The firm decided to disband its eight-partner cross-departmental management board following a vote by partners earlier this year; senior partner Richard Dedman and chief executive Clint Evans will now be responsible for general management.
The firm is keen to move towards a more corporate structure following its conversion to a limited liability partnership. This follows a difficult period in which Barlows was one of the slowest-growing firms in the
The management board will be replaced by a supervisory partnership council, which will review management decisions in quarterly meetings. The council will be made up of around six partners elected in a firm-wide vote.
The exact details of how the new arrangements will work are still being finalised and are to be voted on in November, after which the firm will vote to appoint members of the partnership council.
Partners responsible for roles such as training or recruitment will have their role formalised and work closely with Dedman and Evans on those issues.
Managing partner Kennan Michel will also be involved in the day-to-day running of the firm until he retires next April. Under the partnership deed, the firm can appoint a new managing partner on a full or part-time basis, but there are no immediate plans to replace Michel and the firm is considering bringing in a further non-lawyer in a senior management position.
Julian Randall, Barlows’ head of commercial litigation, told Legal Week: “The issues facing Barlows are those faced by many mid-sized firms — do you want to be an all-services provider or focus on the areas in which you are strong? The market in our core area, dispute resolution, has been flat for some time while our peers with larger transactional practices have been flying. That creates pressures on parts of our practice, particularly outside our core area.”
He added: “The litigation market looks to have turned and many of these pressures may evaporate as quickly.”
Evans, a chartered accountant who was director of
Evans is known to be intent on uniting the firm’s partnership, which has suffered from a spate of departures. Late last year the firm lost its three remaining outsourcing partners from its commercial and technology group and high-profile litigation partner Clare Canning left last month alongside commercial litigation partners Simon Willis and Matthew Lawson for Mayer Brown.