law firms in Manchester...

Kuit Steinart Levy

No of Partners: 20
No of Assistant Solicitors: 17
www.kuits.com

Manchester’s middle-tier has been a tough place to be in recent years, but Kuit Steinart Levy has not only survived but thrived in recent years. It has done so by retaining its focus on its core clients in the owner-managed business (OMB) sector, while simultaneously nurturing a number of blue-chip clients and developing a national reputation in a number of practice areas.

Its strongest practice areas – corporate/commercial and commercial property enjoy the patronage of Habitat and FTSE giant Land Securities respectively. The licensing practice, run by recent ex-Addleshaws recruit Anthony Lyons, has a national reputation. It also has a respected banking practice, which boasts the Nationwide and Allied Irish as clients, and a strong private client arm.

Now, following an internal client service review, it is gearing up for an assault on general commercial work from clients in London and elsewhere outside the region. “The skills we have developed from advising OMBs stand us in good stead with much larger companies,” says managing partner Robert Levy.

“The market has segmented – the City firms and the nationals are concentrating on the top end, which leaves the middle market very open to attack. We are marketing towards the significant number of London clients who are happy to use a mid-tier firm for this work.”

To do this successfully requires quality lawyers and Kuits has recruited lawyers from an impressive range of other law firms in recent times, including Allen & Overy, SJ Berwin, Fladgate Fielder and Dechert. These are people who, Levy says, have rejected the mega-firm culture and “bought into our vision.” The emphasis at Kuits remains on relationship lawyering to the OMB sector, to be “trusted advisers” rather than transactional lawyers. “We deliver advice the way the client wants rather than the way that the firm wants,” Levy says.

Accordingly, the qualities that Kuits looks for in its lawyers are strong relationship management skills and good communicators. “Everybody has to be an ambassador for the firm,” Levy says. “We don’t have the firm brand of a DLA Piper or an Eversheds. At this level, it’s about people knowing that you will get a certain quality of service.”

Many of the firms that Kuit Steinart Levy used to share the middle-tier with have been taken over by larger firms or disappeared altogether but Kuits plans to remain independent. Currently 20 partners and 17 solicitors strong, the firm has been growing at an annual rate of 20% in recent years and plans to continue to expand organically by taking niche teams from other firms. “The advantage of being independent is that we can make decisions quickly,” says Levy. “You have to be on your toes in the middle tier.”