DWF takes on North East firm

DWF has announced a merger with North East law firm Crutes.

The merger will see Crutes formally incorporated into DWF on January 1 and is intended to strengthen the latter’s presence in the North East.

Crutes runs three operations in Newcastle, Carlisle and Teesside, while Manchester-based DWF has offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Preston.

This latest news follows the firm’s announcement earlier this year it intended to make further investment in Newcastle after appointing corporate partner John Flynn as executive partner and intellectual property lawyer Ed Meikle.
Crutes, which is considered a specialist in insurance matters, employs 95 people, including 16 partners, and has revenues of £5m.

DWF employs 1,400 people and in the six months to October 30 it increased fee income by 14% to £45m.

The firm also deals with transport, healthcare, technology, public sector and private client work.

Earlier this month DWF played down speculation it was planning a merger with Cobbetts after the internet domain name DWFCobbetts was registered.