Despite the radical changes that have occurred in the UK's regional legal market over the past 15 years, there has not been an abundance of paths for the ambitious law firm to go down.
The upper end of the regional market remains dominated by the national/multi-office firms and the upmarket single-siters. Arguably, the last five years have seen the emergence of a new regional breed, composed of middle-tier firms operating across a series of secondary regional centres - basically smaller versions of the national model. But that is about it.
Yet one firm, Newcastle legal royalty Dickinson Dees, appears to be working from a different model - one that sees the firm aiming to extend its reach without directly tapping into highly competitive regional centres or launching its own operation in London. The most recent and striking evidence of this stance came last month when the firm announced its takeover of two-partner York boutique Philip Ashworth & Co.
Dickinsons has not neatly fitted into any legal category since it moved beyond Newcastle in 2000 with the launch of a second office in Stockton-on-Tees. Yet the Teesside move - always viewed by rivals as a strategic oddity that nonetheless did nothing to blunt the firm¹s razor-sharp competitive edge in its northeast heartland - could have been viewed as an exception to the Dickie Dees rule.
In contrast, the announcement in December that the firm was to absorb Philip Ashworth represented something quite different, taking the firm well outside its home turf and making it the first top-tier regional outfit to enter the North Yorkshire city.
Even now, many rivals assume that Dickinsons is seeking to play to some of its niche strengths, assuming the acquisition is aimed at extending the firm's respected private client and agricultural/old money client base. York is, after all, part of the moneyed 'golden triangle' region, home to a growing community of wealthy families.
Not so, says Dickinsons managing partner Neil Braithwaite, who is quick to point out that the merger was sealed after a strategic review with a remit to find business opportunities for the firm and ways of extending its reach beyond the north.
Not surprisingly, Dickinsons decided that the key opportunity is the wider Yorkshire region - a conclusion the firm's smaller Newcastle rival, Watson Burton, reached two years ago with its Leeds launch. But while others have attempted the direct route of entering the highly competitive Leeds market, already home to no less than six top 50 UK firms, Dickinsons is attempting to tap the region from York.
"We could have gone in all guns blazing to Leeds and ended up with 500 staff there but that would have changed the balance of the firm," admits Braithwaite. "We feel that we have seen a business opportunity that very few rivals have noticed."
On one level, the response to the York launch has been mixed. Obviously, the move avoids the problems of setting up directly in the Leeds shark pool. In addition, many cite well-heeled York as a promising hunting ground for the firm¹s private client practice.
Where the firm receives less support is in its contention that the operation will provide the beachhead to attack the wider Yorkshire region. Here, Braithwaite sticks to his guns, arguing that as many of the 25-odd plcs in the Yorkshire region are based in North and East Yorkshire and pledging that the practice will go full service.
Clients the firm has already handled in the region include Yorkshire Electricity, Persimmons, Yorkshire Bank and Brewin Dolphin, while Dickinsons' active public sector team has completed work for Leeds, Doncaster and Hull councils and is also active locally with health trusts.
Braithwaite is also keen to stress that Dickinsons has close knowledge of its new practice, having worked with Philip Ashworth for years. The practice is also far more a niche corporate team than the private client-centric outfit many have assumed it to be. "We are not in the 'branch office' mentality," says Braithwaite, pointing to the firm's substantial Teesside growth.
Another partner in the firm concedes that he took some persuading regarding the York move, but argues that he - and the firm - are now converts.
"I admit when I first heard about it I was not sure on the basis that no-one else has done it, but then you do not want to do things just because others have done it," he says. "Let's face it, Leeds is knee-deep in lawyers and accountants. There is also very much an east-west thing that gets in the way when you hit Leeds."
And yet that strategic question remains for Dickinson Dees, as it does for many of the quality single-site firms, like Bristol's Burges Salmon and Walker Morris of Leeds. These firms, having come to dominate their home markets, are arguably becoming victims of their own success in that they have built practices increasingly national in scope and reputation.
You only have to glance at Dickinsons' major clients, which include the Department of Trade & Industry, public transport group Go-Ahead, Northern Rock and HBOS, to gauge the national character of its practice. The quality is there but the awkward logistical problem of how you expand a team that reaches saturation point in its home market does not go away.
Certainly, some rivals claim that Dickinsons has an inbuilt tension between the older guard intent on more conservative growth and a younger generation who believe there is a strong case to take the Dickie Dees brand into more mainstream markets.
One partner with Birmingham giant Wragge & Co - a firm that knows a thing or two about the pros and cons of the single-site model - comments: "Dickies has done incredibly well with its market but how much more room is there to grow? They have plateaued. When you look at firms like this there is often a tension between the older guard, who are nearing retirement and do not want to make too many changes, and a younger generation, who take a more ambitious view."
Such a contention is supported by the high leverage of the firm, in which only half of its 73-strong partnership is full equity. It is also fair to say that there have been a greater range of views within the firm regarding strategy than Dickinsons often likes to admit.
One partner comments: "London is something we discuss within the partnership but I do not think it is fair to see it in terms of a generational conflict. As it happens, we are a pretty young partnership all round."
Some would argue - and Dickinsons strongly refutes this - that another issue the firm must face is the challenge from smaller, less conservative Newcastle rivals, notably Watson Burton and Ward Hadaway.
Watson Burton, in particular, has moved from being a hardly-noticed practice to one of the most closely-watched regional firms in the UK, in part because of the ambition and media profile of former senior partner Andrew Hoyle. In direct contrast to Dickinsons, Watson Burton has also moved into two major markets - Leeds and London, with the firm launching offices in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Here, Braithwaite is quick to make the point that his may be a conservative firm but a key criterion in any decision is "sustainable growth". In this context, Braithwaite contrasts his firm's steady hand with the much-trailed growing pains at Watson Burton that contributed to Hoyle¹s exit last year.
He says: "You have to give Watson Burton some credit for what it has achieved but there are issues about sustainability there. They are looking at a period of retrenchment. That is why I say that we put an emphasis on sustainable growth."
In particular, Watson Burton¹s experience in Leeds, which is viewed as an element in the backdrop surrounding Hoyle¹s departure, gives Dickinsons ammunition for its claims. It is certainly true that Watson Burton¹s Leeds push has not been without its problems. In particular, the departure last year of founding partner and finance specialist Andrew Gosnay, a former Simpson Curtis veteran with a top-notch Leeds pedigree, went down like a tonne of bricks in the local market.
One Eversheds partner comments: "It has been very difficult for Watson Burton. Andrew was respected and the kind of lawyer that they need to have to make an impact locally. I do not see them making an impact at all, on any level."
But to be fair, Watson Burton talks a reasonable game on Yorkshire and no tough market can be entered without a few setbacks. The firm estimates that it is on course to generate £3m-£4m in fees from the office and cites no less than 15 plc clients that have been won or that it is handling in the region. Such clients include impressive names such as Austin Reed, Countrywide, Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds TSB and Yorkshire Bank.
Watson Burton senior partner Rob Langley, who took over from Hoyle last year, comments: "Yes, there is no doubt that Leeds and Yorkshire is a tough market but we have been delighted by our successes in that region. In our experience, the key to success in Leeds is to adopt the right attitude - to market ourselves hard, to be fully aware of the excellent value for money we offer for legal services and to attract key people to join us."
The firm also points to other notable recruitment, including high-profile former Pinsent Masons lawyers Andrew Walker and John McMullen, as well as former Hammonds partner Lester Wilson. And whatever setbacks Watson Burton has faced in Leeds, the firm has shown direction and momentum, two important qualities for any ambitious law firm.
Perhaps sensitive to claims that the firm could be challenged by more aggressive rivals, for its part Dickinsons argues that it is still taking market share off its rivals in the Newcastle market. The firm, having managed 10% growth in its revenues last year to hit £47.8m, is also predicting a very confident performance in 2006-07.
Braithwaite remarks: "The Newcastle market is still expanding and we believe the gap between us and our rivals is widening. If you add together the turnover of our two nearest rivals, we are still considerably bigger."
There is no sign yet that the strategic debate between Newcastle's largest firms will be settled any time soon. Not only is the UK legal market firmly in growth mode but by common consent the northeast is performing well. That healthy market and some reserves of ambition and grit have helped push the city's top firms a good deal further than many would have given credit for a few years back.
A possible turning point could come this year when Dickinsons' managing partner post comes up for election, while word from some younger partners is that the firm will have to seriously address the London issue within the next two to three years.
"I can see a case for being in London in a number of our practice areas," says one partner. "Look at the work that we do in transport; I could certainly see a client like Go-Ahead using us more."
Likewise, the firm's work in the private finance initiative sphere as well a decent showing in pensions and finance could be credibly extended to the capital.
Even a top-flight practice and competent management will not safeguard the firm¹s future if a crunch debate between the conservative guard and a more ambitious pack cannot be constructively resolved. The irony is that many would argue that Dickie Dees has the brand, the practice and all-round class to make it well outside its northern heartland.
