangered by doing so. However, as long as the employer has taken all reasonable measures to minimise the risk of Covid transmission and has clearly communicated what these measures are to its workforce, it is arguably difficult for an employee to demonstrate that their belief in the danger the workplace poses is reasonable. Can you insist on mandatory vaccinations before allowing people to return? Probably not, except in very limited circumstances. However, employers should certainly encourage the employees to take the jab unless they have a good reason not to do so. It is perhaps more reasonable to insist on regular testing. Employers can access lateral flow tests for use by employees and many do now require twice-weekly testing as a pre-requisite for being permitted into the workplace. This is arguably a reasonable instruction given that the “greater good” is likely to be given precedence over individual inconvenience. Thursfields have built our reputation by providing timely and practical advice to our clients.