Weightmans has enjoyed another good 12 months. 2009-10 revenue rose by 7.1% to £56.1m, with the firm set to break the £60m mark this year after exceeding recent quarterly billing targets. That would represent a fourth year of consecutive growth – a pattern which owes much to Weightmans' nationally-recognised insurance and litigation teams.

"Although fee rates have become more competitive since the onset of the recession, workflows in our key areas have been steady," comments managing partner Patrick Gaul.

The firm hopes to capitalise on the current market to grow further. Last month it emerged that Weightmans was in merger talks with national firms Mace & Jones and Vizards Wyeth, although no formal agreements have yet been reached. "Size still matters – the bigger you are, the more seriously firms take you and the more work you win," says Gaul.

At the same time, Gaul is also keen to position the firm in a more upmarket bracket, an ambition manifested in a host of recent lateral hires designed to bolster Weightmans' corporate offering. These include partners William Sharpe, Clare Sellars and Philip Heath, who joined from Eversheds, McDermott Will & Emery and Shoosmiths respectively. Weightmans' competitive profit per equity partner – up by 32.4% to £364,000 last year – no doubt helped to lure such individuals.

In the meantime, volume remains central to the firm's strategy – as illustrated by Weightmans' revenue per lawyer of £178,000; one of the lowest in the 51-75 bracket.

"I would like to bring more quality work into the firm, but it's also fine by me that we're producing a decent service in areas like road claims," says Gaul. In future, though, it's possible that more of this volume work will be done under the banner of a separately branded company which the firm set up last year, known as Converge, to handle pre-litigation claims matters.

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