TLT to build UK-wide presence
National law firm TLT has announced plans to launch new operations in Scotland and Northern Ireland and is merging with Scottish law firm, Anderson Fyfe.
The expansion will enable TLT to deliver legal advice in all three UK legal jurisdictions – England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
TLT says the move is intended to strengthen relationships with strategically important clients and help win new business and grow market share.
Merger
In order to deliver services in Scotland, TLT’s merger with Anderson Fyfe will create TLT Scotland Ltd. Anderson Fyfe is a £3 million turnover law firm with eight partners, employing 45 people with offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Both Anderson Fyfe and TLT have a strong focus on the financial services sector and have in common a number of financial services clients, all of whom have welcomed the plans.
Over 40% of TLT's income is from its financial services clients, which include major UK lenders and many international banks.
Anderson Fyfe
Anderson Fyfe has a similar focus on financial services and is very successful in its primary niche area – financial services recoveries work – for which the firm is ranked in tier 1 within the Scottish market in the Legal 500 legal guide.
Three quarters of Anderson Fyfe's practice is litigation, both volume and complex recoveries work, plus commercial, employment and other disputes. The balance of the practice is primarily in real estate.
The target date for completion is 1 July 2012 and it is anticipated that all Anderson Fyfe employees will become a part of TLT. Anderson Fyfe's managing partner, Tom McEntegart, will become TLT's operational managing partner for TLT in Scotland.
Northern Ireland
The firm is also launching a separate practice in Belfast, Northern Ireland. TLT NI LLP will focus initially on delivering litigation services to a number of the firm's existing financial services clients.
The Northern Ireland operations are being led by newly recruited partner Katharine Kimber, supported by a team of four locally recruited solicitors and paralegals.
Kimber joined TLT NI LLP as a partner from the banking litigation team of Northern Ireland firm Wilson Nesbitt Solicitors. She has experience managing professional negligence claims, mortgage repossession actions, insolvency matters, disputed debt recovery claims, as well as handling secured lending litigation and landlord and tenant work.
Comment
David Pester, managing partner at TLT, said: "The strategic rationale for establishing operations in both Scotland and Northern Ireland has been driven by clients in the financial services sector seeking a one-firm approach to the supply of litigation services for all jurisdictions in the UK.
“Combining the strengths and resources of Anderson Fyfe and TLT, and establishing operations in Northern Ireland, will extend our national presence, strengthen our relationships with many of our strategic clients, and help us win new business and grow market share.”
Anderson Fyfe's managing partner, Tom McEntegart commented: "This merger is a good strategic move by both firms to enhance our client service delivery, strengthen our relationships with clients, and to grow our market share.
“This is not growth for growth's sake, it is about achieving a level of scale whereby we can continue to compete successfully in the market. By combining our strengths and our resources, we strengthen our position in the legal market."
New firm
Following the launch of operations in Scotland and Northern Ireland, TLT will be one of only a handful of law firms able to deliver its litigation services to financial services clients from its own offices in all three jurisdictions.
TLT will have a forecast turnover of £48 million, 80 partners and around 750 employees. The TLT group of businesses will have a UK-wide presence with offices in Bristol, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.
