DWF loses Newcastle head Flynn in wake of Crutes deal
DWF’s Newcastle chief John Flynn is set to leave the firm just over a year after joining to set up the firm’s practice in the North East city.
John Flynn
Flynn, who joined the Manchester-based firm last year from Dickinson Dees as executive partner, is understood to have encountered integration difficulties since the firm’s recent merger with Newcastle’s Crutes.
No formal announcement has been made internally about his exit, but it is understood that one is expected imminently. A source close to the firm said that Flynn had been absent from the Newcastle base for a few weeks and that many in the office are aware of his departure, which comes just months after the Crutes tie-up went live at the start of 2012 (25 November 2011).
Flynn’s destination is unclear, as is his likely replacement, with pensions head Martin Jenkins and former legacy Crutes managing partner Helen Agar touted as possible candidates if the firm chooses to retain the executive partner role.
Flynn joined the firm as Newcastle corporate head and executive partner in charge of the base, which had three partners before the combination with 16-partner Crutes. He announced his resignation from Dickinson Dees last May, joining DWF with a mandate to launch and swell the Newcastle offering (6 May 2011).
He stood unsuccessfully for senior partner at Dickinson Dees in 2004 and 2010.
DWF declined to comment. Flynn was not available for comment.
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Readers' comments (31)
Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 4:09 pm
This may feel brutal, but it's progress for DWF Newcastle.
Whilst DDees M&A practice has dipped since Flynn left, not very much of that work has turned up at DWF.
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 4:14 pm
"... understood to have encountered integration difficulties ..."
Where would modern management be without the euphemism ...!
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 5:04 pm
Maybe the step up was too big. It's hard to move to a top 30 law firm from a top 60 practice. The expectations are greater.
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 5:27 pm
Heh - "integration difficulties"
The move from Dickinson Dees to DWF was too great. Even Flynn admitted they had totally different cultures. I imagine that "integration difficulties" means the ideas he brought from old school Dickinson Dees didn't impress the progressive board at DWF.
It's a shame as he does have something to offer. I'm sure he'll pop up in the Newcastle legal market again. I'd hazard that it won't be at Dickinson Dees though!
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 5:55 pm
He lasted less than 12 months in post. Something clearly hasn't worked out.
A natural fit for the ex-Northern Rock job?
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 6:24 pm
Glad this news is out in the open after months of grumbles.
Onwards and upwards DWF Newcastle.
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Anonymous | 5-Jul-2012 7:36 pm
"........... he [Mr John Flynn] was headhunted by DWF around this time last year............". "This was generally regarded as being something of a coup on the part of DWF". Mr Flynn stated: “Some of the things I bring from Dickinson Dees are very good – a commitment to quality, a belief that you have to do things right, that we don’t make things up as we go along".
“Andrew Leaitherland said to me [Mr John Flynn]: ‘We are going to grow’. "After he told me how big they were and how fast they had grown, I said to him: ‘Do you know we grow leeks in the North East. We grow great big leeks and they are massive, but they taste awful’ “Andrew laughed at that....."
I hope you don't mind that I have taken the above quotes from previous articles on another website and not being a Solicitor I hope that it is alright for me to do this. My opinion is that the above quotes illustrates the differences between Leaitherland as DWF's aggresive spokesperson who appears to be solely fixated on profits and Mr John Flynn's wiser and( to my mind) more acceptable approach to progressing a company.
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Monkey | 5-Jul-2012 11:37 pm
When cultures clash you move on.
He created a foot hold
Well done fella
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 9:59 am
Anon 7:36,
In my role I've worked with both Dickinson Dees and DWF. In my view Dickinson Dees are the leek in the anology.
I say this because, from what I've seen, the quality of the work from DWF and the service provided has been superior.
John Flynn is a lovely guy. I'm not convinced he's wise but he certainly has charisma by the bucket-load.
He was the star performer at Dickinson Dees. However when he moved to a national law firm he probably didn't measure up when compared to their star performers.
I can't imagine he enjoyed working in that environment, so it's for the best that he's left - maybe he can dedicate his time to growing some good leeks in his garden?
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 10:34 am
I cannot think of another legal market in the UK that is as ripe to be taken over by a regional law firm as that in Newcastle / the North-East.
There's not been any meaningful competition for years. Many deny this but it has had an impact, as demonstrated by the inability of North East firms to translate their market position in Newcastle into other cities.
Therefore if DWF want to cement their position as the leading firm in the North East, they need to apply the formula that has worked so well in their other offices into this market.
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 3:34 pm
The big mistake Flynn made was alienating the NE leek growers who made up a sizeable proportion of DWF's Geordie client base.
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 4:38 pm
What's all this nonsense about him coming from a small firm and joining a major national, so the cultures didn't fit? The article (and reality) is quite clear:- John left after problems post-merger with Crutes. The Crutes partners used to dream of being as big as Dickinson Dees, their culture was hardly that off a "national firm". It sounds to me like John couldn't hack working with the poor quality of Crutes lawyer he was forced to share a water-cooler with.
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 5:39 pm
Anon 4:38,
If that was the case, why did he make the decision to merge his North East office of DWF with Crutes? He probably could have merged with any of the North East firms!
I feel a bit sorry for Johnny Flynn. He should have moved to a big firm a decade ago. Then he might have been able to make a go of it.
PS, I'm interested to know what your colleagues make of him pretending to be the de facto "Captain" of Dickinson Dees in his "Leek" interview?
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 10:25 pm
In 2012 DWF's turnover rose by 23% (18% taking into account inflation).
In 2012 Dickinson Dees turnover rose by 1.3% (minus 3.7% taking into account inflation).
Which begs the question, why the hell would DWF recruit a Dickinson Dees partner to grow their business!
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Anonymous | 6-Jul-2012 10:35 pm
Dear Anon 4.38
You have written "their culture was hardly that off a 'national firm'".
Do you work at Dickinson Dees by any chance? You write as if you do.
Seriously it is a shame he's left the legal market but I'm sure he will continue to make an enormous contribution to the North East business community. He would be the ideal person to represent the interests of local businesses.
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Anonymous | 7-Jul-2012 2:48 pm
Hard lines. However once you appreciate that his role was basically to spot a good merger opportunity in Newcastle and then to integrate the firm into DWF, saying he had "integration difficulties" is pretty damning.
I don't pay heed to the rumours, they always seem to appear about anyone who has the temerity to leave Dixon Dees. He's just as good as he always was, he just didn't measure up to what a big firm like DWF needs. He'll be back soon. Does anyone know why he still features on the DWF website?
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Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 1:16 pm
It looks like he either couldn't or forgot to manage upwards. Whatever anyone says, it is a step up to move to a rapidly expanding / high performing firm like DWF.
The odds were always stacked against him. It was such an odd decision to pluck a manager from Dickinson Dees; especially as he was presumably one of the decision makers in the years when similar firms (Dibb Lupton Allsopp, Addleshaws & Hammonds) became international powerhouses and DDees didn't.
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Anonymous | 8-Jul-2012 10:59 pm
After living the charmed life of being an equity partner at Dickie Dees for 25 years, it must be very tough to have your performance evaluated against the yardstick of a modern, progressive and demanding law firm like DWF. Well done for being brave enough to take the challenge and sorry that those 25 years probably contributed to you not being able to fulfil your ambitions for the office.
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Anonymous | 9-Jul-2012 1:49 pm
The lesson that can be learned from all of this is if your boss tells you to grow the office, don't deliver a parable about a leek.
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Anonymous | 11-Jul-2012 9:05 am
One of the most popular partners at Dickie Dees, but never a leader nor a corporate figurehead. He was best at saying, after the event, that he would have done it differently.
You would have expected a major player like DWF to have done their homework. Maybe they have underestimated the work needed to dominate the Geordie market.
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