Hill Dickinson

Hill Dickinson can trace its roots back to 1813, with the names Hill and Dickinson in place by 1879. The Liverpool-based law firm with expertise in shipping was engaged to advise on legal issues relating to the sinking of the Titanic.

The firm went on to open offices Manchester, Chester and London, but by 1989 the vision of the northern and southern parts of the firm had diverged. The two parts of the firm separated, with the London branch taking the name Hill Taylor Dickinson. Hill Dickinson was moving into the North West, while Hill Taylor Dickinson preferred to concentrate on international expansion

That strategy paid off for Hill Dickinson, but Hill Taylor Dickinson’s international ambitions were scuppered when it lost its Dubai office to Holman Fenwick Willan in November 2005.

Thus, the two firms ended up re-merging in November 2006 after 17 years apart. The renewed tie-up was initiated by Hill Taylor Dickinson, which decided that diversification would be more profitable than its reliance on marine and insurance law. Meanwhile Hill Dickinson was becoming lopsided in terms of structure and in danger of its younger people perhaps thinking it wasn’t committed to investment in London. Despite the remerger, something of a North-South divide remained, with the Londoners more prone to feel like the junior part of the business.

The firm has pushed on since then, and acquired the Liverpool and Sheffield offices of Halliwells when that firm collapsed in 2010.

Significant departures came in 2017: first a 24-strong casualty claims team including three partners and a number of legal support staff left for Kennedys; then Keoghs acquired 16 partners and 400 fee-earners and business services staff.