Ward Hadaway

Top of the Tyne

In previous years we’ve painted Ward Hadaway as the new kid on the Newcastle block: young, energetic and ambitious, experiencing growth spurt after impressive growth spurt and keen to make noise. Born in 1988 after the fortuitous meeting of Hadaway & Hadaway and Septimus G. Ward & Rose, Ward Hadaway is no longer a boisterous teen; it has settled into its twenties and no longer needs to prove itself at every turn. And why should it? With a plethora of Chambers UK rankings, enough partners poached from local rival Eversheds to fill a small bus, and a brand new office in Leeds, it has slotted comfortably into the top of the North East market, alongside grand-daddy Dickinson Dees.

It’s no secret that the recession dealt the firm a blow, and with all the money it has pumped into its expanding business recently it should come as no surprise that partner profits fell 53% in 2008/09 (revenue dipped by a much lower 6.5% to £26.5m). The corporate and property departments were particularly hard hit. There were a number of redundancies and a four-day week was implemented for a trial period over the summer. Plans to open a Manchester office to complement the Newcastle HQ and newer Leeds branch have been shelved until 2010. Despite this, the trainees we spoke to had confidence in the firm’s resilience. While it is clear Ward Hadaway has been forced into a period of stabilisation, “there is still a lot more to come,” trainees say; “it’s a ‘you haven’t seen nothing yet’ kind of thing.” Managing partner Jamie Martin spoke to us about the extent of Ward Hadaway’s ambitions. “I very much hope we do extend south, but it will be long after I am retired, I expect. I think for the current generation of equity partners, continuing investment in Leeds and moving into Manchester when the time is right is achievable. What the next generation do is up to them. I will be watching with interest from my bath chair.”

Although the firm represents a growing number of national, household-name clients – Sage, ASDA and Orange are three of the largest – the majority of Ward Hadaway’s clientele hail from the North and North East. Trainees feel this is unlikely to change, even as the firm grows. “It still likes the fact it’s a regional firm, and so do the clients,” said one. Mr Martin confirmed this exact point: “We are fundamentally a regional law firm and the North East, and Yorkshire and Humberside are going to be our prime hunting grounds.”

The NHS is a major instructor: Ward Hadaway is one of just 11 firms nationwide selected to be on the NHS Litigation Authority legal panel, defending the service against clinical negligence actions. It also advises the NHSLA on equal pay schemes and has a number of primary care trusts and other NHS trusts on its books, spreading from the North East and Cumbria down to Leicestershire.

A real speciAldi

The training scheme operates a four-seat system with stints available in most departments. One source joked: “If you want gossip, ask trainees because we have infiltrated every department!” There are no compulsory seats and recruits generally spend a year in their intended qualification department. A few trainees did mention that “sometimes you don’t find out about your seat until the last minute. It doesn’t sound like much but you are on edge until you know;” however most agreed they had “done pretty well” with their allocations. In most seats trainees work primarily with either a partner or an associate supervisor but also get work from a number of other fee earners in their department. Responsibility “develops as you go through the seat.” It can be “pretty crap for the first few months” apparently, with some partners being “very protective over their files,” but then, “if you show you are capable and eager, they are a lot more willing to give you responsibility. It’s a case of proving yourself.”

Time in the large property group has been strongly encouraged in previous years, but with the recession keeping the market in the doldrums, this was not the case in 2008/09. The firm does have a great reputation for property work though, so it’s definitely worth mentioning the kind of cases the team handles. For their part, trainees who’d spent time in the property department since the downturn recognised there was “a bit of a black cloud over things,” but still had “a positive experience,” enjoying the opportunity to manage their own files as well as assisting partners on larger transactions. The department is split into three main units, dealing with development, commercial property and public sector/regeneration matters. The development team advises residential developers Barratt, Persimmon, Keepmoat and Gladedale, while on the commercial side one of the most important clients is Aldi, whose aggressive expansion plans will see it invest £1.5bn over the next five years to increase the number of stores nationwide from 400 to 1,500. Now that’s what we call a fantastic client! Public sector clients include Durham County Council, a consortium of 18 South Yorkshire NHS trusts, and the five Tees Valley local authorities. The hire of partner Philip O’Laughlin from Addleshaw Goddard to the Leeds office has significantly boosted the firm’s already strong property litigation offering.

Lightsabers at the ready

The corporate and commercial teams call the firm’s Keele Row office their home, and in previous years this building has jokingly been referred to as the Dark Side because of its reputation for long hours. We asked this year’s interviewees about the nickname. Said one: “It’s the Dark Side mainly because [the other office] Sandgate blocks out the sun. It’s more of a physical dark side rather than anything more sinister!” Having said this, the hours in corporate finance are reportedly “much longer than other departments.” One trainee talked of doing two overnight completions in a row, admitting that “it gets to three or four in the morning and tempers start to fray.” “You do get quite a buzz out of doing the transactions,” added another. The team acts for a combination of large corporations, private equity houses and smaller owner-managed businesses. During the course of the past year the team advised NorthStar Equity on 30 investments into a range of companies based in the North East.

Public sector projects and IP/IT are two of the most popular commercial seats. The public sector team is divided into two projects subsets, one dealing with the Building Schools for the Future programme and the other handling different types of PFI project. Clients include NHS trusts and county and city councils, and Ward Hadaway’s portfolio of past schemes is now valued at over £2bn. “Much of the stuff you do involves running through the project agreement, checking definitions and making sure the document flows,” trainees reported. Apparently, when it comes to a deal completion there can be hundreds of different documents to keep track of.

The IP/IT seat is where our sources found the most responsibility, thanks to a programme called Gleam set up to help young entrepreneurs. Trainees manage start-up files for university graduates. “I’m their main contact,” said one. “They want a range of advice: terms and conditions and IP mainly. It is probably the best opportunity to get your own files and clients.” We couldn’t agree more. The team also has a key role in the development of several new IP initiatives in the North East, including acting for Newcastle Science City, which is a nationally funded scheme to develop new businesses in the bioscience and healthcare sectors.

If contentious issues are more your bag then a seat in healthcare is a must. “It’s proper litigation,” announced one source. “It covers all the stages of any litigation that anyone would want to practise,” gushed another. The work primarily involves defending various NHS trusts in clinical negligence, employer’s liability and personal injury claims. Smaller PI files, “where someone slips over on a latex glove or has been provided with a faulty Zimmer frame,” allow trainees to have full responsibility, while larger, more complex clinical negligence files require them to take more of a supporting role. Either way, “you learn something new every day,” even if it’s only how many horrible ways medical treatment can go wrong. “I never want children after being in that seat and hearing about 40-hour labours and third-degree tears,” one source cringed.

Under Harm Hayre

An employment team is top-ranked by Chambers UK for work in the North East, and it is particularly recognised for its work in the public sector. The team handles well over 3,000 equal pay claims a year for a variety of NHS trusts spread across the country. Ward Hadaway’s new Leeds office has swiftly grown a significant employment presence too, headed up by Harmajinder Hayre, previously a partner at both Hammonds and Beachcroft. “There were only three in employment when I started, now there are far more,” said one trainee of the office’s growth in this sector. Hayre brings ten years of experience and particular knowledge of the retail, financial services and transport sectors. Corroborating this are new appointments to the UK-wide three-firm legal panel for ASDA and an appointment to Orange’s national legal panel.

Trainees experience a broad mix of work, but it is in the contentious arena that they are able to really dirty their hands. As well as getting involved in larger and more complex cases, trainees can handle a number of their own smaller cases, such as unfair or constructive dismissals. “I got to draft everything,” recalled one source. “The response, the witness statements and the instructions to counsel.” There is also “a great deal of tribunal work,” and in addition to assisting counsel with the negotiations they can even try a spot of advocacy at case management conferences. Trainees explained that while the outcome of each CMC “depends on its own facts, they usually involve an appointment with a district judge to make sure the directions [on a case] are being followed, that things are ticking along and to raise any issues.” Ward Hadaway is quite keen to give trainees court experience, “otherwise how are you going to do it when you are qualified?”

Take the heat

On Ward Hadaway’s home page, a picture of a plate of red chilli peppers is accompanied by the caption ‘Helping you to overcome the strongest of challenges.’ It hints at the firm’s sense of humour and suggests a lack of stuffiness. Trainees are proud of what they see as the firm’s “modern outlook” and its “novel approach.” “I’ve never seen it as a ‘peering over your glasses’, stuffy environment really,” concluded one. Most trainees have pre-existing links with the area but this is not to say southerners won’t have a chance if they apply for a training contract. “As long as you can understand a Geordie accent you will fit in,” say our interviewees. Just like the firm, trainees are “self-assured, confident and hard-working.” The word “competitive” was also bandied around by several sources. “Some people keep their cards very close to their chest about what they are doing,” but we were assured that while “you have got to try and promote your own cause there is no cloak and dagger atmosphere.”

Ward Hadaway’s offices sit proudly on Newcastle’s Quayside and have views of the River Tyne, the majestic Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the imposing BALTIC Centre. The area is overflowing with restaurants and bars, making it ideal for going out for lunch. In the evenings, trainees can generally be found in the Pitcher and Piano across the road as it’s such a convenient staging post on the long walk up the steep bank back into town. Apparently, they’re such regulars they now get a 20% discount. Trainees report that before the recession there was “a fairly decent scheme of social events,” but sadly there were no Christmas or summer parties to report on this year. Our sources were confident that things would pick up again. “The recognition that these things are good for the morale of the firm is there.” One partner is so convinced by this that he took his whole department orienteering in the Lake District this year and put it on his own credit card. Well done him.

Following on from full NQ retention in 2008, Ward Hadaway was able to offer jobs to six of its nine qualifiers in 2009.

And finally...

Ward Hadaway is committed to the idea of being a regional outfit and expects the same level of loyalty from its trainees.