Burness Paull posts gains despite lockdown
Burness Paull has recorded increased turnover and profits in the year to 31 July 2020 despite the coronavirus lockdown.
Revenue was up 3% at £60.5m, helped by business from new corporate clients, while profits, which fell 8% in the previous year, gained 14% to rise from £22m to £25m.
Renewable energy, funds, restructuring, construction disputes and employment law were among the legal firm's best performing sectors.
The firm said its early adoption of advanced client service technology, with agile working systems and advanced document automation software, helped it offset the impact of the pandemic.
Burness Paull chairman Peter Lawson commented: "There is no doubt this has been a hugely challenging period. I have been a corporate dealmaker for 25 years, and being part of the firm’s senior team successfully supporting clients and employees while continuing to drive business growth over the last five months has been the biggest deal of my career.
"The high-profile, premium transactions we’ve delivered during lockdown are testimony to our resilience. Investment in automation has really paid off and made us much more efficient during deals. The correct software selections are a big part of that, but it’s also about optimising teams and systems to improve consistency and efficiency throughout."
He added: "Some practice areas saw an initial drop in demand, especially the more transactional ones, but not as drastically as many predicted and we’ve since seen an uptick across those areas as lockdown measures have been gradually eased.
"We are fortunate our financial model is a conservative and robust one, with no debt and strong cash reserves, and as an independent law firm we are also able to respond quickly and nimbly to changes."
He praised the "strong culture" of the firm's 540 employees, who had provided extra support to a range of charities through the Burness Paull Foundation, "and that commitment to helping others wherever possible is something we place a great deal of value on".