Ashurst Glasgow, the “legal sourcing centre” established in Scotland two years ago to service the £586m-turnover global law partnership, is aiming to double the amount of lawyers and legal analysts it employs within the next three years.
Established in Glasgow by former Dundas & Wilson partner Michael Polson, and controversially supported with £3m of Scottish Enterprise-administered regional selective assistance, Ashurst is already ahead of the jobs growth trajectory on which payouts of the grant were conditioned. The firm, located in Glasgow’s International Financial Services District (IFSD) now employs 200 people, 150 of whom are assigned to supporting colleagues in 16 offices worldwide from London to Rome, to Abu Dhabi to Singapore and Canberra. The office has already supported colleagues in Ashurst offices in 28 countries around the world.
The other 50 legally-trained personnel include “legal technologists”, described as people with a legal background but with a strong interest in technology, who have helped develop software and IT solutions that will free up Ashurst’s worldwide network of lawyers to focus on chargeable work.
Ashurst rejects the traditional industry terminology of “paralegal” and “back office” employees, instead emphasising its offer of high-quality and varied jobs and career structures it offers to Scottish law graduates, some of whom have struggled to find work in traditional firms, many badly hit in the recession. Their employment roll include a contingent of overseas graduates of Scots law schools, whose capability in 11 different languages boosts Ashurst Glasgow’s capacity to support an international network.
Polson said that the office’s performance in “exporting legal services worldwide” from Glasgow was “ahead of expectations”, ascribing the success to increases in efficiency and innovation that the office had achieved since its launch in August 2013. He added that the firm had a “clear vision for having more than 300 people in Glasgow” and said that it was potentially looking at physical expansion over more floors of the Clydesdale Exchange building in Wellington Street.
The arrival of Ashurst two years ago drew adverse comment from some sections of the Scottish legal world, who as well as raising eyebrows at the company’s receipt of public money also hinted that the non-core legal support functions performed by the majority of its employees might de-value the Scottish legal “brand.” if it became a trend. However the arrival of the firm was welcomed by the Scottish Law Society, some other influential lawyers, and the wider Glasgow’s business support network. All saw the legal support market as a chance to employ more of the products of Scotland’s 10 separate law schools in Scotland, and achieve an early advantage over potential rival legal support centres such as Belfast and Manchester.
Earlier this month Ashurst announced revenue of £561 million for the year ended April 2015, up 0.6 per cent from the previous year’s £558 million, with average profit per equity partner slightly down at £747,000.
James Collis, managing partner of Ashurst, said: "Results this year are in line with expectations, with revenue remaining consistent with FY14. We saw a robust performance in Asia Pacific and jurisdictions such as the Middle East, France and Spain and we continued to benefit from activity in the resources, infrastructure and finance sectors."
"We have been through a year of consolidation and significant investment in the future performance and success of the business. In the last twelve months, we have undertaken a major global strategic review with Bain & Co which we are now implementing. We are already starting to see benefits at this stage despite this being a long-term strategy. We have also made significant investment in the infrastructure of the business and technology to support and drive profitability."
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