Q&A with Blake Morgan’s Walter Cha

The merger between Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole went live on 1 July to create Blake Morgan. The firm’s managing partner, Walter Cha, talks competition and strategy.

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How did the merger come about and what are the reasons behind it?

We both acted for common clients and a lot of people were known to each other. We have a partnership at Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole that are ambitious and want to see themselves grow rather than wait for other things to impact on them.

 

What’s your assessment of the legal market in the UK and how do you see your place in it?

The legal market has gone through great stresses and strains; people are looking for the same levels of service but done quicker, better and cheaper. The merger will give us the necessary bandwidth and depth of expertise to hopefully retain the clients we have longstanding relationships with, and demonstrate we’ve got necessary geographical coverage when we are being invited to re-panel and to win new clients.

 

Which firms do you see yourselves competing against?

In our regulatory practice, firms in London such as Fieldfisher and Capsticks. Then if you look at our hospital trust work, which Morgan Cole is famous for, then I expect we’d come up against the usual firms such as Mills & Reeve and Bevan Brittan.

 

What new opportunities will open up as a result of the merger?

There are a number of areas going forward, such as development and construction, which Blake Lapthorn is well known for, that by bringing the two firms together gives us a strong platform. Then there’s the banks. We are on the major panels but ultimately it’s about relationship. We’re [Blake Lapthorn] only in London and the South Coast, which makes it difficult to leverage those relationships and maximise panel appointments.

 

What jobs will be lost?

Oxford is the only location where the firms are both located but the work those two offices do is quite complementary.

There will be some overcapacity in business support and we are going through due process on consultations to identify those. We don’t expect that to be much.

 

Will there be a change in strategy?

In the first 12-18 months it’s not going to change significantly, there’s lots of work to do, and we need to make sure we get out and see our clients to communicate our extended range of services. We are committed to investing in our infrastructure, and are introducing a new practice management system called Peppermint, which had been in the offing as a Blake Lapthorn agenda item and that will carry through into the merged firm.