Halliwells LLP was an English

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

practising from offices in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and Sheffield, with 116 partners and around 850 employees. The LLP was established in 2004 to take over the practice of Halliwell Landau. Key individuals involved in its management were senior partner Alec Craig and managing partner (then executive chairman) Ian Austin, London office head Clive Garston, Liverpool office head and then managing partner Jonathan Brown, and Sheffield office head Suzanne Liversidge.

Insolvency

On 20 July 2010, the High Court made an order putting Halliwells into administration. Dermot Power and Shay Bannon of BDO LLP were appointed administrators. Halliwells' practice was sold as a

pre-packaged insolvency Pre-packaged insolvency (a "pre-pack") is a kind of bankruptcy procedure, where a restructuring plan is agreed upon in advance of a company declaring its insolvency. In the United States pre-packs are often used in a Chapter 11 filing. In the Unit ...

to four other firms:

Hill Dickinson Hill Dickinson is a British international commercial law firm headquartered in Liverpool, United Kingdom. With more than 200 partners and 950 staff, the firm operates from six UK offices and four overseas offices. History Hill Dickinson's origi ...

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP (informally BLG) was an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which specialised in commercial litigation, dispute resolution, insurance and reinsurance. It had around 290 lawyers and 80 partne ...

, Gateley, and Kennedys. At the time, this was the largest English law firm to go into administration. The administrators initially blamed market conditions and high rents for the firm's failure. An additional factor behind the firm's failure was a property transaction connected to Halliwells' decision to become an anchor tenant in the

Spinningfields Spinningfields is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It developed in the 2000s between Deansgate and the River Irwell by Allied London Properties. The £1.5 billion project consists of 20 buildings, totalling approximately of ...

business development in Manchester. The firm received a reverse premium of £20 million from the landlord, which was shared between the firm's 32 equity partners, who each took between £250,000 and £1 million. This was kept secret from the junior partners. The administrators have sued the 32 recipients and have alleged that Halliwells’ equity partners altered the minutes of a meeting about the reverse premium before passing them on to the rest of the firm. There has been an attempt to resolve the dispute by mediation. Ian Austin and Suzanne Liversidge have each spoken publicly about Halliwells' failure and denied any personal responsibility. In March 2012, 36 of the former junior partners who were not told about the reverse premium threatened to sue the 32 equity partners who took the £20 million.

References

{{Legal services in the United Kingdom Defunct law firms of the United Kingdom Law firms established in 2004 2004 establishments in England Law firms disestablished in 2010 2010 disestablishments in England