Member Article

More than a third of UK partners want to set up their own firm

A survey of over 200 UK law firm partners has highlighted the ambition of many partners to set up their own firm, with 39% of partners saying it was a current career ambition.

The research, conducted by Harbour, asked lawyers about their current personal career goals. The ambition for UK partners to set up their own firms was shown to be dependent on firm size. Partners at larger UK law firms were much more likely to cite progressing to senior management positions in their current firm (57%) and setting up their own firm as career ambitions (42%).

This compared with smaller firms, where Partners were much more likely to cite being regarded as an expert by their peers (52%) and doing the best possible work for clients (41%) as their career ambitions. Only 31% said they were looking to set up a new venture.

The highest proportion of UK partners surveyed (43%) said being regarded as an expert by your peers was their personal career ambition, while 40% aspired to senior management positions at their current firms.

Ellora MacPherson, Chief Investment Officer of Harbour said: “The results of our survey show a clear appetite among partners at UK law firms to establish their own firm. However, the costs of taking that leap have traditionally held many ambitious partners back from striking out on their own.

Credit facilities can be a fantastic option for lawyers looking to establish themselves in a competitive market and our research highlights that we can expect to see many dynamic and ambitious lawyers establish a new venture in the coming years.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucie Hayes .