Hunters
With its strong private client base and real estate team Hunters is at home in Lincoln’s Inn.
Paul Almy
The firm, which has a 200-year history, is attempting to accelerate growth without moving away from its roots. In April Hunters merged with Vernor-Miles & Noble, adding three partners to boost its private client, property and charity practices.
“It fits well,” reflects recently elected senior partner Paul Almy.
Around half of the firm’s £9m revenue come from its private client base, with a further 20 per cent from its property practice. The remainder is made up from the charities practice (20 per cent), corporate commercial (5-10 per cent) and family and litigation (10 per cent).
The hire of Dawsons’ former head of corporate commercial Stephen Morrall last month (The Lawyer, 9 May) marks the start of a strategy to extend the client base into Europe, in particular Germany.
“Stephen’s vice-chair of the British-German Jurists Association and has good contacts there,” Almy comments. “He’s supported by [associate] Rachel Mainwaring-Taylor - also a German-speaker. We’re also keen to expand our offshore practice.
We do a lot of work for non-doms. [Partner] Jo Richardson does a lot of immigration work.”
Typically the firm acts for clients with assets valued at more than £100m. The largest growth area is litigation spinning out of trust and probate work.
According to Almy, head of litigation Richard O’Halloran is Hunters’ highest fee-earner.
“We have a number of multimillion-pound disputes going on - we’re up there with Taylor Wessing and Charles Russell,” he says.
Almy says clients are as loyal to the firm as its lawyers. Of the partners, he says: “They’re team players and nobody’s jumping ship. We’ve got a good spirit - we’re not huge on rules and yet we’re commercially minded. It’s a good balance.”
Senior partner: Paul Almy
Turnover: £9m
Number of partners:22
Number of equity partners:12
Number of offices:One
Location: Lincoln’s Inn
Main practice areas:Charities, corporate commercial, family and litigation, private client, property
Key clients: The Estate of Ronnie Barker Deceased, Greg Rusedski, Railway Convalescent Homes, Little Sisters of the Poor
