Osborne Clarke in record fees claim

Osborne Clarke's fee income has hit a record high in the first six months of this business year by increasing 33 per cent on 1998's figures.

Turnover from May to November this year is £16m, compared to £12m for the same period last year. And Chris Bull, chief executive, says he expects the next six months to see it rise to £19m.

Leslie Perrin, managing partner of Osborne Clarke, says: "I put this down to success in keeping our clients of long standing very happy. We are also having success in getting new work, international work and bigger deals."

New clients advised by Osborne Clarke over the last six months include pharmaceutical company Pfizer, communications company Redstone Telecoms, and utilities and waste disposal company SITA.

Bull says: "The firm is expanding as a whole. We are especially looking at increasing our banking capabilities."

Osborne Clarke is setting up a network of banking departments across its Bristol, London and Reading offices. As part of this drive the firm is hiring leading in-house lawyer Jeremy Cross from HSBC's headquarters in Hong Kong (The Lawyer, 25 October). Another banking addition is Hugh Jones, who started this month as a banking partner in the Bristol office. Jones was previously head of banking at Morgan Cole (The Lawyer, 19 July).