Enyo Law enjoyed major financial growth for the 2013/14 year, as LLP accounts filed at Companies House reveal revenue jumped 61% to over £14m from £8.8m while profits effectively doubled to £9.6m from £4.8m.
Notably, the limited liability partnership had no loans or bank overdrafts.
Profit attributable to the highest-paid LLP member rose to £1.8m from £752,000, while the average number of members increased to 16 from 14. Sums due to creditors within one year totalled £2.4m, a 15% increase from the previous year’s figure of £2.1m.
In the published accounts, the disputes boutique stated the members ‘consider that the LLP has performed well during the year and that the financial position… is good’.
Founded by partners Simon Twigden, Pietro Marino and Michael Green in late 2010, the boutique spun out of Addleshaw Goddard with the aim of providing a conflict-free service focused exclusively on contentious work, and has grown to house over 50 staff.
Said Twigden (pictured): ‘The financial position is robust. This year won’t be any different. We have come a long way since we started Enyo four-and-a-half years ago, both financially and as a business with both a credible and focused offering. We are single-minded in what we do, the high-end product we offer, and – most importantly – how we execute it in the best interests of our clients.’
Ongoing instructions for the firm include acting for the Libyan sovereign wealth fund, the LIA, over a $2.1bn claim for rescission of a series of trades purportedly entered into with members of the SocGen Group; as well as LIA’s $1.2bn claim against Goldman Sachs regarding nine large long-dated complex financial derivative transactions.
It is also advising the shareholders planning to sue the Royal Bank of Scotland’s global restructuring group (RBS-GRG) for allegedly forcing small companies out of business. Fellow boutique Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan had initially taken the mandate but said in a statement it had ‘stepped down from this engagement in late November 2014, having not been put in funds by the client’.
Specialist disputes boutiques continue to perform strongly. This includes Signature Litigation, which was founded by former Lovells partners Graham Huntley and Helen Brannigan, saw revenue surge by 70% from £4.82m to £8.17m in 2013/14, despite having only launched two years ago, while the profit margin is estimated to be around 50%.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan also boasted impressive financials for its London office for 2014, last week announcing a 33% increase in revenues to £26.2m and 44% for profits to £17.9m, marking a major rebound from its sharp drop in turnover in 2013.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
For more on the role of boutiques in the UK disputes market, see our analysis Martial law: Can the disputes boom continue? (£)
