EXCLUSIVE Broadfield cuts 20% of UK partnership

_{"If you build it, they will come. Or go. Some of them will go."}

Around 20% of Broadfield's UK partners have left the firm, RollOnFriday understands.

The filing history at Companies House shows that the firm, formerly known as BDB Pitmans, has had 14 terminations in the UK partnership, recently. By RoF's calculations, it leaves around 45 partners in the UK.

When asked why a significant proportion of UK partners had headed out the door, a Broadfield spokesperson said the firm would not comment on individual departures. They stated: “Since launching less than 18 months ago, Broadfield has been reshaping its business around the practices and markets where we see the strongest client demand. That has involved partner transitions as well as targeted recruitment and internal promotions".

The spokesperson noted: "In addition to opening new offices in New York City and Hong Kong, Broadfield has recruited 76 lawyers, including 32 partners globally, since the launch, across private equity, M&A, disputes, venture capital, real estate, private wealth, and energy and infrastructure".

And added: "Broadfield’s UK business remains strong and, subject to final year-end close, expects to report higher profit per partner and improved gross margins year-on-year. We will continue to make selective recruitment and deliver targeted growth in the UK and internationally in support of the firm’s strategy.”

The firm had the dubious honour of being this year's Golden Turd. BDB merged with Pitmans in 2018, but after failing to find another firm, it became the founding block of a ‘network’ of law firms built by Alvarez & Marsal, a US-based management consultancy.

The wholesale changes to the business dominated responses from staff in this year's survey, for good and ill. While respondents who arrived at the firm after its metamorphosis into Broadfield tended to have a sunnier view of the firm, those who remembered the before times appear to be less enamoured with its new identity.

“The Broadfield re-brand has been a disaster”, said a senior solicitor. “The focus of the firm has changed and a huge number of fee earners and partners have left the firm as a result”.

“I have sympathy for the longer serving members of staff that were here pre-Broadfield days”, said a junior solicitor. “Change can be unsettling and that cannot be denied. However the culture in the office is friendly and fun and people have a good sense of humour.”

Some said they were reserving judgment: “There have been new appointments on the higher level and my attitude is neutral/it's too early to say”, said another senior solicitor.

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Comments

Ahhh…the surprising thing is that it’s only 20%.

What is happening at the SRA in regard to the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal disciplinary investigations against those regulated by it, following the clear breaches of professional rules and the criminal law which were clearly made evident during the Public Inquiry evidence which facilitated the Post Office being responsible for the biggest Miscarriage of Justice in UK Legal History? Let’s be told and updated.

What is the current State of Play on the similar PM Law, SSB, Axiom Ince and other similar appalling and significant Professional Conduct and Criminal Law matters currently ongoing and will the SRA be referring itself for independent rigorous scrutiny and investigation
in connection with its own regulatory and other shortcomings relating thereto? Again where is the update from the SRA?
What is taking the SRA so long to deal with these significant and serious matters?

How many obviously struggling and failing Firms are under the SRA’s current enhanced level of scrutiny? Urgent and appropriate action is surely essential in order to prevent further hugely significant losses and damaging scandals?

Rof seems particularly interested in this firm, for no apparent reason.

It's not quite 20% but a lot of partners seem to be getting out of DWF at the moment too.

I mean. I'm as shocked as you are.

Same at Clyde’s- rapidly backfilling international partner departures whilst implementing urgent plans to give UK Casualty a severe haircut

The comments by the firm plus the view on culture by the junior Solicitor on culture also seems to suggest its positive so why are RoF always trying to put a negative spin on this firm?

DWF is a Private Equity (PE) business. Of course they are going to strip cost.

Watch this space at HF in 18 months’ time. It’s the playbook. Who’d be head of BD at Hempsons now they’ve been bought by HF, for example. Same for their head of accounts?

Partnerships are personal. PE businesses are not.

No surprise this carbuncle of a firm is haemorrhaging partners. Can’t be that enticing to stay in a business model where 40% of the mostly non-existent profits get siphoned off to the US vultures. Hiring a couple of Reading grubbers as ‘a bold move into private equity’ fools no-one.

They are being supplied private equity clients by A&M. That’s the business model.

Departures are unsurprising given it’s a million miles away from what the firm used to be about. It’s not BDBP anymore. BDBP didn’t even do PE (legacy Pitmans did, back in the day. But latterly it didn’t).

That’s not necessarily a bad thing because BDBP was struggling. What is surprising is that, apparently, Broadfield was voted for unanimously by the partners at the time. Curious that they voted for it and then have either been pushed out or chosen to leave.

I'd like to push back on the 'US vultures' line - it's easy cynicism. From where I sit in the company, I see the strategy is working. 76 lawyers hired globally, new offices opened, and improved margins. Change is uncomfortable and I understand why longer-serving staff feel unsettled, but writing it off as a cash grab misses what's actually being built here.

@ Anonymous 15 May 26 11:55

Nice to see some sensible perspective rather than just running the firm down like everyone else. I was thinking they're looking in better shape when when they were just BDB - some of the dead wood presumably hit by the axe of getting rid of shit.

DWF has lost three of its best lawyers to TLT today and is rumoured to have had to use “strong arguments” to convince another two to stay. It’s an unhappy ship. Expect more to go.

TLT is a pretty poor port in a storm!

DWF ghosted a seniorish mate not too long ago after a fairly protracted interview process. Perhaps a lucky escape

The golden turd grows smaller

Anyone with any knowledge of the firm's situation or of the legal market would realise you're better off with 45 decent partners than 60+ bloated partners bringing in little work. Replacing some haggard old Private Wealth partners for new partners from the likes of Baker McKenzie, Shoosmiths, Addleshaw Goddard etc can only be a sign of a firm moving direction and in the right way.

It was a rough start to Broadfield but, now the people who didn't like it have gone (having said their piece in the survey on the way out), the atmosphere in the office is better, decent bonus scheme for fee earners, teams are busy with better quality work, big investment in Harvey AI and other tech - would guess it'll be in a better place than a lot of similar size firms in 2 years time!

The firm is clearly becoming a boutique PE firm. That’s fine if you are into PE but anyone interested in anything else is being sidelined. Cambridge all but gone to Michelmores, Reading office shrinking rapidly, thoughts for anyone in their Southampton office. Probably worth the management finally fessing up to what is actually going on.

I thought Broadfield was a high security psychiatric hospital? Am I confused?

15/05/26 @ 11.11am is right. Once a firm like DWF or HF goes down the PE route, everything gets squeezed. Shareholders value becomes the priority. PE demands its return. Decent salaries and minor perks take a back seat. Lawyers used to look at things in terms of decades and would commit to a career. PE lives in a 3-5 year cycle at most, and the return has to be driven in that timeframe.

The real killer for DWF and other PE shops is:

1. If you’re ambitious nobody at the firm can give you any meaningful assurance because someone new will buy the firm in a few years time. The new buyers will make the decisions.

2. You always hope that you’ll find lots of excellent business people as partners alongside you. However the only decent business people in a PE situation are the few who secured the megabucks deal. Everyone else has poor business judgement. Those will be your peers.

Therefore the good get out.