Record year for top 100 law firm
Top 100 law firm Mills & Reeve is celebrating a record year, with an 8% revenue increase and a growing Leeds base.
The firm has seen revenues grow 8% to £92.8m for 2016/17, well above the 4.6% average growth of the other top 100 firms.
The last 12 months have been “truly transformational” in the firm’s relatively new Leeds office, with fee income growing 50%.
Mills & Reeve has been on a major drive in the region, adding to its growing team.
Paul Johnson’s corporate team has been bolstered by the addition of Shubhu Patil joining as a principal associate from Walker Morris, and associate Amanda Hughes joining from Gordons.
The commercial team launched when intellectual property specialist Mark Pearce joined from Bond Dickinson as a partner, with partner Simon Pedley spearheading the move into commercial disputes.
Andrew Playle joining from Bond Dickinson to launch a private client team. Associate Rachel MacIntosh from Weightmans and Ellie Foster and Claudia Gilham joining the family team from Harrogate Family Law.
The employment team was launched in May and headed by partner Stuart Craig who relocated from Cambridge. Principal associate Rebecca Pallot joined from DAC Beachcroft.
Philip Way, head of the Leeds office (pictured above) said: “We have made no secret of our ambitious growth plans, particularly in the corporate and commercial arena, and I am delighted to report that our investment in lateral hires is bearing fruit.
“We have won numerous new clients including a highly acquisitive business that has embarked on a series of acquisitions over the last twelve months and a number of tech clients looking at possibility of floating on the AIM stock exchange.
“Elsewhere, we continue to attract high net worth individuals requiring private client advice and there has been as significant flow of instructions between the private client team and the corporate team in the office.
“It has been a truly transformational year. We are continuing with our growth aspirations and will announce further additions to the team in the near future.”
Justin Ripman, Mills & Reeve senior partner said: “We set ourselves some ambitious targets and are delighted to have achieved such significant growth. We are proud to be the only law firm in the UK top 100 to have consistently grown profit and turnover each year since 2002 – safely navigating the 2008 financial crisis in the process.
“Despite the current uncertainty in the market, with the triggering of Article 50 and recent General Election, we are optimistic that we will continue to grow the business and the recent merger with London law firm Maxwell Winward is evidence of this. Our commitment to creating a collaborative culture that focuses on core markets and sectors, means we can deepen our client relationships and deliver commercial, focused, sensible advice.”
