Post-merger results slump at Theodores

Theodore Goddard, the firm that merged with Addleshaw Booth & Co to create Addleshaw Goddard in May, saw turnover drop by 10 per cent in the last financial year.

Theodore Goddard's turnover dropped from £43m in 2001-02 to £39m in the last financial year. Addleshaw Booth enjoyed a slight rise in turnover, with gross fees rising from £88m to £91m.

The drop in turnover at the legacy Theodore Goddard indicates that the merged firm will show at least a comparable slump in average profits per partner when these figures are finalised.

Addleshaw Goddard managing partner Mark Jones said that the merged firm was aiming "to become one of the 25 most profitable firms in the country".

In 2001-02, Addleshaw Booth reported average partner profits of £275,000, with Thoedore Goddard posting a healthier £350,000.

Addleshaw Goddard has just put a new management structure in place that is exactly the same as that of the old Addleshaw Booth.

A management committee comprising Jones, formerly Addleshaw Booth's managing partner, and the new firm's divisional managing partners, will have the final say on everything apart from future mergers, which will require a 90 per cent partnership vote.

There is also a six-partner governance board that will come up with strategic plans for the new firm, as there was at Addleshaw Booth. This is a strong contrast to the consensual management style of the old Theodore Goddard.

Theodore Goddard was run by a combination of a senior partner, a chief operating officer, a powerful management board and an international expansion committee, which was formed to hunt out potential merger partners.