JMW outperforms the market again

21/05/2014

Leading Manchester based full service law firm JMW Solicitors LLP is celebrating after again achieving outstanding year end results.

Income at the firm is up by 14.6% from £15 million to £17.2 million and provisional profit by 15.6% from £3.2 million to £3.7 million. This is even more impressive when looked at in the context of the firm’s performance over the past three years as fee income has increased by 56% from £11 million to £17.2 million now. The number of Equity Partners has remained at 10 and the firm closed the year with no bank overdraft partly due to the fact that Partners reinvested part of the profits into the firm.

Over the last year growth has been seen in all work types with the Commercial Property department leading the way with a fee increase of 100%, followed by Commercial Litigation (71%), Corporate (53%), Private Client Department (47%), Business Crime & Regulation (34%) and Corporate Recovery and Insolvency (27%). New work at JMW is now growing exponentially and new matters taken on by the firm have increased by 30% across the board. Commercial Property and Commercial Litigation doubled the number of new matters in the last financial year and new client instructions in the Clinical Negligence department also increased by 50%.

Although fee income in Personal Injury decreased as expected to £4.5m, savings in costs meant that the levels of profit were maintained. This was also helped by growing departments sharing a greater proportion of fixed overheads.

The firm has again seen an unparalleled surge in website instructions with an increase of
70% in fees generated from those cases. For the first time fee income from the web topped £1m, with a further £1m generated in work in progress. Fees from the solicitor’s referral network Lawshare increased by 117%. The network which now comprises of 160 North West firms has thrived under the leadership of promoted Partner, Stuart Cartwright. Firms continue to join the scheme at an increasing pace, receiving free training, cost controlling and management advice as well as a welcome home for work they don’t choose to carry out.

Senior Partner at JMW, Joy Kingsley said:

“This is our third year of outstanding results showing that we are able to perform well in a variety of markets subject to a variety of difficulties. This year has seen us successfully meet the challenges in Personal Injury work as well as grow many of our work types. We are very gratified by the number and breadth of clients instructing the firm, showing that clients longstanding and new to the firm like what we do. Staff numbers have increased by 20% from 205 to 245, including several senior hires such as Mark Jones (Commercial Litigation), Thomas Pearson, Claire Hamilton and Stephen Goodman (Commercial Property).”

The record financial year at JMW completes an excellent year for the firm after they were chosen as Law Firm of the Year at the Talk of Manchester Awards in November, then awarded Medium Law Firm of the Year at the Manchester Legal Awards in March for the 2nd year running and then Employer of the Year at the City of Manchester Business Awards.

Commenting on the firm’s great year JMW’s new Managing Partner Paul Walker commented:

“I feel privileged to have succeeded Bill Jones and become Managing Partner at such a successful time for JMW. We are committed to building on the great work already done and becoming the law firm of choice for many clients across our many disciplines. We are not complacent but have a clear direction as a full service firm with a strong legal offering in the Manchester market.”

Ends

For more information:

Samantha Meakin

0161 828 1981

samantha.meakin@jmw.co.uk

Note to Editors

JMW Solicitors LLP is one of the leading Manchester law firms and offers a broad range of legal services to both commercial and private clients. We are committed to providing legal services in a cost effective and timely manner.

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