Gorging on success

Such is Bristol's booming economy, it is known as silicon gorge.

Sue Allen reports on the jousting for supremacy between law firms and the lifestyle appeal faced by solicitors

Ask people what they know about Bristol and they will probably tell you about the Clifton suspension bridge, the two universities, and the regency houses.

Lawyers may add that they might consider working there when London loses its appeal.

But, beneath the old town houses and the trendy waterside warehouse conversions, Bristol is a thriving business centre where old and new money rub shoulders.

Although the city was built on merchants' wealth from sea-trade in slaves and tobacco, its darker past has now been eclipsed by money made in financial services, banks, and insurance.

The aerospace industry and, more recently, high tech industrie - earning Bristol the nickname 'silicon gorge'- have made Bristol their base.

As part of a buoyant local economy, Bristol law firms are also thriving, and the legal scene is hotting up.

Bristol Law Society president Nigel Puddicombe, a partner at Cartwrights, says the days of the 'informal gentlemen's agreement not to tread on each other's patches' is over.

'When I moved to the area in 1987, firms were more or less even-sized.

Now Burges Salmon is three times the size it was then and the divisions between the top-tier firms and the rest seems to be widening,' he says.

Although Osborne Clarke and Burges Salmon are widely held to dominate the Bristol market, particularly in corporate work, the much-discussed 'bronze medal' position remains open, and contenders are lining up.

One practice with its eye firmly focused on third place is TLT - a result of the merger earlier this year between Lawrence Tucketts and Trumps.

David Pester, TLT's head of corporate, says the south-west needed a third strong commercial firm: 'The question was, who was going to step in?' Mr Pester says the merger was necessary to achieve critical mass and become recognised as the natural third choice for corporate work.

'We are not going to go head-to-head with the market leaders but we will compete in certain areas, particularly corporate finance.'

According to Julian Kinsey, a partner at southern England firm Bond Pearce, which opened in Bristol in 1998, it, like TLT, Veale Wasbrough, Bevan Ashford, City-based CMS Cameron McKenna and Laytons, all believe they could be a natural choice for third place.

Although dominant, Osborne Clarke and Burges Salmon appear to be moving in different directions.

David Marsh, managing partner of Burges Salmon, says his practice wants to remain 'a single office firm'.

Osborne Clarke, meanwhile, which already has expanding offices in London and Reading, is planning closer links with its European alliance firms.

Osborne Clarke senior partner Chris Curling says it will merge with one alliance firm by the end of the year and expects a four-way merger by the end of 2001.

The firm has also recently exploited its reputation in IT by becoming the first UK firm to open an office in California's Silicon Valley.

The office will offer UK and European advice to US firms and help UK firms looking to do business in the US.

Among the other Bristol firms, many already have nationally recognised strength in niche areas: Bevan Ashford in health sector and private finance initiative work, and Veale Wasbrough in education.

Through a series of high-profile mergers, Beachcroft Wansbroughs now has national coverage in the defendant insurance and clinical negligence sector.

Cartwrights and Eversheds are well known for their licensing practices.

As a regional legal centre, Bristol draws work from businesses in the south-west region, but most firms agree that much of their work comes from outside the area.

Nick Jarrett-Kerr, managing partner of Bevan Ashford, says relatively little of his firm's work comes from within one hour journey of the firm's office.

'The Bristol region is not really big enough to support a law firm of the size of Osborne Clarke, Burgess Salmon or Bevan Ashford, he says.

Mr Marsh says that while the firm is loyal to its local clients, only around 10% of it turnover comes from Bristol and around 30% from the south-west as a whole.

One unusual aspect of Bristol's legal landscape is the lack of national firms.

With the exception of Eversheds, which has a small presence in the city, few outside firms have entered the market.

Mr Marsh says: 'If national firms move here and think there is a large unmet legal need, they are wrong.

It is not that big a market and companies are already well served by local firms.'

His view is shared by Tim Pyper, senior partner of TLT, who says if firms come to Bristol without an existing client, they would have a difficult job to break into the market 'as a greenfield site'.

Given the relatively limited size of the local market, firms would find themselves competing nationally for work against their own regional offices, he speculates.

It seems the strategy of many big Bristol firms - to attract ex-City lawyers looking for a better lifestyle and sell clients the idea of a City-quality service at provincial rates - is paying off.

Chris Groves, senior legal adviser at Orange - headquartered in Bristol - says he is impressed by the quality of its local lawyers.

'The firms we have used have provided a very strong service, every bit as good, for most things, as large London firms.'

Although Orange will go to London for the 'massive corporate work' because of the need for 'almost endless resources', he says it used Burges Salmon successfully on a 100 million acquisition.

An in-house solicitor at another major company with its head office in Bristol, says he would be less inclined to use local firms for the bigger deals, as the level of experience in the region was 'not what it is in London'.

But he was happy using Bristol firms for the company's day-to-day needs.

For Bristol firms wishing to attract City lawyers, they will always have the quality of life card in their hand.

Holly Walsh, who made the move from City firm Baker & McKenzie to Osborne Clarke a few months ago, says she was 'sick of the tube' and could afford to buy a flat in a nice area of Bristol which she could never have done in London.

She says: 'In some ways, the work is harder than in London because you are dealing with more matters and you need to manage work better; but here, you get more responsibility and more involvement with the commercial side of your clients business.'

But salaries in Bristol have always lagged around 25-33% behind London and are likely to continue to do so, according to Mr Marsh.

Mr Kinsey says the recent London pay hikes have had an effect on more junior solicitors.

'They are lured to London by instant pay rises from 30,000, available at most commercial firms, to 42,000 in London,' he says.

But for more senior solicitors, such as Robin Neill - an international arbitrator and recent partner-level recruit at Bevan Ashford - the move to Bristol was a lifestyle choice prompted by a desire to see his children grow up.

After 11 years with City firm Clifford Chance, he thought he had 'done his time'.

He then tried a medium-sized City firm, Stephenson Harwood; but they as a breed, he maintains, are 'not long for this world' when regional firms, with lower overheads, are competing for the same work.

'It really comes down to the life you want.

You work hard here but you can go to the pub with your friends at 6.30pm.

You could never do that at Clifford Chance, where people piddle around until lunchtime because they know they are going to be working until 3am.'