The Legal 500: Long, slow road to recovery for Midlands law firms

INDUSTRY ‘bible’ The Legal 500 is predicting a long slow road to recovery for the region’s law firms – all of whom have had to cut costs.

Published today, The Legal 500 suggests in its regional overview that the problems facing the commercial property sector are still having an impact on the legal sector.

“There are currently a significant number of empty office spaces in Birmingham to fill but it is not all doom and gloom as some development is still on-going,” it said.

“There are some grounds for cautious optimism as the banks are slowly beginning to lend.”

On the corporate front, The Legal 500 said there has been an upturn in mid-market transactions, but deal flow is patchy and deals are stalling.

“There are fewer larger deals, and private equity firms and investors remain reluctant to invest,” it said.

“While there has been less insolvency work than anticipated, as banks continue to nurse their customers with lower interest rates, restructuring work is on the increase,”

It says local government/public sector practices are feeling the effects of the current austerity measures, with less work being outsourced to private practice.
Clients are more aware of costs, and the tendering process for law firms to win new work or remain on existing panels is ever more competitive.

“On the plus side for firms, some clients are more litigious and are actively pursuing any money owing to them, and there is a reported increase in shareholder disputes,” it said.

Unsurprisingly, The Legal 500 mentions the plethora of consolidations and mergers seen amongst local firms as they jockey for position in a changing world in which they will face competition from non-legal entities.

Amongst those it mentions as being significant in this region are Pinsent Masons joining forces with McGrigors, Martineau merging with London firm Sprecher Grier Halberstam and Shakespeares merging with Harvey Ingram.

Much of the anticipation surrounding the publication of the Legal 500 revolves around the rankings firms are given overall and within specialist areas.

In The Legal 500’s regional heavyweights section, Wragge & Co is listed as the only tier one firm. Tier two firms are DLA Piper, Eversheds, Gateley and Pinsent Masons while SGH Martineau and Squire Sanders are listed as tier three heavyweights. Irwin Mitchell and Shoosmiths are tier four.

“Wragge & Co is a truly national player, counting many household names as clients,” it said.

“One of the jewels in its crown remains its outstanding pensions practice, but it has core strength in areas ranging from corporate and energy to corporate tax and construction.”

In the corporate and commercial category in Birmingham, The Legal 500 pinpoints five firms which it suggests are tier one. They are DLA Piper, Eversheds, Gateley, Pinsent Masons and Wragge & Co.

In this category it quotes DLA Piper being described as a “quality outfit with considerable cross-border capabilities” while Eversheds was described to it as a “one-stop shop for comprehensive pan-European legal advice”.

Gateley’s ‘top notch’ team includes the ‘commercial and solutions-driven’ Michael Ward while Pinsent Masons fields an experienced corporate and commercial team.

Wragge & Co has a ‘very commercially adept team’ that regularly advises on large, multi-jurisdictional transactions.

In corporate and commercial tier two are SGH Martineau and Squire Sanders while Browne Jacobson, Cobbetts, Mills & Reeve, Shakespeares and Shoosmiths are judged to be tier three firms.

Outside Birmingham five firms get a tier one billing in the corporate and commercial category. They are FBC Manby Bowdler, George Green, Harrison Clark, Higgs & Sons and Knights solicitors.

The second tier list is made up of Ansons, Hawkins Hatton, Lanyon Bowdler and Wright Hassall.

Tier three firms are Freeth Cartwright (Stoke) and Thomas Horton while tier four is made up of Alsters Kelley, Band Hatton, Beswicks Solicitors, Brethertons, Brindley Twist Tafft & James, HCB Solicitors, Hacking Ashton, Keelys, Martin Kaye, ORJ Solicitors, QualitySolicitors, Talbots, Thursfields and Varley Hibbs.

The leading individuals highlighted by The Legal 500 are

Nick Abell – Wright Hassall (commercial property)     Derek Adamson – DWF  (personal injury)

Bernardine Adkin – Wragge & Co (EU and competition)     Gary Barber – Mills & Reeve (private client)

Francois Barker – Eversheds  (pensions)    Rankeshwar Batta –  Anthony Collins (clinical negligence; personal injury)

Mark Beardmore – DLA Piper (corporate and commercial    David Beswick –  Eversheds  (employment)

Jon Bew  – Squire Sanders (banking and finance)    Alex Bishop – Shoosmiths  (commercial litigation)

Richard Black  – Wragge & Co (pensions)    Adrian Bland – Wragge & Co  (commercial property)

Graeme Bradley – Squire Sanders  (construction)    Andrew Breakwell – Harvey Ingram  (private client)

Mark Burgess – DLA Piper  (corporate tax)    John Burns – Wragge & Co (commercial property)

Damon Burt  – Plexus Law  (personal injury)    Lorraine Carolan – DAC Beachcroft  (personal injury)

Martin Chitt – Wragge & Co  (employment)    Caroline Coates – DWF (personal injury)

Roger Coates  – DWF  (personal injury)    Tim Coolican – Russell Jones & Walker (crime)

Gemma Curtis –  Eversheds  (insolvency and corporate recovery)    Adrian Dagnall – Bevan Brittan (clinical negligence)

Ranjit Dhindsa – Hill Hofstetter (employment)    Huw Dolphin – DLA Piper   (insolvency and corporate recovery)

Keith Dudley – SGH Martineau (personal tax, trusts and probate)    Joanne Ellis – Pinsent Masons  (corporate and commercial)

Mark English – Shakespeares  (property litigation)    Liz Fallon – Eversheds LLP  (pensions)

Ian Forrest – Squire Sanders (pensions)    Iain Gilbey – Pinsent Masons (planning)

Stephen Goodrham – Gateley  (commercial litigation)    David Gordon – Squire Sanders (environment)

Paola Gorrara – Shakespeares  (social housing)    Guy Green – George Green   (corporate and commercial)

Nick Green – Squire Sanders (commercial property)    Geraldine Haden – Shakespeares  (social housing)

Tony Hall – Anthony Collins Solicitors   (clinical negligence; personal injury)     Kathy Halliday – Cobbetts (employment)

Matthew Hansell – Mills & Reeve (private client)    Anne Harris – Eversheds (corporate and commercial)

Nicola Hart – Pinsent Masons (education)    Paul Hayward – Gateley  (corporate and commercial)

Stuart Henderson – Irwin Mitchell  (clinical negligence; personal injury)    Jonathan Hofstetter – Hill Hofstetter (commercial litigation)

Andrew Hornigold – Pinsent Masons (corporate and commercial)    Jog Hundle – Mills & Reeve (employment)

Ian Hyde – Pinsent Masons (corporate tax)    Jack Jacovou – Wragge & Co (commercial property)

Nicholas Jew – DLA Piper (employment)    Alan Jones – Averta Employment Lawyers  (employment)

Bill Jones – Wragge & Co (information technology)    Linda Jones – Pinsent Masons (employment)

Andrew Jordan – Eversheds (insolvency and corporate recovery)    Lisa Jordan -Irwin Mitchell  (clinical negligence)

Jagvinder Kang – Technology Law Alliance  (information technology)    James Keates – Shoosmiths  (corporate and commercial)

Stephen Kenny – Wragge & Co (PFI)    Joel Kordan – Shoosmiths  (commercial property)

Sue Lewis – Eversheds (corporate and commercial)    Greg Lowson – Pinsent Masons (commercial litigation)

Andrew Madden – Gateley  (banking and finance)    Andrew Manning Cox – Wragge & Co (commercial litigation)

Helen Mason – Helen Mason & Co (employment)    Sara May – DAC Beachcroft (personal injury)

Rebecca McGuirk – Trowers & Hamlins (employment)    Marie McMorrow – Cobbetts (intellectual property)

Gary Mellor – Beswicks Solicitors (sport)    Ian Metcalfe – Wragge & Co (corporate and commercial)

Stephen Miles – Pinsent Masons (banking and finance)    Jeremy Millington – Wragge & Co (corporate and commercial)

Paul Moorcroft – Eversheds (property litigation)    Peter Mulhern – Thompsons Solicitors (personal injury)

Callum Nuttall – Gateley  (commercial property)    Stephen Ollerenshaw – Technology Law Alliance  (information technology)

Anne O’Meara – Squire Sanders (commercial property)    Julian Pallett – Wragge & Co (banking and finance)

Geoff Perry – Squire Sanders (corporate and commercial)    Ashley Pigott – Wragge & Co (construction)

Rhodri Richards – DAC Beachcroft (personal injury)    Andrew Roach – DAC Beachcroft (health and safety)

Colin Rodrigues – Hawkins Hatton Corporate Lawyers (corporate and commercial)    Glyn Ryland – Wragge & Co (pensions)

Marc Saunderson – Mills & Reeve (family)    Rebecca Sawbridge – Freeth Cartwright (employment)

Parmjit Singh – Eversheds (commercial property)    Françoise Snape – Berrymans Lace Mawer (health and safety)

Ghulam Sohail – Challinors Solicitors (crime)    Sarah Thompson – Wragge & Co (commercial property)

Roy Tozer – DLA Piper UK (health and safety; crime)    Angus Turner – Mills & Reeve (professional negligence)

Michael Ward – Gateley  (corporate and commercial)    Giles Warrington – Pinsent Masons (EU and competition)

Sarah White – Browne Jacobson (health; clinical negligence)    Andrew Whitehead – SGH Martineau (energy)

Matthew Woodford – Browne Jacobson (EU and competition)    Brian Woolcock – DLA Piper (banking and finance)

Cerys Wyn Davies – Pinsent Masons (intellectual property)    Nick Yates – Plexus Law  (personal injury)

David Young – Eversheds (health and safety)