Bridge McFarland

Bridge McFarland slimmed down slightly during the 2011–12 financial year, cutting headcount in increasingly non-core areas such as family and legal aid work. The leaner firm is reflected in a turnover drop of 6 per cent, from £8.2m to £7.7m.

In contrast, average profit per equity partner rose by 13 per cent, from £137,000 to £155,000. Managing partner Robert Edwards pointed to the rise in profit, the opening of a litigation-focused satellite office in London and the expansion of the Hull office with the hire of former Langleys commercial litigation partner Rob Ripley— now head of dispute resolution — as evidence of a good year despite the turnover drop.

Litigation remains by some distance the firm’s biggest revenue contributor, chipping in 52 per cent of turnover. The prominence of clinical negligence and personal injury in particular in that practice also explains Bridge McFarland’s lengthy lockup of 450 days at year-end, consisting of 400 days work-in-progress and 50 debtors.

The firm, the product of a 1990 merger, now has offices in Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, Louth, Mablethorpe, Market Rasen and Skegness.