Chadwick Lawrence enter a new era

A law firm with offices in Huddersfield continues to re-shape its operations as part of its strategy to further boost profitability, control costs and invest in its people.

And it has embarked on a search for potential acquisitions or merger partners as it seeks to grow revenues over the next few years.

Chadwick Lawrence, which has town centre offices in Railway Street, embarked on a monumental change programme in 2014 following the appointment of Neil Wilson as managing partner and Paul Campbell as senior partner – moves unanimously supported by the firm’s partners.

A new management board was established to focus on strategic matters with an operations board formed to handle day-to-day matters. A number of “super departments” were created to streamline areas of the Firm’s varied personal and commercial legal service offerings, and to bring greater cohesion between these services.

Alongside the new management structure, Chadwick Lawrence also made a commitment to share the firm’s vision with its staff and build an inclusive people culture supported by 10 core values to which the firm’s entire team could work.

As Neil explains, “the vision for Chadwick Lawrence is to be recognised as the best legal practice in West Yorkshire both from a perspective of client desire to engage our services and staff wanting to come and work for the firm.

“We will employ lawyers with personality who are approachable, understand our business needs and those of our clients – people who are capable of conversing in plain English, but who are skilled in their profession and confident in their approach.  A people culture made up of those who will do what they say and will do it within the timescale that they agree.”

Since launching the changes, Chadwick Lawrence has carried out numerous initiatives to benefit the business and its people, including partner away days, staff surveys, partner reviews, a refreshment of its brand, office marketing strategies, departmental restructuring, a review of IT and HR provision, a credit control review and investment in its conveyancing arm.

“The strategic plan challenges the business to grow in revenue terms year-on-year over the next three years while keeping cost under strict control – and hence growing the profitability of the business to facilitate further investment for the future”, says Neil.

“We believe the growth can be achieved organically in year 1 but, in years 2 and 3, growth will be supported by targeted acquisitions and lateral hires. Discussions with other firms about potential mergers are ongoing and we are keen to hear from potential suitors.”

Neil firmly believes that Chadwick Lawrence is changing positively, with investment in initiatives such as the Dale Carnegie management training programme and plans for customer service training aiding development and, ultimately, benefiting clients of the firm..

Chadwick Lawrence’s progress had also been recognised with prestigious award wins, including employment team of the year and conveyancing team of the year at the Yorkshire Legal Awards as well as Kirklees Apprenticeship Hub SME of the Year and Apprentice of the Year.

The firm is also continuing its support and sponsorship of organisations including Huddersfield Town and the Town Foundation, the John Smith’s Stadium, Kirkwood Hospice and the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice as well as backing appeals such as Children in Need and Comic Relief.

The firm has therefore laid the foundations to enable it to implement significant change to ensure it remains competitive and at the forefront of providing legal services for many years to come