Irwin Mitchell

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Overview

A national giant unlike any other, with its distinctive mix of practice groups and bulk work, a fondness for mergers over the last 10 years has helped propel Irwin Mitchell into the upper echelons of the UK's largest law firms.

Irwin Mitchell ranked 21th in the most recent Legal Week Top 50, with total revenues up 9% in 2009 to a new high of £158m, while partner profits stood at a respectable £615,000 after rising by 18.3%.

History

Founded by Walter Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield in 1912 as a criminal practice, the firm did not begin diversifying its practice in earnest until the late 1970s. The first geographic expanded beyond its Sheffield heartland came in 1989, when Irwins launched an office in Birmingham. The Leeds arm was next to follow, opening for business in 1993.

Irwins continued to bulk up with a string of acquisitions throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium - with Sheffield outfit Kershaw Tudor in 1994; Leeds-based corporate and commercial firm Teeman Levine in 1995; and Birmingham corporate specialist Rigbeys in 1996.

A City branch was launched in 1995 and added to with another brace of merger deals - with debt recovery and insolvency firm Braby & Waller in '98 and personal injury outfit Lorenzo Zurbrugg in 2003. Also in 2003, the firm launched in Newcastle, while Manchester - the firm's sixth UK office - was next on the agenda, opening in 2006.

During that time the firm was starting to look even further afield and an international debut came in 2005, with the firm opening offices in Marbella (a base which has now moved to Malaga) and Madrid. That was also the year the firm first broke the £100m barrier for annual turnover.

More recently, Irwins acquired specialist personal injury and clinical negligence outfit Alexander Harris in 2006, absorbing the 12-partner firm's offices in London, Solihull and Altrincham and further tightening its hold on the claimant PI market. In 2007 the firm joined forces with Scots bulk practice Golds, in a move then managing partner Howard Culley said was motivated by the potentially seismic ramifications of the Legal Services Act.

One constant over the last two decades as the firm has expanded has been its leadership. Senior partner Michael Napier took on the top role in 1983 and has yet to give it up, making him among the longest-serving figureheads of any major UK law firm. Alongside him for the much of that marathon stint was been Culley, who has now been succeeded by John Pickering, who was voted into the role in 2009.

Culture

Key departments

Structurally, Irwin Mitchell is divided into three umbrella departments: personal injury; business and private client; and insurance, lending and recoveries.

National/international coverage

Irwin Mitchell has a broad network of offices across the UK, covering most of the major regional markets - Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are all represented, as is London.

Abroad, Irwins is limited to offices in Madrid and Malaga.

Key clients

Leading partners

Career prospects

In 2008 the firm promoted four associates to partner, in personal injury and litigation. That represented a dip from the 2007 tally, when Irwins made up seven new partners.

Salaries

Recruitment

Graduate recruitment is overseen by HR director Andy Chalmers.

For more information on trainee recruitment at Irwin Mitchell, click here.

Work-life balance

Diversity

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