TLT Solicitors

UK 200 RESULTS 2010

Revenue at Bristol-headquartered TLT Solicitors returned to 2007-08 levels last year, with the firm posting a turnover of £41m, up 5.1 per cent on 2008-09’s £39m.

TLT introduced a series of cost-cutting measures aimed at rebuilding profitability when the recession hit. This included outsourcing the firm’s library service to Integreon.

In addition, the firm moved to new premises in London and rebalanced its practices to place more emphasis on litigation. At the latest year-end the firm’s litigators contributed £11.48m to overall turnover, or 28 per cent.

It is worth noting that during the 2008-09 financial year TLT made a series of investments, which coupled with the impact of the recession depressed the firm’s headline figures back then.

The picture at the 2009-10 year-end was significantly improved, with net profit rising by 42.9 per cent, from £4.2m to £6m, boosting average profit per equity partner by a 43.9 per cent, from £198,000 to £285,000.

The firm’s equity spread also moved upwards, partly as a consequence of TLT moving to a merit-based remuneration system. The equity spread shifted from £110,000-£260,000 to £190,000-£390,000.

TLT’s major clients include Barclays Bank, WHSmith and Orange.

UK 200 RESULTS 2009

Bristol-based TLT Solicitors’ revenue dipped by 4.9 per cent, from £41m to £39m, while average profit per equity partner (PEP) took a bigger hit, dropping by 26.1 per cent, from £268,000 to £198,000.

This leaves it behind all of its closest rivals – Bond Pearce, Osborne Clarke and Burges Salmon – which posted PEP figures of £213,000, £352,000 and £409,000 respectively.

TLT’s equity spread was £110,000-£310,000 compared with £135,000-£310,000 in the previous financial year.

TLT completed a redundancy programme during the year involving both fee-earners and support staff, which resulted in 26 job losses, 25 of which were voluntary.

The cost of the redundancy programme and other associated costs, which amounted to approximately £1m, were absorbed in the 2008-09 financial year.

TLT’s corporate department accounted for 26 per cent, or £10.1m, of the firm’s turnover, while litigation and finance each turned over £9.3m. The finance practice, which accounts for 19 per cent, or £7.4m, of turnover, has grown from 23 to 48 people in just eight months.

TLT secured a number of significant panel wins during the past financial year. It was reappointed to Barclays Bank’s business recovery and litigation panels and also won a place on mobile phone giant Orange’s and the Metropolitan Police’s panels for the first time.

The firm currently operates a modified lockstep, but is consulting with partners to move to a more traditional merit-based system. TLT is hoping to have rolled out the new remuneration structure in time for the 2010-11 financial year.

Under the existing system partners typically start on 50 points and can progress up to 100 points in as little as four years. Partners who make significant contributions to the firm are then able to gain so-called ‘prospective points’. On top of that TLT operates a merit pool for exceptional partners. This typically consists of around six to eight individuals who can share between them up to 10 per cent of the firm’s net profit. In any given year only two to three partners sit at the top of the equity ladder.

The number of partners at the firm dropped from 72 to 65, which it claims was down to scheduled retirements and not the result of partner layoffs. In contrast, the number of equity partners has increased from 20 to 21.

At the junior end TLT offered jobs to 100 per cent of the trainees who qualified in September 2009 and to date has not deferred any of its future trainees.