Pinsent Masons (London)
The 2004 tie-up between Pinsents and Masons caught very few people by surprise - both had been falling behind national rivals DLA and Eversheds and were desperate to increase their national coverage. In fact, the eventual merger was such an open secret that RollOnFriday managed to cybersquat the website masonspinsents.com. Unwilling to shell out a large wad of cash to buy it back, Pinsent Masons was formed.
The new firm was always more of a national than an international outfit, with offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds. Admittedly, it's also got a presence in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and Brussels and has just entered a JV in Singapore with local firm MPillay, but no one's really quite sure why. Whereas the other national firms are surging on into Europe and beyond, Pinsent Masons is more reliant on a network of international alliances.
Rather than attempting to challenge all-comers in every field, it has made no secret of wanting to become "the leading sectoral firm", concentrating on eight different areas including, energy, construction, government, technology and insurance. That said, it's also included a catch-all sector of 'services', so we can't really see them turning any work away. Although
some suggest that the firm is "
obsessed with reclassifying departments" which can lead to lawyers being shunted between departments and "
ultimately feeling displaced".
Masons was without a doubt the pre-eminent construction firm in the country, whose clients included pretty much everyone who knows how to hold a shovel. And now as Pinsent Masons, the firm's construction lawyers still represent some of the biggest players in the country, the likes of Balfour Beatty and Bovis Lend Lease. Its "business strategic services" department (another re-classification formed from the old outsourcing and dispute resolution departments) is also doing pretty well with an impressive client roster including stellar clients such as Manchester United and Odeon Cinemas.
Where the firm has faced more of a struggle is with its corporate department. Focusing heavily on AIM listings, the lack of action on that market hit the firm's total turnover which fell 4% from £215m to £206m. Property, another of the firm's heavy-hitting department, has also suffered in the wake of the recession and the department's turnover was down this year.
Still Pinsents doesn't seem to be struggling too much. It managed to increase the average profit per partner by 32% in the 2009/10 financial year to £410k, which is not to be sniffed at. The firm also seemed to make the smallest number of redundancies, at just 19 - although there are rumblings that there has been some managing out with lawyers complaining that the firm didn't know how to handle redundancies. But, equally, there are positive reactions to Pinsents' decision to implement a flexi-time scheme which saved £2m and most likely saved a dew jobs in the process.
However, the firm didn't fare so well in RollOnFriday's firm of the year survey, propping up the latter half of the table. Lawyers grumbled about the "
lack of morale" - not helped by the relatively poor retention rates for the last few years - a "
strict hierarchy" that make climbing up the greasy pole very difficult. Other complaints included a "
management slightly disconnected from reality."
But there was praise to, especially for the firm's friendliness and for partners who "
genuinely care about their staff". Another respondent claimed that "
interesting lawyers outnumber dullards by at least 3 to 1" - which by the standards of most firms is a pretty solid ratio. Plus social events are apparently "
fantastic", especially - enthused one overexcited lawyer - the "
competitive fancy dress Christmas parties".
And this should all be on the back of relatively reasonable hours. The firm makes a big play of setting what it calls "reasonable expectations" for its lawyers, and has introduced a bonus scheme to compensate those who exceed them. Several lawyers work flexibly and trainees can get a £5,000 bonus when they qualify. One to watch.
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