Watson Burton partners inject cash to open up equity
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Watson Burton’s senior equity partners have injected over £1m into the firm to enable more junior partners to enter the equity ranks.
A statement issued by the Newcastle-headquartered firm said the seven-strong senior equity group, which includes senior partner Rob Langley (pictured), contributed around £125,000 each to the firm to drive growth and development for the future and to make the equity partnership more financially accessible for junior lawyers.
Had the senior partners not made the payment the capital contributions required of junior lawyers wanting to enter the equity would have been prohibitively high.
The move comes just over a year after The Lawyer reported that the North East firm planned to open up its tight equity in an attempt to retain and reward younger salaried partners and associates (8 September 2008).
Langley said: “The idea is that we encourage younger lawyers to join the partnership. This is something that we decided on over a year ago and it’s just taken a long time to put the plans into action.”
Earlier this year The Lawyer reported that the Newcastle firm had overhauled its equity partnership again, implementing an enhanced remuneration level to create the seven partner senior equity group (1 June 2009).
Readers' comments (1)
Anonymous | 20-Nov-2009 3:45 pm
I've never heard of a cash call being justified as making it easier for new equity entrants. It normally just means the bank has refused to provide the necessary facilities!
If the exiting equities put in more money, that increases the value of their investment and makes it proportionately MORE expensive for new entrants, not less.
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