Manchester at the vanguard of progressive law firms
Many outside the legal profession and in fact many within it have failed to recognise that Manchester is at the forefront , and has been for some years, of the legal scene outside of the Magic Circle firms. This fact was also recently made in an interesting recent article in the FT.
It’s not clear why Manchester in particular seems to have more of the progressive firms, or who starrtd the trend, but it may have something to do with :-
- Pannone is based in Manchester and has for many years been one of the more dynamic and creative law firms
- Many of the most successful personal injury practices are in Manchester and the North West
As regards personal injury, it is interesting that the public and many lawyers seem to think either that those in this field are nor proper lawyers in the sense of what they do (a little like conveyancers are seen as paper shufflers only, which again is incorrect) or simply generally cock a snoop at them. In fact, personal injury lawyers tend to be far more commercial than most other lawyers in other areas of practice in small or medium sized firms. They have recognised, long before many other solicitors (many of whom still don’t get it) that law has become more of a business and a competitive one at that. They invest in marketing and understand the nature of the dialogue with their customers and that customer service is important.
Perhaps pure coincidence (or perhaps not) but also interesting that the Co-Op, based in Manchester, are one of the non-lawyer providers who have shown most interest in entering the legal service market now that it is opening up.
Whatever it is about Manchester, it’s proving to be premier league for legal services as well as for football and we salute the Manchester law firms.
Any views on the above ?