Simmons to open low-cost Bristol base
Simmons & Simmons is to open an office in Bristol in a bid to slash its fee rates.
Jeremy Hoyland
According to managing partner Jeremy Hoyland, the office, which is slated for an autumn launch, will handle “complex legal work” where “location is not an issue for clients”.
It is expected that the office will initially handle projects, real estate and disputes work. The firm plans to have around 15 lawyers in the office at launch and, while it has asked its existing lawyers to make it known if they would like to transfer to Bristol, it is also in talks with recruitment consultants about hiring in the local market. It is expected that of the 15 lawyers, three will be partners.
Hoyland said the firm had a track record of showing it was willing to “embrace different ways of working in order to deliver greater value to our clients”, adding: ‘‘Clients quite rightly look to firms that can provide overall value. Our office in Bristol will allow us to deliver greater efficiency, while maintaining our reputation for excellence.”
The news comes after RPC launched an insurance and reinsurance Bristol base earlier this year with a team of lawyers from CMS Cameron McKenna (3 January 2012). Irwin Mitchell opened in the city in 2010 (16 February 2010).
It also comes as Bristol stalwart Osborne Clarke looks to position itself as a European firm by merging with its Spanish and Italian alliance partners, Osborne Clarke Spain and SLA Studio Legale Associato (29 March 2012). The move, said managing partner Simon Beswick, is designed to see the firm tackle more complex work (2 April 2012).
Earlier this year Simmons cut lawyers and support staff in its Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices in response to what it termed “ongoing market conditions in the Middle East” (20 January 2012).
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Readers' comments (13)
It started with the Tower of Babel... | 3-Apr-2012 11:44 pm
Westmorlandia | 3-Apr-2012 1:18 pm, has it down to a tee.
CPA Global, outsourcing, ABSs, etc. all point to this, logic.
Its time we all embraced technology and accept that neither you nor your client need to sit in the same room to go over the rudiments of a contract.
Although Cadwalader had a rough time of it, that their lawyers wore "mufti" most of the time was a good foot forward. Carrying an iPad in a dungeon is not embracing the new age, it is simply saying "I have the latest 'laptop', but still want to chain myself to the plastic/metal concoction that deprives me of a healthier existence...because I 'choose' to".
The lawyer on his laptop from a cabin on an island in the Pacific, the client from his loft apartment in Oslo, the funders from their condos in Malibu.
Why not?
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Lunchtime McTwaddle | 4-Apr-2012 5:31 pm
In larger firms, there would still need to be a substantial amount of centralised control (in IT, for example), which would go beyond the need to provide meeting facilities. Although it is something that many of us would be loathe to admit, it may also be unwise to underestimate the positive effect that the rather draconian workplace atmosphere of certain law firms has on productivity; left to their own devices many lawyers, even with the best intentions, will find much to distract them when working offsite for most of the time. I speak from experience. And then there are those disaffected senior partner types who view the office as an escape from whatever is happening at home...
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It started with the Tower of Babel... | 4-Apr-2012 11:45 pm
Lunchtime McTwaddle | 4-Apr-2012 5:31 pm,
"Left to their own devices" kinds of lawyers could be reviewed on quality, quantity and quickness. If they don't meet the 3Qs, to the standards laid down by the managing committee, then....the "door" (wherever or whatever might signify that, e.g. notice of termination of consultancy agreement or P45) could be clearly shown.
ISWTTOB
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