Bird & Bird turnover surges 30 per cent at mid-year

Bird & Bird has recorded an incredible 30 per cent rise in turnover at the half year point.

The firm brought in £85m for the first six months of the 2008-09 financial year. Half of this was accounted for by recent mergers.

The firm merged with 30-lawyer firm Lane & Partners last month (TheLawyer.com, 22 September 2008), while earlier this year it brought on board 10-partner Finnish firm Fennica Attorneys (TheLawyer.com, 12 March 2008).

Bird & Bird CEO David Kerr said: "The results are not as dramatically brilliant as the last few years. Things have been tougher in the UK than abroad, but nonetheless there's been growth.

"We've benefited from having contentious practices - which account for about
40 per cent of our revenue firm-wide.

"These results have been encouraging but we need to be prepared for much
tougher economic conditions."

Bird & Bird grew by 24 per cent for the first six months of the 2007-08 financial year.