A clutch of major law firms have continued the trend for strong 2023-24 results, with Brodies, Shoosmiths, Clyde & Co and Watson Farley & Williams among the latest to reveal healthy financial figures.

Brodies has today (15 July) posted a 7.5% revenue increase to hit £114.3m, marking 14 consecutive years of growth for the firm after it hit a key milestone last year when it became the first Scottish firm to pass the £100m mark.

After a 6% bump last year, profit held steady with a 1.2% increase from £48.6m to £49.2m. Profit per equity partner (PEP) also stayed flat at £846,000.

Managing partner Stephen Goldie, who replaced Nick Scott in May following Scott’s retirement, said that the firm has made progress across all core practice areas – banking and finance, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution and risk, personal and family, and real estate. ‘Our strategic plans for the next three-year cycle are now underway and we look to the future with confidence, in ourselves and in the resilience and ambitions of the clients that we work with,’ he said in a statement.

Clydes has also posted a strong set of results, with revenue up 10% to £845m, and PEP up by more than 4% to £739,000, with profit up 3% to £174.4m.

The headline turnover increase comes after the 22% increase the firm notched last year, though only 6% of that was ‘organic growth’, with the rest of the bump accounted for by the completion of Clydes’ merger with BLM.

Clydes continued to expand this year, opening new offices in Warsaw and Jeddah in December and May respectively. The UK accounted for 47% of the firm’s total revenue, with the proportion of revenue generated outside the UK a percentage point down on last year’s 54%.

Europe was the fastest growing region with a 17% increase in turnover. The shares accounted for by the US and Asia-Pacific were each down by half a percentage point on last year, to 21.5% and 11.5% respectively. The Middle East and Africa accounted for 12% of the firm’s turnover and Latin America for 2% – the same proportions as last year, while the UK saw 9% growth.

Watson Farley & Williams has also posted double-digit growth of 11%, with revenue at £238.4m, up from £214.7m last year.

Overall profit also rose by 7.2% to £66.8m from £62.3m, with PEP remaining steady at £593,000, a slight increase of 1.5% from last year’s £584,000. Equity partner numbers, meanwhile, went up nearly 6% from 107 to an estimated total of 113.

Commenting on these results in a statement, managing partner Lindsey Keeble said: ‘We continue to build on the successes of previous years with double digit global income growth. With a majority equity partnership, we continue to invest in the firm to build a sustainable business with strength and depth at all levels.’

Revenue was also up at Charles Russell Speechlys, where a 13% bump took turnover to £218.3m after a 9% increase last year.

Profit was up by more than 20% to £45.9m, while PEP went up more than 30% to hit £661,000, comfortably offsetting last year’s 3% dip.

The firm’s UK offices generated £174.4m (a little under 80%), with £43.9m from overseas. International revenue growth was faster than the firmwide average, at 15%, with the Luxembourg, Paris, and Switzerland offices singled out as strong performers. The firm also reported 30% revenue growth in Asia, boosted by lateral hires and the July launch of its Singapore office.

‘Our results this year paint a picture of sustained growth’, said managing partner Simon Ridpath in a statement. ‘The fact we continue to see strong revenue and profit numbers and investments back into the firm bodes well for the future, and we remain fully confident in our strategy.’

The firm’s strategy still has private capital as a ‘core focus’ according to Ridpath who also mentioned the ‘raft of senior lateral hires across the firm’, referencing the 22 partners the firm has taken on since the last financial year.

At Shoosmiths, meanwhile, revenue ticked up 5% to push the firm over the £200m mark for the first time to hit £206.7m. Profit was up 5% to £66m, while PEP jumped 16% to £781,000.

Though the increase in turnover was slightly below both the 7% the firm posted last year and the previous year’s 8%, the firm exceeded last year’s performance on profit, which increased 3% last year, and PEP, which went up by just £1,000. The corporate and litigation departments both outperformed the wider firm at 15% and 12% growth respectively, while real estate stayed flat.

elisha.juttla@legalbusiness.co.uk

alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.co.uk

tom.cox@legalease.co.uk

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Charles Russell Speechlys today (2 August) posted financial results that saw revenue tick up by 9% to hit £193.7m, while profit dipped by 8% to £37.1m. PEP also fell very slightly, from £524,000 to £521,000. The firm reported a total of 73 equity partners, down from 77 last year, while total lawyer headcount increased from 546 to 603.

Revenue from outside the UK was up 18%, after increasing by 24% last year. Overall growth across the UK’s sector teams was just below 7%, with the higher increase in the business advisory and transactions  and dispute resolution  divisions, which each grew by 9%. The private client  division, meanwhile, saw revenue increase by 4%.

‘We’re very pleased with the revenue growth’, said managing partner Simon Ridpath, ‘particularly as it was consistent across all parts of the business. We didn’t end up with the figures that we were necessarily aiming for. But if we look at the four quarters of last year, before Trussonomics kicked in, the first two were really good. Q3 was very tough, but Q4 was just about on-budget again.’

CRS is now entering the fourth year of its five-year strategy and intends to further link up its transactional and private client offerings. ‘Our private client advisory practice is the largest of our four main business groups’, said Ridpath, ‘and that’s an area that remains busy when there’s political disruption, so it was a nice natural hedge for us over the last year.’

On this front, CRS will launch its private office in September, under the leadership of former Barclays Private Bank single family office & cross-group coverage lead Marcus Yorke-Long. This will provide clients with what Ridpath referred to as ‘time off the clock’ – a broader range of advisory services.

The firm opened a new office in Singapore in early July and plans to use it as  ‘a hub’ to advise clients, including family businesses, on investments into other jurisdictions. Ridpath also noted the firm’s recent hire of Thomas Snider as new head of international arbitration in the Dubai office. ‘The arbitration market in Singapore is obviously growing a lot, and about half of Thomas’s practice is in Singapore arbitration, so we’ll be able to get started in that work very quickly.’

In the Middle East, too, CRS is looking to expand. ‘We’ve just landed a new partner in Doha, and we’re looking to build up there, to pivot towards what Qatar is trying to achieve post-World Cup.’

For Ridpath, the focus is on developing existing offices rather than opening new ones. ‘The scope for growth is in those non-UK offices. But we’re not looking to open any new offices in the next 12 months.

‘Over the next five years, we’re looking to get non-UK revenues up to about 50% of the total.’

alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.co.uk

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The GCC region has, in recent years, seen significant development of the international dispute resolution sector. The Kingdom of Bahrain in particular has played an important role in the development of the sector in the region since the formation of the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (the BCDR) which was established by Bahrain Legislative Decree No. 30 of 2009 as amended by Legislative Decree No. 64 of 2014. The BCDR has gone on to further establish itself as a dispute resolution institution through a joint venture between the Bahrain Ministry of Justice and the American Arbitration Association, launching new arbitration rules to establish best practice for arbitrations in the Kingdom. The BCDR Rules 2017 came into effect on 1 October 2017.

Case background

At the time of this matter, there had been only four arbitrations held in the BCDR and none pursuant to the new 2017 Rules. Notably this case was the fifth arbitration for the BCDR and the first to be held in accordance with the 2017 Rules. The case was in relation to a multi-million USD inter-bank Islamic finance dispute which arose out of an Unrestricted Wakala Agreement (an inter-bank investment agency agreement) entered into between a Conventional Wholesale Bank (claimant) and an Islamic Wholesale Bank (respondent). The dispute is one of the most significant inter-bank disputes in Bahrain in recent years and the largest ever conducted by the BCDR (with claims and crossclaims of over USD$30m). It is also the first inter-bank Islamic finance dispute to be the subject of a BCDR Arbitration.

The matter was multi-jurisdictional at its core with the BCDR being the arbitral institution and the laws of England and Wales governing the agreement. The seat of the arbitration was Bahrain.

We represented the claimant in this case under article 6 of the Bahrain Arbitration Law, which provides for international counsel to represent parties in arbitration cases where there is an international element. This in and of itself is ground-breaking for a jurisdiction that has not previously permitted international law firms to represent or advise parties on contentious Bahrain matters.

Case significance

This arbitration clearly demonstrates how disputes seated in the Middle East can be effectively resolved under the laws of England & Wales regardless of the choice of seat. This case also has important regulatory considerations with the parties being both licensed under the Central Bank of Bahrain regulatory regime but carrying out different licensed activities. Such a case required intimate knowledge of the conventional and Islamic finance sectors and regulatory requirements.

With the agreement being Shari’ah compliant yet subject to the laws of England and Wales and the lex arbitri being the laws of Bahrain, demonstrating a knowledge of the differing systems of law which were not always compatible was a crucial element of the case. The various defences advanced by the respondent included complex arguments of English law together with considerations of the principles of Shari’ah. Various (often lengthy and onerous) applications and objections were raised by the respondent throughout the case.

Coupled with this and the potentially juxtaposing legal positions, there were also allegations of complex shareholder fraud involving further jurisdictions and intricate company structures which required coordination across our firm’s practice divisions and regional offices throughout.

Reflective of the arbitral institution and laws which governed the disputed agreement, every element of the case was complex and cross-jurisdictional. The parties, witnesses and experts were in Bahrain and Dubai (appearing from the BCDR and the claimant’s premises), whilst the members of the Tribunal sat in Lebanon, Egypt and London. The transcribers attended remotely from England.

This arbitration clearly demonstrates how disputes seated in the Middle East can be effectively resolved under the laws of England & Wales regardless of the choice of seat.

In addition to the various technical legal considerations of this case, additional care had to be given throughout to both the attendance at hearings and the management of the matter which fell neatly into the first onset of the global Covid pandemic. Continued high-level project management, including extensive disclosure requests and document management procedures, was required together with ongoing co-ordination between the parties and the Tribunal to ensure that the various applications and objections made throughout this matter were aligned, together with the practicalities of managing the final hearing through this firm’s own virtual platform.

As noted above, in addition to the standard format of the proceedings, the five-day final hearing was held virtually with this firm providing the online platform and IT support to ensure that the evidential hearing could proceed without delay. With entirely virtual hearings previously rarely implemented (especially for matters of this nature) the arrangement and coordination of the same was innovative and undertaken predominantly by means of a rigorous remote hearing protocol covering every aspect of the hearing from timetabling to management of parties in attendance at any given time and break out rooms for instructing parties and witnesses.

A cohesive and unified approach allowed client expectations to be met whilst simultaneously managing a constantly changing complex legal matter.

Final judgment

The final award was issued in July 2021 and is entirely in our client, the claimant’s, favour, awarding each part of the claimant’s claim and dismissing the totality of the respondent’s defences. The Tribunal also ordered a 90% costs award in our client’s favour. Enforcement is currently ongoing in the Bahrain court’s and our client has successfully defended an application to the Bahrain High Court to set aside the Tribunal’s findings, which is further evidence of the development of the Bahrain legal system and its acceptance of its statutory role in enforcing Arbitral Awards.

Conclusions

Not only is this matter of importance to the banking community in relation to the proper resolution of high-value, complex and multijurisdictional inter-bank disputes (including technical Shari’ah principles), but it also demonstrates the great strides that Bahrain’s legal system has taken in recent years in relation to arbitration, cross jurisdictional matters and the acceptance and enforcement of arbitral awards (both issued abroad and at home).

In respect of the significance to the legal community globally, at a time of great uncertainty, this case is an example of the ability we have to adapt and strengthen (perhaps, some may say, improve and streamline) the current processes governing the way in matters are managed and concluded at hearings.

Patrick Gearon
Partner, head of Middle East, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
E: Patrick.gearon@crsblaw.com

Georgina Munnik
Senior associate, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
E: Georgina.munnik@crsblaw.com

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With the sports sector rapidly transforming from a collection of national cottage industries into big business, Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has substantially beefed up its practice with a takeover of boutique Couchmans.

Founded in 2001 by Nic Couchman, the four-partner firm has seven other fee earners. Heavily focused on sports clients, its practice covers corporate, data protection and intellectual property. Once the combination is complete, Couchman will become head of sport at the top 50 UK law firm. The other three transferring partners are Jody MacDonald (commercial and IP), Nick White (IP) and Satish Khandke (corporate). The takeover will further position CRS in the sports field, where the firm has nine partners operating.

The high-profile boutique has handled a range of senior clients in recent years including Mo Farah (pictured), the Association of European Professional Football Leagues and Fitbit.

For CRS, the tie-up goes some way to making up for the loss of a four-partner sports law team which spun off to create the boutique Northridge last October. The founding partners of Northridge, Jonathan Ellis, Ian Lynam, Jon Walters and James Eighteen, had previously led CRS’ sports law team to tier 1 in The Legal 500.

CRS managing partner James Carter told Legal Business: ‘We see sport as a global industry and more than just sport, everything comes together in lifestyle areas. We have recently launched in Hong Kong and Dubai, so we’re well-placed. The clients and the people we work with need an international offering and a personalised offering, this tie-up achieves both of these things.’

Couchman observed: ‘The sports market has grown beyond recognition. But we are very strong on the commercial side, as well as governance and regulatory and image rights. There are huge challenges but also legal opportunities in this global industry. This next step in our development allows us to meet the needs of our clients who want sector specialist advice across the full range of legal disciplines with a global outlook.’

For the 2016/17 financial year, CRS recorded a 3% growth in revenue to £144m alongside an 8% jump in profit per equity partner.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

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Northridge founding partners Jonathan Ellis, Ian Lynam, Jon Walters and James Eighteen, who led Charles Russell’s sports law team to tier 1 in the Legal 500, launch the new firm this morning (23 October) with a starting team comprised of 16 fee earners.

Northridge’s launch has been accelerated by an impressive pre-existing portfolio of clients including The Football Association (FA), leading Premier League football clubs, the Welsh Rugby Union and Premiership Rugby.

In addition to the listed institutions, Northridge can also count football stars Dele Alli, Cesc Fabregas, Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on its books.

Lynam told Legal Business that the team ‘saw an opportunity to have a firm with a specialist focus but also with the scale and experience to deal with high-profile matters in sports.’

He added: ‘We felt we had the ability to have that focus which will create a better service for clients.’

The Northridge team’s recent work has seen them act for Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri during his investment in Premier League outfit Everton Football Club, and representing the FA at the Hillsborough inquest.

The team’s loss is a heavy blow to Charles Russell Speechlys, although the firm recorded stable financial results this year with revenues rising by 3% and profit per equity partner jumping 8%. Head of the firm’s sports group, Jason Saiban, commented; ‘We wish Ian, Jon, James and Jon every success in their new endeavour. We remain committed to the sports sector and will continue to build on our 100 year-old heritage. We are excited about the sports opportunities available to us domestically and internationally, as we expand our reach into new markets such as South East Asia.’

Meanwhile, Redd is set to combine with Wiggin on 6 November after the firms announced a deal today. The merged team will combine two strong IP teams, combining 20 IP specialists who will work across Wiggin’s offices.

In a statement, Wiggin chief executive John Banister commented: ‘Wiggin devised an assertive growth strategy a few years ago that was focused on our key markets – delivering innovative IP solutions is a critical component of this. Redd’s specialist approach, excellent lawyers and entrepreneurialism represents a real synergy with Wiggin and will enable us to provide a full IP offering to our clients.’

Redd, which formed in 2004 as a spin-out from legacy Jones Day UK firm Gouldens, has a client base including start-ups and multinationals across a number of sectors.

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk

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Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has revealed 3% revenue growth for the 2016/17 financial year, alongside an 8% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) in its second full year since the merger of Charles Russell and Speechly Bircham in 2014.

CRS managing partner James Carter said last year was one of consolidation for the merged firm, while dealing with costs associated with several office openings against the backdrop of a largely flat UK market.

In light of these investments, CRS posted a modest revenue growth from £140m in 2015/16 to £144m in 2016/17. PEP, however, jumped from £393k to £426k over the last financial year.

Net profit rose 6% from £31.8m to £33.8m as the firm announced two new office openings in 2017, one in Dubai for July and a scheduledHong Kong launch in September.

Carter told Legal Business that: ‘Last year was always going to be an exceptional growth in profitability simply because of the timeline of the merger. In the first year, you have costs related to the merger, and in the second year you start to see the benefits.’

‘I also suspect, unlike a number of firms of our size, we have relatively little overseas income, so we enjoyed little benefit from the weaker pound,’ he added.

He said moderate growth was mainly attributable to its litigation and tax practices, highlighting a rise in tax work from rules which came into force in April relating to the tax benefits and status of those with permanent domicile outside the UK.

The firm opened its Dubai office on 10 July with the hire of King & Wood Mallesons disputes partner Ghassan El Daye and Jonathan Brown from UAE law firm Hadef & Partners, alongside its existing bases of Doha in Qatar and Manama in Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the firm’s Hong Kong base is currently operating from a temporary office and will officially open its doors in September. For its first Asian office in Hong Kong, the firm hired Mayer Brown JSM partner Jonathan Mok to head up the practice, alongside partner Richard Grasby from Cayman Islands-headquartered Maples and Calder.

The firm has 11 hubs across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, and 165 partners and 507 lawyers. They work across charities, construction and infrastructure, energy, financial services, healthcare, private wealth, real estate, retail and leisure, sport and technology, media and communications.

Managing partner Carter and senior partner Christopher Page were this year re-elected to the CRS management team for another three years. Carter and Page began their second three-year term in May after the pair ran unopposed in the firm’s elections.

Georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk

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Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has opened its first Asian office in Hong Kong, with the hire of two lateral partners to form a new team, days ahead of a new Dubai office launch.

The office, due to open on 10 July, precedes by four days the firm’s Dubai office opening. The new Middle East office is based on the hire of disputes partners Ghassan El Daye from King & Wood Mallesons and Jonathan Brown from UAE law firm Hadef & Partners. The Dubai office gives CRS its third office in the Middle East, alongside existing bases in Bahrain and Qatar.

Former Mayer Brown JSM partner Jonathan Mok joins the firm to head up CRS Hong Kong, alongside partner Richard Grasby, who joins from Cayman Islands-headquartered Maples and Calder. There he was Asia head of trusts and private wealth.

Mok, who is admitted to practice in England & Wales, Hong Kong, and Australia, covers all areas of family disputes and focuses on high-profile matrimonial, asset-tracing and criminal litigation.

Grasby was formerly at Maples in both its Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands offices. He advises institutional trustees and private individuals on all areas of trust law and related private client issues.

London-based financial service regulation and funds partner Ashley King Christopher will relocate to Hong Kong to join the new partners and add strength to the new office.

CRS managing partner James Carter (pictured) said the move into Hong Kong fits with the firm’s international expansion strategy.

He added the firm will gain ‘direct access to clients and intermediaries in five of the world’s top ten private wealth centres’ with the new office opening.

This will further extend the firm’s ‘ability to support the world’s leading creators and owners of private wealth, their families and enterprises across the full spectrum of business and personal needs.’

The new office now brings CRS’s office headcount to 12 with hubs across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. CRS currently has 167 partners and 443 lawyers working across charities, construction and infrastructure, energy, financial services, healthcare, private wealth, real estate, retail and leisure, sport and technology, media and communications.

Managing partner James Carter and senior partner Christopher Page were this year re-elected to the CRS management team for another three years. Carter and Page began their second three-year term in May after the pair ran unopposed in the firm’s elections.

Madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

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Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has made up four partners worldwide in a significantly smaller promotions round, while Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) promoted four in London, two thirds of whom are women, in a round of six.

BLP promoted about a quarter of last year’s round when it made up 17. Of this year’s four promotions, half were in London, one in Frankfurt and one in Moscow.

The two partners promoted in the City, Patrick Johnson and Gareth Stringer, are joining the corporate and real estate practices respectively. Philippe Kamarowsky also joins the finance practice in Frankfurt, while Vitaly Dianov joins litigation and corporate risk in Moscow.

BLP managing partner Lisa Mayhew (pictured) said: ‘2017 has produced four outstanding lawyers worthy of their promotions. Those joining our partnership will be role models and encourage others to progress their careers at our firm.’

Meanwhile, CRS also promoted six to partner. Helen Hutton and Naomi Nettleton joined the real estate practice, Paul Arathoon joined in business services, Sakhjit Randhawa in private propertly, while Rupa Lakha and Michael O’Connor joined in construction.

CRS senior partner Christopher Page said: ‘These promotions are a reward for hard work, quality skills, top service to our clients and considerable contribution to enhancing the values and reputation of the firm. Our hard work and dedicated focus on diversity is paying dividends, with two thirds of those promoted being female.’

The new appointments are effective 1 May.

Other firms to release their partner promotions this month include Herbert Smith Freehills promoting 21 globally across eight offices, with 12 based in the UK and EMEA, as Allen & Overy  made up 10 partners in London in an increased global round of 24.

Meanwhile, Addleshaw Goddard saw a sharp drop in the number of associates being made up, from 15 last year to five5 in this year’s round, and a further drop from the 18 promoted in 2015.

The full list of partner promotions is as follows:

BLP

Patrick Johnson, London, corporate

Gareth Stringer, London, real estate

Philippe Kamarowsky, Frankfurt, finance

Vitaly Dianov, Moscow, litigation and corporate risk

CRS

Paul Arathoon, London, business services

Helen Hutton, London, real estate

Naomi Nettleton, London, real estate

Rupa Lakha, London, construction

Michael O’Connor, London, construction

Sakhjit Randhawa, London, private property

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Carter and Page will begin their second three-year term in May 2017 after the pair ran unopposed in the firm’s elections.

With Page the former senior partner of Charles Russell and Carter Speechly Bircham’s managing partner, the two led their legacy firms through its merger in 2014 to create a 170 partner firm with combined revenues of £135m.

As part of the merger, both Carter and Page led Speechly Bircham’s move into Charles Russell’s London offices on Fleet Place from its previous home on New Street Square.

The firm’s profits per equity partner (PEP) rose by an impressive 31% to £427,000 in its second set of financials post-merger for the 2015/16 financial year after posting a PEP of £325,000 the year previous before merger-related adjustments. Revenues also increased by 4%, with a boost of $5m to £140m.

Deputy senior partner Keir Gordon said: ‘James and Christopher have shown exceptional commitment to the firm over the past two and a half years leading us successfully through the merger and setting a clear strategy for the firm to move forward with. We have continued to meet the strategic and financial goals we set ourselves at the time of the merger, which is a testament to their strong leadership.’

In June this year, the firm appointed three new partners to its Geneva office, with plans to grow its European offering further.

madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk

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In its first full set of results post-merger, CRS has increased its revenue from £134.5m to £140m, up 4% from 2014/15. Net profit at the firm was up from £25.9m to £31.8m while PEP rose to £393,000 from £325,000, an increase of more than 20%.

The private wealth-focused firm said it had made progress integrating the business following the 2014 merger of Speechly Bircham and Charles Russell, completing its consolidation of all London-based staff at its Fleet Place offices. The firm also expanded its Geneva office with during the year, with three lateral hires which could offer both English and Swiss law advice.

CRS managing partner James Carter said: ‘Whilst the result of the referendum will have an impact on business confidence and the legal market, we are fortunate to have a very broad-based practice which means that we continue to be well positioned to unlock opportunities and benefits for our clients and for our people.’

While Trowers & Hamlins posted total revenues of £85.6m from £79.4m the year before, an 8% increase, PEP at the firm has fallen by 8% to £310,000 from £336,000 the year prior.

The firm’s topline benefited from a combination with Devon-based Stones Solicitors, which it announced in September 2015. Stone Solicitors had an annual turnover of about £5m and had a practice which covered litigation private wealth, real estate, company commercial, and employment.

Trowers & Hamlins has been investing in its UK regional presence in recent years, launching a new Birmingham office in 2011, taking on more office space in Exeter in 2014 and expanding its Manchester office earlier this year.

victoria.young@legalease.co.uk

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