The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
More imagination and more impact from Addleshaw Goddard
All across Addleshaw Goddard, the problems our clients bring us vary. But we solve them with the same, single-minded focus. We always ask: ‘What’s the smartest route to the biggest impact?’
In Scotland, where we have offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow our collaborative, modern, award-winning approach to problem-solving continues to attract interesting and challenging assignments from household names in sectors as diverse as energy, financial services, healthcare, transport, real estate, and retail and consumer. And it saw us being named one of the top five most innovative law firms in Europe by The Financial Times.
But you won’t find our innovative thinkers hived off into a separate department offering ‘innovative legal solutions’. Because we see innovation not as a walledoff skill-set but as a unifying mindset the whole firm shares. Impact comes from joined-up working, between clients, lawyers, and experts from other fields.
Finding the smartest way to deliver the biggest business impact is our guiding principle – the soul, if you like – of our firm. By way of example, in the last year we helped devise a new way for a manufacturing client to power its new factory that saved them £100 million. We also combined legal expertise and A.I. to complete a lease review of a retailer’s 189-site property portfolio which slashed the time taken by 70% and costs by 75%.
It’s this approach that last year enabled us to record double digit income growth for the fourth consecutive year in Scotland. What’s more, by smarter resourcing of routine legal work across the firm, we save our clients over £20m in fees every year.
In Aberdeen the work clients are trusting us to deliver for them allows us to continue to build our position in this market and attract more of the best local talent. Lawyer headcount has grown in the north-east of Scotland by more than 40% in the last 12 months, with additions to the corporate, energy and technology and data teams. And we’re still hiring in all practice areas to support new wins and fuel future ambitions. Investing in future talent has also been a key driver for growth with our trainee headcount doubling in the next two years, plus hires of junior lawyers across corporate and commercial practice areas.
Our stated aim is to grow in Scotland, and in Aberdeen we have a very clear plan to double overall headcount again over the next two years in order to better serve businesses in the north-east of Scotland, in their regional, national and international operations, specifically those in oil and gas and energy transition.
In 2019, AG reaffirmed its commitment to the region with a move into new offices and during its first year in Prime Four we have secured new client wins and delivered a range of high profile local, UK-wide and international assignments for clients predominantly in the oil and gas, energy transition, retail and technology sectors including Aberdeen City Council, BP International, Dana Petroleum, Trojan Energy, Waldorf Energy, boohoo Group and local charity, the VSA.
David McEwing, who has worked in the Aberdeen market for more than 20 years, is co-head of Addleshaw Goddard’s international energy practice which reflects the importance of Aberdeen as an international energy hub to the firm, and in recent months the Aberdeen energy team advised Waldorf Production on the acquisition of Cairn Energy’s interests in Kraken and Catcher oil fields for $455m plus contingent consideration estimated at $250m. This deal, combined with a $300m Oslo Bond issued on October 1, gives us more than $1bn of deals for Waldorf Production in just over a month. At the same time the team have been working with clients focused on EV charging and strategic green hydrogen projects.
By smarter resourcing of routine legal work across the firm, we save our clients over £20m in fees every year
Our stated aim is to grow in Scotland, and in Aberdeen we have a very clear plan to double overall headcount again over the next two years in order to better serve businesses in the north-east
We also have a unique specialism for the region, with Ross McKenzie, a partner working with a global data practice from Aberdeen, for FTSE listed names and international brands. Ross also lectures on data protection and cybersecurity at Robert Gordon University.
Looking ahead, our intention is to build on the growth we have seen and the investments we have been making in order to continue delivering to clients a global business with ever more imaginative and impactful solutions.