Law firm Heatons joins Field Fisher Waterhouse
MANCHESTER law firm Heatons is to join forces with international practice Field Fisher Waterhouse.
FFW has had a small office in Manchester for 10 years, and the combination with boutique commercial practice Heatons, will strengthen its position in the North West market. The firm also has offices in Brussels, Hamburg, London, Munich, Palo Alto, Paris and Shanghai.
Heatons will take on the Field Fisher Waterhouse name, but will retain its office on Peter Street in the city centre.
The combination with £3.4m turnover firm Heatons will take FFW’s fee income over £100m mark for the first time in its history.
Matt Fleetwood, currently managing partner of Heatons, will become the managing partner of the joint Manchester operations working with Sarah Ellson who leads the firm’s existing Manchester office.
He has a mandate to lead and grow the merged firm in the North West region, FFW said in a statement.
Michael Chissick, managing partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse, said: “Like many other UK City law firms, we have to continuously find ways of providing more value to our key clients. Feedback from our clients has encouraged us to look at having an enlarged regional operation, which has resulted in this merger. We have long known and admired the Heatons team.
“This merger will give us the ability to offer more competitive rates across various practice areas and will improve our geographic reach for national and regional clients. We also have a number of long standing clients in the Manchester area that we are keen to continue supporting.”
