Clyde & Co is aiming to spread out from its litigation roots in an effort to increase its non-contentious business to around half of the firm’s total revenues.
Clydes’ non-contentious practice currently makes up 30% to 40% of the firm’s turnover, but the firm now plans to increase this figure by at least 10% over the next three years as it increases the amount of transactional work it takes on.
The decision was made as part of a review headed by London corporate head Philip Rogers and will see the firm, which is well-known for shipping litigation, broaden its transactional offering through a series of hires, cross-selling and profile-raising activities.
Clydes has offices in 18 locations around the world including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Hong Kong and New York, and clients across sectors including insurance, aviation and shipping. Rogers said it will focus on building its corporate practice across these sectors.
To meet its new target, the firm is planning to increase the number of lawyers in the UK non-contentious practice by around two-thirds by 2010. The firm currently has 60 non-contentious lawyers out of 400 lawyers in London and Guildford but wants this figure to increase to 100 through lateral hires as well as increasing its trainee intake.
Recent deals for Clydes’ corporate practice include advising on the privatisation of Serbia’s national airline, JAT. However Rogers said the firm wanted to win deals such as easyJet’s £103.5m acquisition of British Airways franchise partner GB Airways. Clydes is on easyJet’s panel but was overlooked on that deal in preference of Norton Rose.
Rogers told Legal Week: “With around 60 lawyers in the UK, the corporate practice is still relatively small in relation to the size of the firm, and so the potential for growth is huge. We see any transaction occurring in the aviation, trade or insurance sectors as having our name on it with our specialist knowledge and geographical presence.”
The news is likely to surprise rivals as it comes at a time when many expect transactional work to slow and for contentious work to increase.
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