Private wealth and tax litigation advisers are in demand as the number of high net worth individuals increases, the first detailed lateral partner hire report has found.
A survey by law firm Withers with recruitment firm Wilkinson Partners across law firms, accountants and barristers in the tax and private client sector revealed a strong market in lateral partner hires. Out of 65 lateral moves in 2014 by tax and private wealth professionals, 23% were private wealth specialists, 14% worked in tax litigation, and 50% in corporate tax.
Tom Wilkinson, managing partner of Wilkinson Partners, says: “We are seeing many firms which scaled back their private client practices, or cut them altogether, recognising that there is significant demand for these services and trying to rebuild teams.
“Tax litigation experts are also in demand as HMRC gets increasingly active and powerful in its anti-avoidance measures.”
The upfront costs for lateral hires can range from £80,000-£400,000 for a single hire to more than £1m for teams. Interestingly, women accounted for a disproportionately high number of lateral moves.
Daniel Isaac, Withers’ employment law partner, says: “Only 26% of the lateral hires were women and one could draw several conclusions from this, but the statistic should be considered against the fact that 15% of law firm partners and 17% of accountancy firm partners are female. Considering these low levels of representation, this shows that women proportionally moved more than men last year.”
The research, The Review: Lateral Partner Moves , is based on analyses of moves in 2014.
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