There’s nothing like a bit of schadenfreude when matters go awry and the collapse of Cobbetts as an independent entity has proved no exception. Since it was confirmed that the firm was to become the first major UK practice to fail since the 2010 break-up of its local rival Halliwells, plenty have claimed the end was inevitable and a direct result of over-reach.
That is par for the course in the legal industry but a neutral reading of its fate would conclude that Cobbetts took a not-unreasonable gamble in trying to refashion itself from Manchester also-ran into national contender. Had Cobbetts not run into the kind of sustained economic calamity that is well beyond the ability of mere chief executives – or journalists – to predict, then it would have probably worked out fine.
