The Midlands’ legal market is hotting up. As Birmingham attracts ever-increasing outside investment, such as MGM Mirage’s regional casino development with the National Exhibition Centre, law firms are competing both for mandates and talent.
Some Birmingham firms have responded well to the pressure. Wragge & Co’s profit per equity partner jumped by 28.7 per cent last year, while HBJ Gateley Wareing’s turnover soared off the back of its Anglo-Scottish merger in January. By contrast, others have reeled from partner losses and diminished workflows. Most notably Cobbetts’ former Birmingham banking head Duncan Murray made a parting shot at the firm’s Birmingham strategy earlier this month as he became the 24th partner to leave the firm in the past two years.
This Special Report examines these trends, the fallout of the closure of MG Rover’s Longbridge car plant and the region’s attempts to ensure a share of the Olympic spoils.
