Birmingham-based law firm Wragge & Co has recorded a 31% growth in the turnover of its commercial property group from April 1997 to April 1998.
Property partner Peter Thorne said that over the same period the firm – one of Birmingham’s ‘Big Four’ commercial practices – had increased its number of property specialists by 19%. The property department now numbers 51 solicitors and 18 partners.
Wragge & Co has been taking more work from the MEPC over the last year and corporate pension funds have also provided a significant area of growth.
The firm’s dramatic expansion means that it is now starting to take back space from sub-tenants Direct Line, who occupy about a third of Wragge’s Colmore Row offices in the city centre.
Wragge’s property group is recruiting seven new solicitors for 1998 and its business plan anticipates a further 20% growth this year.
The health of the property market has also prompted the expansion of other law firms with substantial property practices.
In the last 12 months City firm Nabarro Nathanson has recruited an additional 20 property lawyers. Its commercial property department now has 150 fee-earning staff and 35 partners.
Over the last 18 months Berwin Leighton has increased the number of its property-based fee-earners by 50%. The expansion is intended to cope with the acquisition of major new clients, including the whole of Legal and General Life Fund’s £1.5bn office and industrial portfolio.
EGi News (Property Law) 20/04/98
