Addleshaw Goddard in massive cash call from partners
03 September 2010
It has been revealed this week that Addleshaw Goddard has made its partners contribute a massive £15.6m to the firm in 2009/2010. That's an average of around £90,000 per partner according to RollOnFriday GCSE Maths Analysts. That's 90 grand that each partner paid to the firm, rather than the traditional approach of the firm paying the partner.

The accounts for the LLP have just been filed, and it's fair to say they show that 2009/2010 wasn't the kindest year to the firm. In January 2009 it turfed out 19 partners, which can't have been cheap - to say nothing of all the other redundancies. And moving into swish new London offices in August '09 must have cost a pretty penny, too. Add to this a fall in turnover of 3% and a cash call - first reported in City AM - perhaps wasn't that surprising.

An Addleshaw Goddard partner on his way to work

To be fair, demanding cash from partners is hardly new. Denton Wilde Sapte brought out the begging bowl last year, as did Clifford Chance. And so did Halliwells - and that went well, didn't it? But it seems £15.6 million wasn't enough to refill the AG vaults as its bank borrowings also increased 300% to a whopping £20 million.

So where has all this money gone? It doesn't seem to have been spent on hotel rooms. Nor bonuses. A spokesman for the firm told RollOnFriday that "the bank facility and partner capital were....to ensure the appropriate capitalisation of the firm for the short and long-term development and investment in the business". So, no one's any the wiser then.

If you were AG and had £35 million burning a hole in your pocket, just how would you invest it? Send your ideas to the usual address. The sender of the best suggestion gets made AG managing partner.