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Overview

"An old-fashioned insurance firm that's trying desperately to get into 'commercial' work," begins one Hill Dicks contributor. "Much is made of the hopes for the Manchester office but it's run by someone who spends most of his time in Liverpool and that only serves to reflect where the power in the firm lies.

"While it's one of the better firms in Liverpool at the moment, Manchester has a high turnover of staff, including partners (four out of 20-odd have left in the last year). Increase in turnover in recent times has largely been the result of mergers."

Fee income at Hill Dickinson has risen by 6.9% over the last financial year to reach a new high of £73.1m in 2008.

Managing partner Peter Jackson (pictured) is the public face of the aspiring national.

History

Culture

"I have seen many colleagues leave in the last couple of years, due to poor pay, morale and quality of work," complains 'HD Assistant'. "The feeling of many staff (who are neither [equity] partners nor marketing assistants) is that we are not even in the same league as the likes of Cobbetts, let alone DLA or Eversheds. We feel that the management board needs to look at this seriously instead of believing its own hype."

Key departments

National/international coverage

The 2006 merger between Hill Dicks and its City namesake, Hill Taylor Dickinson, means the newly reunited firm has a presence in Manchester, Livepool and London. One contributor hints at the dominance of the firm's Mersey arm over the rest of the practice. "No doubt Liverpool runs the show," they suggest.

"David Wareing was brought into Manchester in an attempt to give the office a common direction," says another poster. "It's difficult to see how he can achieve that when he spends most of his time in Liverpool. It's well known that they're desperate for a merger in Manchester and that's hardly going to make matters more unified. That said, no-one they've approached seems particularly interested."

Key clients

"Although the firm boasts a few big-name clients, the truth is that in many cases the work Hill Dicks does for these clients is low-grade," says one detractor. "In some cases – the claims management side, for example – they will turn a profit but in others the work is a loss-leader, management taking the view that they need to be seen to be working for banks and other institutions even if the work makes little profit for the firm."

The contributor points to banking giant Barclays as one such client.

Leading partners

Career prospects

"Very tight on equity – even fixed share," observes one insider. "The salaried partners really have no more status than well-thought-of assistants in the more commercial firms."

Another adds: "You are unlikely to be kicked out when you hit 50 (which can't be said of many of the firms which HIll Dicks aspires to be), which is good, but the old-fashioned lockstep system means those at the top draw the big money and are generally reluctant to bring on those at the junior end – witness the large number of salaried partners. Best prospects for partnership are in shipping and insurance, although even there progression to equity will be a struggle."

Salaries

"While there is always going to be an attrition rate between firms at assistant level, I accept HD's is significantly higher than several of its Manchester competitors," says one poster. "This is due in no small part to the pay gap between HD and the likes of DLA, On the positive side, and depending on your practice area, there is good experience and responsibility to be gained at an early stage at HD. Redressing that disparity will undoubtedly help reduce churn to a degree, but there will always be someone out there prepared to pay more. The question for you as an assistant is which in the long term will work best for you? Answers on a postcard please."

Recruitment

Work-life balance

Diversity

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