Halliwells posts revenue drop; Hill Dickinson and WFW both up

Hill Dickinson and WFW both up" />Halliwells has reported a three per cent drop in fee income for the first six months of the 2008-09 financial year.

The firm brought in £44m during the period, with real estate and corporate both not growing. A spokesperson told The Lawyer: “Dispute resolution, insurance litigation, employment and IP were stronger areas.

“We budgeted for relatively flat growth of £88m for the end of the financial year, so we are on budget to reach that.”

Meanwhile Hill Dickinson and Watson Farley & Williams both managed double-digit increases in turnover. Hill Dickinson posted a 13.5 per cent increase for the first six months of the 2007-08 financial year and Watson Farley reported a 25 per cent boost in revenue for the first six months of 2008-09.

Watson Farley managing partner Michael Greville (pictured) said: “This is an encouraging result; work levels across the firm are holding up well and our Asian and continental European offices have been particularly busy.

At Hill Dickinson, the strongest performing area was the small employment team, which was up 52 per cent on last year - boosted by the arrival of recruits from Mace & Jones and Speechly Bircham.

Professional risks also had a good six months, up 29 per cent, as did insurance, which increased 19.3 per cent. Commercial grew 12 per cent - although the recently launched Manchester corporate team, headed by ex-DLA Piper partner Daryl Cooke, had a challenging six months (TheLawyer.com, 6 November 2007).

The health team is up 12.6 per cent, assisted by a litigation authority panel win and ongoing PCT work.