Practice Management

Private equity-backed Lawfront has made its sixth and largest regional firm acquisition to date by bringing in Trethowans, which has five offices in South and South-West England.

Lawyers should not believe “everything you read” about the negatives of being acquired by private equity, according to the managing director of a Midlands law firm bought last autumn.

Maintaining a route to the equity for salaried partners and senior associates is key to the smooth acceptance of private equity money at law firms, an investor has argued.

Hill Dickinson has agreed the highest-profile sports sponsorship in legal history by securing a “long-term” naming rights deal for Premier League football club Everton’s new stadium.

Competition among private equity buyers has pushed the value of law firms to the “upper end” of their “legitimate range”, it was claimed yesterday.

The proportion of smaller law firms considering merger or acquisition as a growth strategy has halved in a year to just one in 20, with a shift in focus to organic growth.

National firm Knights yesterday announced its 24th acquisition since listing in 2018 with a £16.6m deal for Essex law firm Birkett Long that will take its annual revenues to over £200m.

Developing a “proactive policy” to prevent wellbeing issues from arising appears to be a “significant challenge” for most law firms, a report by the IBA has found.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has for the first time authorised a law firm whose offering is solely provided by an AI-powered litigation assistant.

Leading specialist firm Family Law Partners has eschewed approaches from private equity houses to move instead to employee ownership.