Legal Mosaic Essays on Legal Delivery

<strong>Legal</strong> <strong>Mosaic</strong>: <strong>Essays</strong> on <strong>Legal</strong> Delivery
pirations of Magic Circle firms, a large percentage of whose billings
derive from cross-border and multi-border litigation and transactions.
The Magic Circle firms are clearly focused on the globalization of legal
services as well as leveraging their global brands and favorable regulatory
environment.
IPO in the Middle-Market
Gatelely, a Birmingham based firm of about 450 lawyers just launched
a successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange. The firm raised approximately
$45M (all figures here are converted from pounds) in its
first day of trading, driving the share price about 15% above the placing
price. The firm, which has revenues in the $80M range, now has a market
cap of approximately $160M. It plans to deploy the new infusion of
capital to hire top lateral talent, acquire additional practice groups, and
provide it with flexibility to tap into advantageous growth opportunities.
Is this a big deal? Well, consider that Slater’s, which went public
in 2007, now has a market cap in excess of $2B. Now imagine what the
Magic Circle firms would be valued at with their global brands, multibillion
dollar revenues, blue chip client bases, and top tier talent-- and
the capital they could raise to fuel global expansion? Could their recent
decision to supplant lockstep to retain superstars with a premium and
lure new talent that same way be a precursor to even bolder steps such
as going public? Stay tuned.
A Rollup in Retail
And the action is happening in the retail segment of the UK legal market
as well. Metamorph has secured backing from legal business consultancy
Assure Law and has announced that it intends to stage what
amounts to a rollup of 60 High Street firms during the next 5 years.
Metamorph will secure ABS licensure and expects that it will be able
to reap solid returns by injecting streamlined operations including con-
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