Birmingham is a complex city with many public faces and landmarks: the Bullring, the retail emporium where a staggering 35 million people are purported to shop every year, the National Exhibition Centre, hosting groups ranging from the G8 leaders to Duran Duran. There is also a professional and finance sector employing at least 10% of the Birmingham population, including a thriving legal sector that has grown significantly in the last decade.


With more than 50 law firms operating in the city, including some international names, Birmingham has a highly competitive and dynamic legal market. Alongside the major corporate firms such as Eversheds, Pinsent Masons, Hammonds and DLA Piper, there are a number of Birmingham-based practices that use the city as a launch pad for servicing clients nationally. Wragge & Co’s senior partner, Quentin Poole, explains that his firm ‘made a conscious decision to keep its head office in Birmingham’. Wragge has over 1,000 employees who work for a national client base, which includes FTSE 100 players such as BP.



There have also been a number of newcomers over the past ten years, as many firms have expanded around the country to respond to client needs or to take advantage of new growth areas. Mills & Reeve, originally based in East Anglia, set up shop in Birmingham in 1998, moving to Cornhill Row in the centre of town only a few years ago. Mills & Reeve won Law Firm of the Year in the Birmingham Law Society Awards for 2008, a victory, managing partner Guy Hinchley believes, was partly attributable to ‘a number of client wins in 2007’, as well as a strong track record on diversity.



In addition to these firms, which reflect Birmingham’s solid corporate and commercial foundations, there are others which highlight different aspects of this diverse city. Anthony Collins Solicitors, a medium-sized practice, has developed a line in working with clients – including Aston Villa – on their corporate social responsibility agendas, and is launching a new initiative to bring together the public and private sectors to see what each can offer the other.



One well-known characteristic of Birmingham is its huge and diverse ethnic base, and it is predicted to become the first ‘ethnic majority’ city by 2010. Irwin Mitchell, which has a long-standing presence in Birmingham and has made its name nationally in personal injury, has a tradition of working with various ethnic groups, instigating a number of initiatives involving the Asian business community as well as maintaining historic ties with the Irish community through similar contacts.



Birmingham is also home to ground-breaking human rights work, such as that of Public Interest Lawyers, a firm that has acted in high-profile public and international humanitarian law cases, particularly those against the Ministry of Defence on behalf of Iraqi citizens and the families of British soldiers.



Polly Botsford is a freelance journalist