Halliwells set for job cuts in City restructuring

Halliwells is set to restructure its London office in a move that will lead to a number of redundancies and the closure of two City teams, Legal Week can reveal.

Halliwells this week confirmed that it has launched a formal consultation on redundancies at its City arm as part of a decision to refocus its London practice around property, corporate recovery and dispute resolution.

The move will see the firm reduce its focus on its City corporate practice and comes at a time when Halliwells concedes it has struggled to maintain its growth targets.

The corporate team has also this month seen the departure of London corporate head Julian Lewis, who is set to join Fladgate Fielder, and fellow partner Martin Walsh.

In addition, the top 50 UK firm's London arm is expected to close its one-partner pensions practice, with related work set to be handled through the firm's Manchester office. A small team handling indirect tax issues is also unlikely to continue in London.

The redundancies will take place in early March following the completion of the consultation process. However, the firm said the redundancies would not significantly affect the size of its City arm, which currently houses 130 lawyers and staff.

A handful of redundancies are also being considered across a number of support departments in Manchester after the consolidation of five offices and 700 members of staff into one location, in the city's commercial district - Spinningfields - at the end of last year.

The news comes after a period of rapid growth for Halliwells in recent years that has seen a string of mergers, including a tie-up with Manchester's James Chapman and a similar deal with 16-partner Liverpool practice Cuff Roberts.

A firm spokesperson said: "Halliwells has engaged in a formal consultation process with the London corporate team and a handful of directly related individuals within pensions and indirect tax."

Commenting on its City ambitions, Halliwells managing partner Ian Austin said: "London is key for us. We are expanding in other practice areas and recruiting at all levels. The corporate downturn is disappointing, but overall we are making giant strides."

The decision to overhaul the London arm comes amid mounting expectations that more entrants to the competitive City market will embark on similar shake-ups in response to the commercial slowdown.

As reported on 26 February by legalweek.com, US practice Howrey is refocusing its City arm on contentious intellectual property (IP), antitrust and arbitration work. The firm will switch from its current focus on litigation in a shift that has contributed to the transfer of a three-partner litigation team to City boutique Bristows.

Howrey London head Trevor Soames said: "The partners have mutually concluded with the firm that Howrey's business is not compatible with theirs. The London office needs to focus on the firm's huge worldwide brand practices."

The US firm's commercial practice was also bolstered by last year's hire of senior life sciences partner Mark Hodgson from Taylor Wessing and the recent hire of Linklaters' former IP head, Jeremy Brown.

The move drew a positive response from rivals. Bird & Bird partner Trevor Cook told Legal Week: "I certainly did not think the previous London focus reflected the IP and competition strength the firm has in the US. I highly regard [Hodgson] and know that he has devoted clients. This is sensible."

Additional reporting by Sofia Lind.

See Editors' Blog for more on this story.

More news, deals and comment on Halliwells

Halliwells on the Legal Week Wiki