Brodies

Brodies LLP

Going above and beyond
Type	Limited liability partnership
Industry	Law
Headquarters	Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Area served	United Kingdom
Services	Legal advice
Revenue	£66.7m (2017)
Website	www.brodies.com

Brodies LLP is Scotland's largest law firm.^[1] Its lawyers support Scottish, UK and global organisations in and from Scotland.

The firm offers legal advice to private and public sector clients both in the UK and internationally in its core business areas of corporate and commercial; energy (both renewables and oil & gas); real estate; litigation and dispute resolution; banking and financial services; employment, pensions and benefits, trust and tax, and personal and family law.^[2]

Brodies' clients include multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs, business people and individuals from all backgrounds who are active in almost every sector of the Scottish economy.

Financial Performance

In July 2017 Brodies LLP reported that in its financial year to 30 April revenues grew by 2.4% to a record £66.7 million. Over the same period, profits before partner distributions rose by 2.6% to £31.7 million and the firm’s cash balances increased by 14.4% to £18.2 million.

This was the seventh consecutive year of revenue and profit growth for Scotland’s largest law firm, and was achieved through continued investment in services for its clients despite the political and economic uncertainty that followed last year’s Brexit vote.

In assessing its progress against its business objectives, Brodies considers a range of financial and other relevant objective measures. Highlights of the 2016/17 financial year have included:

• The successful completion of the third year of the firm's 2014/18 strategic plan, delivering sustained organic growth. Brodies continues to have no reliance on external debt.

• Three lateral partner hires and two internal partner promotions, strengthening Brodies’ teams in corporate & commercial; insurance & risk; real estate and energy & infrastructure.

• Acting as lead legal adviser to Aberdeen City Council on its landmark £370 million index-linked bond issue on the London Stock Exchange; advising Scottish Water Business Stream on its successful acquisition of Southern Water's non-domestic business to allow it to expand its operations south of the Border; and acting as lead adviser to Abellio on its sale of 40% of the Greater Anglia rail franchise to global conglomerate Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

• Achieving 37 top tier practice area rankings and 69 ‘leading individual’ lawyer rankings in the independent legal directories - more than any other firm in Scotland.

• Being named UK National / Regional Law Firm of the Year at the 2017 Legal Business Awards, UK Regional Law Firm of the Year at the 2016 Lawyer Awards and Scotland Law Firm of the Year at the 2017 Who’s Who Legal Awards for the sixth time.

• Extending Brodies’ PRIME programme, a pioneering initiative by the UK’s leading law firms to widen access to the legal profession to young people from all backgrounds, which involves school pupils from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Seven students who have taken part in Brodies’ PRIME programme have now secured places at university to study law.

• Providing continued support for the Scottish Schools Swimming Association, bringing healthy team sport to schools from Shetland to the Solway, and Maggie’s Centres, which offers UK-wide support for people whose lives are affected by cancer. Brodies is the headline sponsor of Maggie’s Culture Crawls in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

• Being ranked among the UK’s top 50 employers in the first Social Mobility Employer Index.

Legal Rankings

Brodies is home to many solicitors regarded as leaders in their field and has more lawyers ranked as leading individuals in the independent legal directories Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners than any other firm in Scotland. In total, Brodies has 37 top tier practice area rankings in the current editions of the leading independent legal directories, including:

Awards

The achievements of Brodies and its partners have been recognised with numerous independent awards in recent years. These include:

UK National/Regional Law Firm of the Year, Legal Business Awards 2017

UK Regional Law Firm of the Year 2016, The Lawyer Awards ^[5]

UK National/Regional Law Firm of the Year 2015, Legal Business Awards^[6]

UK Law Firm of the Year 2014, British Legal Awards ^[7]

Scottish Law Firm of the Year 2014, Legal 500 Awards ^[8]

Legal Advisor of the Year 2014, Business Insider Deals & Dealmakers Awards ^[9]

Scotland Law Firm of the Year 2016, Who’s Who Legal Awards^[10] - the fifth consecutive time the firm has gained this recognition.

Partner of the Year, Business Stream Annual Awards^[11] in recognition of its lawyers’ "hands-on support", "enthusiasm" and "willingness to go the extra mile".

Bill Drummond, Managing Partner of Brodies, was named Managing Partner of the Year at the Scottish Legal Awards 2014.^[12]

Bill Drummond was also named an EY Scotland Entrepreneur of the Year, 2014, and UK Management Partner of the Year at the Legal Business Awards, 2013.

Brodies’ intellectual property team was named Scotland IP Firm of the Year at the Managing Intellectual Property Global Awards in 2014,^[13] 2015^[14] and 2016.^[15] In 2015 and 2016 the team also achieved a ‘Gold’ ranking in World Trademark Review’s global list of the 1,000 leading trademark professionals for the second consecutive year.

Offices

Brodies has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Brussels. Brodies is the only Scottish law firm to have an office in Brussels.^[16]

Information Security

Brodies became one of the first UK law firms to achieve certification to the 2013 version of ISO 27001 for its information security management system, implementing global best practice to safeguard information throughout the firm.^[17] ISO 27001 is regarded as the benchmark for information security management. The latest version of the standard has been updated to take account of changes in technology and risks in recent years.

Brodies sought ISO certification in response to growing demand among businesses for professional advisers to put in place robust information security regimes to safeguard commercially sensitive data in all forms and protect them from the financial and reputational damage that a data breach can cause.

In 2015 Brodies also achieved the Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, a new Government-backed and industry supported scheme to guide businesses in protecting themselves against cyber threats.^[18]

Services

Brodies has practice areas in:^[19] Alternative Dispute Resolution; Banking, Finance & Contentious Banking; Construction & Engineering; Corporate; Dispute Resolution & Litigation; Employment, Pensions & Benefits; Energy & Infrastructure; Health & Safety; Insurance & Risk; IP, Technology & Outsourcing; Personal & Family; Personal Injury; Planning & Environment; Public Law, Regulatory and Competition; Real Estate; Restructuring & Insolvency and Tax.

Brodies runs the largest free seminar programme of any Scottish law firm and provides regular legal updates to its clients via email and social media.^[20]

PRIME Initiative

Brodies is a founding member of PRIME,^[21] a pioneering initiative by the UK's leading law firms to encourage greater diversity in the legal profession by offering quality work experience and continuing support to young people from less privileged backgrounds.

Brodies is committed each year to offering students aged 13–17 the opportunity to take part in a structured work experience programme that is coordinated and delivered by Brodies staff representing departments across their business. Brodies’ target is to offer places to 30 students each year across its offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The programme delivers a minimum of 30–35 hours of work experience and is designed to give the young people involved an insight into all aspects of the business, not just law but also professional support services, such as IT, Finance, HR and Marketing.^[22]

Brodies continues to develop its relationship with Wester Hailes Education Centre, Edinburgh and Drumchapel High School, Glasgow and is expanding its PRIME programme to Aberdeen. Brodies’ target is to offer places to 30 students each year across its offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen

External links

• Brodies Website
• Brodies Twitter Page
• Brodies LLP Legal 500 Profile
• Brodies LLP Chambers Profile
• BFamily - Brodies' Family Law Website
• Brodies Tennis Invitational Website

References