The improved political situation in Northern Ireland is prompting firms outside the province to seriously look at setting up a base in Belfast.
Dublin firm Arthur Cox has established a good base in the city, while A&L Goodbody is keeping everyone guessing its next move two years after its link up with Elliott Duffy Garrett. When asked about the possibility of a merger, Elliott Duffy Garrett's Brian Garrett will only say: "You'll have to ask A&L Goodbody". Meanwhile, in one particular PFI deal, Elliott Duffy Garrett is reported to have been asked to nominate an outside firm to help and, instead of A&L Goodbody, nominated Berwin Leighton, despite A&L Goodbody having a leading UK-qualified PFI expert, partner Kevin Feeney, on board.
However, a host of other firms carry out work in Northern Ireland including Berwin Leighton, Dibb Lupton Alsop, Eversheds and McGrigor Donald. The latter has already made known its intention to set up an office in the city, although it is still early days. McGrigor Donald managing partner Kirk Murdoch points out that the firm has done work in Belfast for 10 years. This ranges from property development – advising on the prestigious Castle Court complex in Belfast – to its latest appointment advising Belfast Port on privatisation.
The firm has also been appointed on various PFI projects in Northern Ireland. Murdoch says it was initially contacted by the Department of Environment which wanted "advice they couldn't get locally". The firm was also instructed by the Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) to help with an inter-connector line from Northern Ireland to southwest Scotland. "We were retained by NIE, but it was really a Scottish job," Murdoch says.
McGrigor Donald has now been appointed to advise on the privatisation of the Land Registry and beat a number City and regional firms at a beauty parade for the new Strangeford Lough ferry, although this project is on hold. Murdoch says that the firm is well placed until "there is a more sophisticated local infrastructure which there is not at the moment".
Ease of communication is another factor – Murdoch says he could be in Belfast more easily than Edinburgh. But, he says it is not McGrigor's intention "to compete in terms of indigenous litigation and personal advice". This "has influenced why we would think about a fresh start as opposed to a merger".
Meanwhile, Arthur Cox's office in Belfast is, by all accounts, doing well. The firm took over local banking firm Norman Wilson and gets the lions share of Bank of Ireland work and has a growing client base. Partner Angus Creed says: "the market for companies is an all-Ireland market". He says the firm gets a lot of instructions from English firms because it is part of a bigger firm.
Travers Smith Braithwaite is still in evidence on the ground in Belfast, with a postbox address. The firm recently went on a recruitment drive at Queen's University, displaying a lengthy list of local clients, which caused some raised eyebrows in the local legal market.
Kennedys is also firmly ensconced in the Belfast market, with two partners on the ground. Partner Sean Craig says the firm "doesn't get a lot of local instructions". The workload mainly comes from London. Craig says the firm is also getting more defamation work. It has recently linked up with Dublin firm O'Connor Walsite.
The influx of the accountants has not yet had a major impact on the Belfast market with only PricewaterhouseCoopers having the remainder of the Coopers & Lybrand legal team. But locally, lawyers are sceptical about their ability to offer a challenge to law firms.
However, as the climate changes, there is little doubt that Belfast will become more appealing to both British and Irish firms.