Eat or be eaten: many small firms will face the law of the jungle in 2021/22
With the uncertainty of the pandemic retreating we could see a few mid-market mergers.
Hewitsons and Harrison Clark Rickerbys close to merger deal
Top 200 firms Harrison Clark Rickerbys (HCR) and Hewitsons are in the final throes of a merger deal. The deal is expected complete by the end of May, adding Hewitsons’ Cambridge, Northampton, Milton Keynes and London network to HCR’s nine locations of Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Hereford, London, Reading, Worcester and the Wye Valley. The […]
Switalskis acquires personal injury rival as Yorkshire consolidation intensifies
Yorkshire firm Switalskis has bought clinical negligence specialist Pryers Solicitors, the latest in a series of acquisitions by the firm in its home region. Pryers is a York-based firm, founded in 2002 and previously owned by Pure Business Group, which owns a suite of legal brands. Switalskis has acquired it for an undisclosed sum; the […]
Trethowans corporate head bags managing partner role
South West firm Trethowans has appointed a new managing partner. Personal injury lawyer Chris Whiteley has led the firm since 2015 but head of corporate Mike Watson is set to take over from 1 April. Whiteley is to become senior partner and will remain on the board. “Mike has been my right hand person and […]
£30m isn’t enough to get you into the Premier League
DMH Stallard has reached critical mass size – but it now has more work to do to secure its future.
Plenty of acquisition potential in Scotland, should English firms care to look north
The big legal story in Scotland over the last few years has been the demise of the ‘Big Four’, or at least the absorption of three of them into the major internationals. A reminder: McGrigors was acquired by Pinsent Masons in 2012; Dundas & Wilson by CMS in 2014; and Maclay Murray & Spens by […]
Smiling frogs: the mid-tier firms bouncing back
Last summer, one of The Lawyer’s cover stories focused on the UK mid-tier. It put forward the proposition that many of the firms outside the UK top 50 were ‘boiling frogs’ – surfing comfortably on the surprisingly small amount of growth needed to maintain market position without necessarily adapting to the slowly changing conditions that […]
Knights’ growth spurt continues with acquisition of two more mid-tier stalwarts
Listed law firm Knights has continued its rapid expansion with the acquisition of two firms in the UK 100-200 bracket. Shulmans of Leeds and ASB Law of Crawley are the latest firms to be taken over, following a spate of acquisitions including North West firm Turner Parkinson; Leicester-based Spearing Waite and Cummins Solicitors, as well […]
Trend of equity tinkering set to grow as another firm gets rid of salaried partners
Moore Blatch has become the latest firm to make changes to its equity model, following a spate of similar moves by law firms in 2019.