Field Fisher Waterhouse (London)
Our view...
Back in the mists of time around the millennium, FFW
was seen as a slightly crusty mid-sized firm. Since then it has managed
to develop a much sexier image: it’s now a go to firm for technology,
IP and European regulatory work. It also takes legal geek levels to new
heights – in 2007 it was the first UK law firm to open a virtual office
in the online community Second Life.
But don’t be fooled by the gimmicks. The firm has set itself some
very tough goals over the last few years. In 2005, when its revenue was
just over £52m, its target was to hit £75m by 2008. Turnover for that
year actually reached a staggering £88m. It was aiming for £200m by
2012, but it's been a tough time for everyone and given that revenue for
2009/10 was £92m - these dizzy heights seem highly unlikely.
FFW hasn’t always got everything right. During the boom staff had to
work hard to cope with the influx of work, salaries didn't keep pace
with the rest of the City and FFW found it difficult to recruit.
Underpaid and overworked assistants do not make for a happy ship, and
the firm accepts that "
salary was a huge concern". And it didn't win
points when, just after posting a massive 30% rise in turnover, it made
some 15 of its real estate lawyers redundant.
The firm was inevitably affected by the credit crunch too, with
42 redundancies in the 2008/09 period. But it does now seem to be gearing itself up for a period of serious expansion, if recent statements
are anything to go by. The firm's announced that it's embarking on a
three-year growth plan focusing on corporate, IP/IT and regulatory. The
plan has been named the "virtuous triangle" - a (much mocked) moniker
that FFW thought was so inspired, it had the term trademarked.
Pay has remained a bone of contention for the firm's staff, although things have improved. Pay is at least now a bit more reasonable (if still not fantastic) - back in 2007 it transpired that newly
qualified assistants at Weil Gotshal made more money than newly made up
partners at FFW…
But lower salaries may have helped cause FFW's woeful performance in the
Firm of the Year Survey 2011, where it scraped second to last position, narrowly avoiding Golden Turd status. One respondent complained that the "
salary just isn't up to scratch and the bonus scheme is a sham." Other criticisms included "
terrible diversity", partners who "
cannot be trusted" and three associates claimed that there was not one good thing they could think to say about the firm. Which isn't great.
However there was positive comment: the people are apparently mostly "
awesome" and "
the work's great". One associate summed up the firm as a "
good place to work they just need to reward their staff for the hard work they put in." Lawyers also reckon that they work relatively decent hours,
even if they still have to operate out of shabby offices at the arse
end of the City.
The partnership is relatively young and diverse. At the more junior end FFW claims that it takes a serious
interest in the development of junior lawyers - there's a pretty
comprehensive training scheme (which you would expect) and many
assistants have their own marketing budgets (which you might not).
FFW has made an about turn on its vision of the future. It's tightened up its financial management - including billing and collection - and is keenly pursuing its virtuous triangle strategy. It's also actively seeking to expand its horizons by seeking more work in Asia. How this will impact on the firm over the next year or two
remains to be seen, but for now FFW seems to present a good combination of
decent work and fair hours.
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