Salaried partners asked to buy into SNR Denton
Non-equity partners in SNR Denton’s UK LLP are in the process of contributing between £10,000 and £20,000 to the firm following the September 2010 merger between legacy firms Denton Wilde Sapte and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.
Non-equity partners on the US side of the firm have also been asked to contribute capital.
Despite the fact that net profit at the firm’s UK LLP fell by 37 per cent in 2010-11, from £31.4m to £19.8m, a spokesperson at the firm said the contributions were being made to “make everyone feel like they have a stake in the merger”.
The news comes as the firm’s US-based bankruptcy chair Fruman Jacobson has been sent to its Paris base to overhaul the office following a string of departures and a poor financial performance.
Fee income at the office was down by 32 per cent to £6.5m in 2010-11 from £9.6m in 2009-10.
Jacobson has been charged with strengthening the office and integrating it with the US side of the business.
“It’s been a difficult year for the firm,” said Jacobson, “But it’s being handled in a very intelligent and businesslike way. We have the right leadership for a venerable firm that’s undergoing a necessary restructuring because of difficult economic times.”
The drop in the French office’s fees is partly down to the defection of M&A partners Jacques Salès and Steven Merino, who left with a team of lawyers for Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent in September 2010.
Readers' comments (11)
Al Sugar | 11-Jul-2011 10:12 am
Buyer beware!
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Anonymous | 11-Jul-2011 10:48 am
Didn't Halliwells do this?
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Don't do it... | 11-Jul-2011 11:51 am
Sounds like a way to get cash into the firm to then distribute it out to the senior non-performing management! LOL!
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Ashley Balls | 11-Jul-2011 10:44 pm
Given that salaried partners are only exempted from joint and several liability claims against their firm if they have an indemnity agreement it would be interesting to learn how this may have changed at Dentons now that salaried partners haves some skin in the game. The risk reward ratio may be none too clever without a new agreement.
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Martyn Caplan | 12-Jul-2011 11:35 am
Maybe the distinction between a true "salaried partner" and an "equity partner" is now becoming blurred for the purposes of the Insolvency Act !! If I was a salaried partner I would be seeking advice before parting with any Cash!
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Anonymous | 12-Jul-2011 3:47 pm
"A venerable firm that's undergoing a necessary restructuring because of difficult economic times". Is that a euphemism for something more sinister?
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Anonymous | 15-Jul-2011 9:21 am
Lovely to hear that the contributions are being made to “make everyone feel like they have a stake in the merger”.
£20,000 to give a salaried partner a warm glow in their heart, even though when profits soar they'll not see any of it.
We live in strange times.
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Triphop | 15-Jul-2011 2:02 pm
Well it is the duty of salarieds to enrich equity partners after all! Wot wot!
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Ben | 15-Jul-2011 2:40 pm
"£20,000 to give a salaried partner a warm glow in their heart, even though when profits soar they'll not see any of it."
Well put...
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Anonymous | 19-Jul-2011 2:32 pm
Perhaps the equity partners, who have drawn chunky sums over the years, should dig a little deeper rather than coming out with the rhetoric/spin that they want salaried partners to feel like they have a stake in the merger at a cost of several thousands ... spin spin spin
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Paul Housego | 22-Jul-2011 3:53 pm
If a salaried partner expresses gratitude that the equity partners feel him or her to be central to the future success of the firm, but also says that (s)he is not so flush with cash as to permit an interest free £20k loan to the firm, when a pension contribution with tax relief is more attractive, what happens?
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