Halliwells partners face £2m loan repayment
THE partners of failed law firm Halliwells look set to have to repay more than £2m in bank loans taken out this year, according to reports.
According to The Lawyer magazine a cash call by the firm at the start of this year saw 28 partners contribute a total of £2.3m, through professional practice loans (PPLs) from The Co-operative Bank.
Those loans saw partners’ contribute between £20,000 per equity point and £10,000 per point after a request from the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had a £19.8m loan facility with the firm.
Partners will now be expected to pay back outstanding loans with The Co-op and earlier loans taken with Handelsbanken in 2008. The Lawyer claims some partners are liable for more than £500,000.
The Legal 500: definitive coverage on TheBusinessDesk.com all this week. Click here for details
A spokesperson for The Co-operative Bank told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We can confirm that The Co-operative Bank does have professional practice loans in place with Halliwells partners.
“However, due to customer confidentiality we are unable to discuss specific details.”
The debt-ridden Manchester-based firm was placed into admimistration in July after selling its assets to three other firms Hill Dickinson, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert and Birmingham-based HBJ Gateley Wareing.
Around 40 former equity partners are also said to be facing liabilities of up to £3m on the firm’s previous Manchester office in St James’s Court, which the firm vacated in 2007 to move to Spinningfields, despite not having an agreed break in its contract until 2013.
Several partners acted as guarantors for the move.
