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Manches returns to traditional law firm model as CEO prepares for exit

Petho deserves great credit for turning the firm around, especially Manches Oxford office, which was in some difficulty prior to her appointment. Her two years with the firm have seen a remarkable improvement in esprit de corps as well as improved financial performance. She had a difficult job which she did well, she dragged a family firm kicking and squealing into the twenty-first century and has encouraged the development of a partnership which is now young and which no longer beholden to a group of divas of a certain age. Whilst Petho has refused to tolerate difficult or under-performing partners ( some of the "old guard" and unsuccessfull leteral hires have either been shown the door or gently encouraged to look elsewhere ), her focus on the hiring and the nurturing of young partners ( witness the successes of family partners such as Rebecca Cockcroft, James Stewart and Anna Worwood, private client partner Anna Burnside, litigation partner Margaret Tofalides and head of Employment Tom Walker) her willingness to topple "sacred cows" within the firm and her astute financial management has left Manches with a strong and enduring legacy - one which should guarantee its' future stability and profitability.

6-Jul-2012

4:44 am