Five years and growing

This year, 2022, has seen two fifth anniversaries of international legal firms moving into Scotland. Addleshaw Goddard did so through a merger with HBJ; Womble Bond Dickinson started more or less from scratch with a small office in Edinburgh. The Journal reports on how each has fared compared to initial expectations – and on how the Scottish arm of each firm sees its own identity.

Strength in merger: Addleshaw Goddard

“We could have stayed on our own; but we thought this was the best way and we were right.”

David Kirchin, Scotland head at Addleshaw Goddard (“AG”), was “almost man and boy” at HBJ, and a partner when the decision was taken to split with Gateley as the latter was preparing to float. The choices that faced HBJ are described by then senior partner Malcolm McPherson in our interview at Journal, June 2017, 16. In the event the firm eschewed a looser “verein” arrangement with Gateley in favour of a full merger with AG, which was then seeking an entry route to the Scottish market as clients increasingly sought a presence both sides of the border.

What difference has it made, being part of AG as opposed to Gateley? Kirchin is clear that they are very different firms. “Here everyone is working for a common endeavour, a common goal, so you’re working together as a team whether you’re sitting in Glasgow or Manchester or London. It’s a much bigger, international firm with all that brings, so a stronger partner to decide to combine with, for sure.”

In terms of career for Kirchin and his colleagues, it has brought significant new opportunities, whether in work within Scotland or further afield. “A concrete example: one of the Corporate team is working for a client doing the repowering of renewable energy businesses in Europe. It’s UK/German work (with a US fund), working with colleagues in Germany. We wouldn’t have been as likely to do that as HBJ Gateley.”

So the Scottish arm is very much integrated with the whole business, and involved with its projects? “Yes, the teams have just combined completely and that’s why I’m talking to you from London today. The teams in different locations know each other and work. The COVID period aside, we regularly see colleagues from across our business in Scotland. It’s a combined business.”

More junior colleagues can choose to advance in Scotland or try moving elsewhere. “We’ve got three people from Scotland in Dubai at the moment, one in banking, one in corporate, one in litigation; we’ve had people previously in Hong Kong; we’ve got a trainee currently in Singapore; one of the Employment team started her career in Glasgow and is in London now. All those possibilities are there for them. And I’m really excited about the impact they make outside Scotland, and about the prospect of them coming back to Scotland. Not all of them will, but I’m sure some of them will, and bring all their experiences back into our marketplace in Scotland.”

Still Scottish?

It is easy to assume that a smaller Scottish operation merging with a larger UK or international one (AG has more than 2,300 people, and almost 350 partners) would mean the imposition of a uniform culture and a loss of Scottish identity. Kirchin doesn’t recognise such a picture. “We want to make sure that every bit of Scotland feels tapped into the rest of the business, the wider business. But equally, if we’re in a market we need to be relevant to that market. If you’re in Aberdeen you should be talking to the local advisory community in Aberdeen, out talking to businesses in Aberdeen, and you should be looking to bring what you have that is distinct to that market, bringing all of AG to the client.

“So, many of the deals we are doing are Scottish deals with Scottish folk, Scottish qualified, and that part of it is the same today as five years ago, but it just offers wider opportunities and interests for people to countenance without changing firms. To say the culture is the same as it was five years ago can’t be right – it’s developed and moved on, but very much building on what was there. If we had our managing partner on this call I think he would say the entrepreneurial spirit that sat within the Scottish business pushes into the wider business, and we want to encourage that.”

Integrated or not, to Kirchin it very much makes sense still to talk in terms of its Scottish arm. “Oh definitely. Our business in Scotland finds its way on to the board table as an exciting, interesting place we should grow and develop, so it’s viewed as an excellent merger, a really strong combination, and has proper support to continue to grow.” With turnover having doubled since the merger, the market is seen as having further growth potential, “and the firm wants to support that: not naming any names but we have different partners from across our marketplace joining us or talking to us right now, five or six conversations going. Some of them will happen, some won’t”.

Turbulent times

As with most practices, the pandemic has had lasting effects. From a business angle, the initial shock of the lockdown – “an incredibly taxing and very difficult time” – was followed in the ensuing months by an increasing realisation that “trade was still happening: some sectors were really booming; others were an absolute challenge, but all of those businesses needed legal support so things came back strongly from late summer onwards”.

Hybrid working, however, is here to stay, and that happens firm-wide. “It’s important that people have that flexibility: it definitely works for people. But we also like it that people come into the office, and I see the teams get something from being with each other; that contact and ability to work together in person is important.”

As for the current economic turbulence, “It’s a moving picture; it’s very hard to bring any concluded thoughts. What we do know is that it has been a period of strong trading here, and the indicators are that there are still plenty of things going on. You can’t help but wonder what lies ahead, but we’ve a well hedged business both in Scotland and more widely, geographically and sectorally, across specialisms, and with some fantastic clients, so you’ve got to stay close to them, close to the things you’re doing and we’ll see what unfolds. It’s incredibly challenging times to figure out.”

However AG does not have all its eggs in the UK basket. Its first overseas office opened in 2012; more have followed, increasingly so in the last five years – most recently in Dublin, where the Irish firm Eugene F Collins was persuaded to come on board after looking in particular at the HBJ experience. “We firmly believe that an international footprint is the future of this firm,” Kirchin states, “and we’ve got conversations ongoing with different firms across different jurisdictions. So to be sure, the trajectory and path that we’re on is one that we’ll stick with.”

I finish by asking what advice he would give to anyone starting out as NQ now. “I don’t know that I’m a great one to be giving advice,” he laughs. “None of my children want to pick up my choice of profession, so I don’t know whether anyone’s going to listen! But it’s a brilliantly challenging career to embark on, and I think there has never been more opportunity for different types of experiences. Whether you choose to work in private practice or in-house, there are excellent opportunities across both; in private practice you’ve got really broad choices across different disciplines and types of law, but also you can really distinguish between the firms – those with one location in Scotland, multiple locations in Scotland only, UK only, international, more niche firms, all of those are there.

“So I would just encourage anyone who’s embarking on or thinking about a career in law, to try it – make sure they think really carefully about the kind of experience they want, but there are loads of good opportunities.”

Growth from startup: Womble Bond Dickinson

Partner and head of Litigation, Philip Knight thought he was joining UK practice Bond Dickinson on the opening of its Edinburgh office in September 2017 – until, on the day he started, its merger was announced with US firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, leading to his taking a fair bit of teasing from lawyer friends over the name that resulted.

What was the attraction of a Scottish presence to the newly created Womble Bond Dickinson (“WBD”)? “The main opportunities initially were the financial sector, retail and real estate sectors”, Knight answers. “That has worked out quite well.” From three or four people in a top floor “greenhouse” of an office looking across to the castle, WBD has seen organic growth to its headcount since moving to new purpose built offices on Semple Street. “It’s been hard because initially we were one of those challenger brands that not many people knew about; we were having to go out and tell people what WBD is and get them interested in coming to join us.”

What was the hardest thing about starting up like that? “Personally for me, it was moving from the support infrastructure of a big office and having to go back to basics, like setting up accounts with the Scottish Court Service, not having a court runner, or going to buy a gown because there isn’t one in the office, and just slowly building up a practice from a standing start. So it was quite hard to begin with. We also had to build the brand up in Scotland. We are well known in the English marketplace but not in Edinburgh, so we had to go out and attend events, join sector organisations, sponsor conferences, just get out and do things to get the brand known.”

Similarly from a client perspective, it meant selling themselves internally, “doing the roadshows round the different offices across the UK and getting them to have conversations with their clients when they had historically referred matters to established Scottish firms. So it was internal and external brand recognition.”

Young and free

You might think that a new start office of an international firm would be particularly subject to external influence. Not so, says Knight. “We’ve all come from different firms across Edinburgh and Scotland. I would say we’re quite a young and vibrant office – there are no dinosaurs! We’ve created quite a good culture, and we’ve had a lot of autonomy because we have to get out there and get ourselves known. It has been hard work but also lots of fun.”

It seems to have worked. Practice areas have expanded into construction and employment, private wealth, finance, banking and financial services, and numerous cross-border deals – “so we’ve gone from offering not much to almost being full service in the space of five years. It’s been an exciting journey though difficult at times”.

COVID was a setback, putting a halt to the marketing and networking approach. “In year 3 when we were just moving premises and becoming a real challenger to other firms, we suddenly had to start working from home. But we’re now getting back up there, going out and about for our fifth anniversary, starting to attend industry events again.”

How does the Scottish office relate to the wider firm in terms of the American connection? “We really are a transatlantic law firm close to home. The American connection gives us a real credibility when speaking to clients and has provided great opportunities, but we’ve not suddenly become an American law firm – it’s more about working together and trying to find connections and collaborating on projects.

“We’re very much left to develop and grow ourselves and given the path to do that. We have the autonomy to get out and about and do things, which for us is brilliant. People sometimes think that because we’re part of a huge American law firm we don’t have autonomy, but I certainly have much more autonomy than at my previous firm.”

Wider working

It sounds like colleagues haven’t been leaving to work in the wider firm? “No, none of that, and I think because we’ve been bringing people in it’s been quite good for everyone’s career progression. We’ve just promoted four partners internally, and quite a number of people have been brought in with a view to promotion. Everyone is reasonably senior and I think that’s what happens to begin with when you create an office from nothing; then you start bringing in other resource. We’re trying to do that now that we’ve established a strong presence in Edinburgh.

What are their selling points when trying to recruit in Scotland? “In terms of the culture it’s a place where people enjoy working. But while it’s smaller, because of hybrid working now and with the offices working together more it’s very much a one piece firm. We’ve got construction associates in Edinburgh doing work for the London office; banking associates doing exciting work across the whole of the UK, which I suppose traditionally you might not have got; and genuinely it’s a friendly place to work at because we’ve all come from different firms bringing fresh ideas and an energy to grow.”

By year 10 WBD hopes to double its Scottish turnover again, despite the current economic climate. “From a firm perspective clients are still needing legal advice; we’re still exceptionally busy, and we don’t immediately see it having any effect on our business.”

As the firm’s training manager, what is his career advice for anyone starting out now? Noting how much more complicated the process of securing a place is than in his time, with screening, interviews, summer placements and then hopefully a traineeship, Knight comments: “It’s really a case of being persistent, getting your applications into firms. We’re seeing some great candidates coming through and there’s a lot of competition, so it’s just sticking in there and keeping at it.”

Pictured above: David Kirchin, Philip Knight