Legal news: Halliwells income falls, Hammonds’ cuts revealed, Hill Dicks bucks trend
HALLIWELLS has reported a 3% drop in fee income to £44m for the first six months of its 2008-09 financial year.
Ian Austin, managing partner of Halliwells, said the firm had “hit budget” for the first half of the year.
“In the current economic climate, this represents solid performance,” he said.
“There is no disputing that the market is extremely difficult at present and the remainder of the financial year is sure to prove just as challenging – but our core business remains strong and a number of our practice areas continue to perform very well.”
The Manchester-headquartered firm also has offices in Liverpool, London and Sheffield.
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HAMMONDS is to cut up to 95 jobs across the practice.
A total of 42 lawyers, predominantly in the property and corporate departments, and 53 support staff job are at risk.
Managing partner Peter Crossley said he hoped the number of actual redundancies would be lower as the firm will retrain and redeploy some staff.
“However, we are taking a prudent approach, given the unpredictable market conditions that all law firms are facing,” he added.
“We would like to reiterate that it is a matter of great regret that we find ourselves in this position. We are doing everything we can to keep staff informed and to expedite the process.”
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HILL DICKINSON has reported a 13.5% increase in fee income to £38.5m in the half year to October 2008.
The firm’s Liverpool head office saw fee income grow by 12.5% on the same period last year, while the Manchester office was the second strongest performer with a 32.4% rise in fee income, after Athens (47.2%).
The London practice saw income growth of 3.1% on the same period last year and the Chester office achieved 0.8% growth.
Across the firm, employment law work saw a 52% increase on the first half of 2007, while professional risk saw a 29.2% increase.
Peter Jackson, managing partner, said: “contrast to recent announcements by other law firms, we’re delighted to report growth across the board.
“Albeit small, we have bucked the national trend by reporting a 1.4% growth in our property and construction practice group. Our employees have yet again been the driver of this success and we owe everything to their continued dedication and commitment.”
The firm employs 716 in Liverpool, with 78 partners; 178 in Manchester (34 partners); and 58 in Chester (9 partners).
