Top-25 firm DAC Beachcroft has signed a three year ‘best friends’ agreement with Belfast’s McKinty and Wright in a bid to expand its network.
From 1 June DAC will refer shared clients and combine marketing efforts with the Northern Ireland firm, a top-ranked specialist insurance defendant practice with seven partners and 19 lawyers in total.
Lester Doake, senior partner at McKinty and Wright, said: ‘This agreement with an international law firm of the calibre of DAC will allow us to apply our skills to a wider customer base to the mutual benefit of both firms. We are eagerly looking forward to working together.’
DAC managing partner David Pollitt told Legal Business: ‘It’s the last piece of the UK and Ireland jigsaw for us and from an insurance perspective being able to look after our clients for all parts of the UK and Ireland is important. We’ve had connections with McKinty the past and it now felt right to formalise the arrangement.’
In December DAC reported a 2% rise in its first-half revenues for 2015/16 to £100.8m, while overall net debt fell by £4.7m (17%) year-on-year. The firm said at the time that revenue ‘stood above budget’ and the results were ‘characterised by ongoing margin improvement and continued progress in the management of working capital, resulting in a strong cash outcome.’
In the past 12 months, the firm has broadened its international reach, opening an office in Miami to strengthen its Latin American offering by connecting local insurance clients to the rest of its network. It also entered the alternative business structure market, gaining a licence for its claims solutions business in England and Wales, a move that will allow the firm to bring in outside investment and make non-lawyer partners in the business.
victoria.young@legalease.co.uk
