Norton Rose Fulbright chief sets out plans to grow Newcastle legal services hub
Peter Martyr eyes series of lower cost centres around the world with Asia also earmarked for a new base
October 21, 2016 at 07:35 AM
2 minute read
Norton Rose Fulbright is set to triple headcount in its Newcastle legal services hub to around 50 in the coming years, according to chief executive Peter Martyr.
The firm currently employs around 15 lawyers and non-lawyers in the city as part of a pilot scheme that launched in April this year.
The expectation is that the hub will become a permanent fixture, although there are not yet any definite plans on when this will happen.
The project is the brainchild of EMEA managing partner Martin Scott, who road-tested the support setup in the firm's London corporate practice. Scott was formerly global head of corporate for two years from 2013, before assuming the EMEA leadership role.
The Newcastle base is now being used to support the firm's disputes practice as well as corporate and, while open to all offices around the world, is primarily being used by offices in Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong.
"In due course I can certainly see [Newcastle headcount] getting to 50 very quickly," said Martyr.
According to Martyr, the firm does not intend to concentrate its legal services staff en masse in Newcastle, unlike Freshfields' Manchester centre, which houses both legal and back office support. The magic circle firm will have capacity for up to 700 employees once it moves to its new 80,000 sq ft premises at One New Bailey in Manchester, in 2017.
In contrast, Martyr said Norton Rose Fulbright is aiming for "smaller pockets of flexible workers", supported by artificial intelligence technology.
"We have got several low cost centres already built into the system, including Johannesburg, Capetown and Melbourne. In all, we have a total of six offices that are providing legal process efficiencies, all doing slightly different things. For example, we use Minneapolis for litigation and data management support."
Martyr added that Norton Rose is also considering opening an additional legal services centre in the Asia-Pacific region, which would work alongside its new back office centre in Manila in the Philippines, which opened last month.
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