Shepherd & Wedderburn tops Scots growth league
FeesTop-tier Scottish law firms see general growth slowdown
June 13, 2001 at 08:03 PM
2 minute read
Edinburgh firm Shepherd & Wedderburn has shrugged off slowing growth in the Scottish legal scene to notch up a 24% increase in annual fees, giving it an estimated turnover of just under £20m.
Research by Legal Week shows Shepherds out-pacing top tier rivals, which have generally fallen back from the 20% growth leading firms managed for the year 1999-2000.
The 38-partner firm singled out the appointment of former MacRoberts IT/IP partner Joanna Boag-Thomson, which brought in a number of new clients, as one reason for the success.
Shepherds' appointment in May 2000 as primary adviser to the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, in a further boost to the firm's top-tier defendant clinical negligence team, is also seen as a key client win.
"Our growth has been organic, and we have achieved this without a merger," Shepherds' chief executive Paul Hally told Legal Week.
Shepherds refused to disclose profits, but observers believe equity partners at the firm, one of the most profitable in Scotland, now take home an average of around £250,000.
By contrast, top-tier firms have generally seen slower growth this year with Scotland's largest firm Dundas & Wilson, the Edinburgh-based Scottish arm of Andersen Legal, predicting a fee growth of 13.5% at the end of its financial year in August, bringing annual income to £34m.
Meanwhile, Maclay Murray & Spens, has reported growth in turnover of 25%, giving it an
estimated annual income of about £27m.
The figure, however, includes the turnover of Mackay Simon, the seven-partner employment boutique the Glasgow giant merged with in February.
Meanwhile, top 10 firm Brodies has posted a 15% increase in fees, with profits rising by 19%.
Nevertheless, observers have noted a slowing in local business growth, with the Scottish economy this year predicted to trail UK-wide growth by 1.6% to 2.6% according to official estimates.
The service sector has led growth in Scotland, however construction, mining and quarrying fared better north of the border than overall, with manufacturing performing the worst.
"I am not too worried," said Brodies' managing partner Bill Drummond commenting on the legal market. "We are going to continue to grow, and growth of 10%-15% over the next year should not be a problem."
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