The board of Ashurst has asked Bernd Egbers, a Munich-based board member, to leave the firm ‘as a result of ‘conduct which is contrary to [the firm’s] values’.
Announcing the move on Tuesday (11 June), the firm would not divulge the nature of the misconduct, only that there was no connection to any client or client matter.
Joining Ashurst in 2006 from legacy Norton Rose, Egbers became partner three years later. He specialised in both domestic and cross-border structured finance transactions.
Partners at the firm voted in Egbers in 2016 post its merger with Australia’s Blake Dawson. That year, the firm posted its second year of falling revenue following the tie-up with turnover dipping by £28m, a drop of 10% to £505m.
The fall came on the back of a 4% decrease the previous year, when revenues fell to £561m from £568m. Profits per equity partner also fell by 19%, down to £603,000 from £747,000 during the 2015/16 financial year.
Ashurst has in recent years staged something of a recovery, with renewed financial success largely credited to the focused approach of global managing partner Paul Jenkins.
Estimated revenue growth for the firm for the 2018/19 financial year is between 13% and 15%, while approximately a 25% uptick in PEP is also on the cards.
Nathalie.tidman@legalease.co.uk
To read more about Ashurst’s revival, read ‘Inflection point – Ashurst steps back from the brink but can the revival last?’