Law firm to merge with top English practice

Deputy Business Editor

Saturday 23 June 2012

ARCHIBALD Campbell & Harley is the latest Scottish law firm to line up a merger with a larger English practice.

Custom byline text:

Greig Cameron Deputy Business Editor

The 13-partner Edinburgh firm has announced a union with Shoosmiths, which has eight offices in England and a turnover of £90 million.

All 65 staff at the Scottish practice, which will be rebranded ACH Shoosmiths, will transfer across.

Shoosmiths said the move has been sparked by client demand for a UK-wide service.Archibald Campbell & Harley chief executive Rod Macphail confirmed approval for the merger was unanimous.He said: "This merger is a logical extension of an existing well established relationship across all areas of our practice and as such provides a ready made platform for our ambitious plans for growth."We are very excited here as we embark on the consolidation of a relationship that will see ACH Shoosmiths grow and develop in Scotland, in what will be a careful and considered manner."It's all about long-term development and a desire for us both to meet client demand by servicing their multi-jurisdiction legal needs." Shoosmiths chairman Andrew Tubbs believes the merged firms can benefit from cross-referral work from the wider client pool.He said: "Clients have been telling us for some time that they wished we had a presence north of the Border, and this is us responding to their wishes."We share clients and there's crossover in practice areas, particularly real estate, retail, litigation and financial recoveries." Biggart Baillie, Anderson Fyfe and McGrigors are among the firms which have agreed mergers with English firms this year.Research from Deloitte shows fee income at the UK's top 100 law firms rose 6.6% in the year to April, 2012.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Law firm to merge with top English practice

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED