Cobbetts fee income down 16%

MANCHESTER law firm Cobbetts has reported a 16% drop in fee income to £48.5m.

The results for the year to the end of March 2009 are down on £58m it reported a year earlier and the firm said they were in line with expectations.

Despite the fall, it pointed to an “outstanding” performance from its banking litigation and commercial litigation departments.

Michael Shaw, managing partner, said: “The simple reality is that trading in this type of economic climate is challenging, and has required a careful balance to be struck between reviewing costs whilst maintaining and developing competitive capabilities.”

In September, the firm, which employs around 700 staff, announced that it was to lay off 40 fee earners across its Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham offices.

Mr Shaw said: “We were one of the first to take action to ensure that our ongoing expenditure was balanced against revenue, and opted to take all of the costs of restructuring the business in one year.

“At the same time, we have worked hard over the last nine months to refocus so that we can exploit market opportunities coming out of the recession. We have continued to recruit appropriate senior talent in building key competitive capabilities.”

He added that the firm would be making senior lateral appointments over the next few months.

He added: “Overall, it has been a challenging 12 months, but by taking prompt and decisive action to downscale the business, we have positioned ourselves strongly for 2009/10 and beyond.”