DWF LLP

DWF LLP
Headquarters Manchester, United Kingdom
No. of offices 12[1]
No. of attorneys 1,100
No. of employees 2,500
Major practice areas General Practice
Key people Andrew Leaitherland (Managing Partner)[2]
Revenue £191.0 million (2013/14)[3]
Profit per equity partner £411,000 (2013/14)[4]
Date founded 1977 (Liverpool)
Founder Jim Davies, Guy Wallis[5]
Company type Limited liability partnership
Website
dwf.co.uk

DWF LLP is a British law firm headquartered in Manchester with 12 offices across England, Scotland and Ireland.[6] It trades as Resolution Law for its claimant services business.

DWF started life as a four office practice in the North West of England. The firm has grown through a series of mergers and currently has around 2,500 staff and is the 20th-largest law firm in the UK measured by 2014 revenues.

History

Davies Wallis was founded in 1977 in Liverpool,[5] and merged with Dodds Ashcroft in 1989.[5]

A merger with Foysters in 1990[5] brought a Manchester office and a change of name to Davies Wallis Foyster, which was abbreviated to DWF in 2007,[5] shortly after the acquisition of Ricksons.[7] The Ricksons acquisition added offices in Preston and Leeds. DWF opened a London office in 2008.[8]

A series of acquisitions in 2012 and 2013 added offices in Birmingham (Buller Jeffries),[9] Newcastle (Crutes),[10] Glasgow and Edinburgh (both Biggart Baillie),[11] Bristol, Dublin and a second London office (Fishburns),[12] before acquiring Cobbetts through a pre-pack administration.[13]

In 2014 DWF reported a 23% increase in net profit from £20.8 million in 2012/13 to £25.5 million in its first full year financial results following four mergers.[14]

DWF opened an office in Dubai in March 2015, the firm's first office outside of the British Isles.[15]

Practice areas

DWF is structured into two legal service areas,[16] covering Commercial Services and Insurance Services respectively. The Insurance Services area includes a practice dealing with "Claimant Services", delivered as Resolution Law.[17]

Offices

DWF is headquartered in the Spinningfields district of Manchester and has offices[1] in the following other towns and cities across the UK and Ireland, a few of which are in notable buildings, as well as in Dubai:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Get in touch". DWF LLP. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  2. ↑ "DWF's Leaitherland wins fourth three-year term as managing partner". Legal Week. 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  3. ↑ "Legal Week UK Revenue Table". Legal Week. 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  4. ↑ "DWF profits surge by 23 per cent". Manchester Evening News. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "DWF enters 'abbreviation age'". Manchester Evening News. 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  6. ↑ "About Us". DWF LLP. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  7. ↑ "DWF and Ricksons confirm merger". The Lawyer. 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  8. ↑ "Davies Lavery team defects for DWF City launch". Legal Week. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  9. ↑ "DWF and Buller Jeffries to merge". Business Desk. 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  10. ↑ "Crutes completes merger with DWF". The Journal. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  11. ↑ "Biggart Baillie reveals merger with DWF". The Herald. 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  12. ↑ "DWF to merger with professional indemnity firm Fishburns". Legal Week. 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  13. ↑ "DWF plans to buy troubled Cobbetts". Manchester Evening News. 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  14. ↑ "DWF posts net profit growth to £25.5m, revenues at £191m". The Lawyer. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  15. ↑ "DWF tears up UK-only strategy with Dubai office launch". The Lawyer. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "Services DWF". DWF LLP. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  17. ↑ "Claimant Services". DWF LLP. Retrieved 2014-12-19.

External links