In a bold move, Fieldfisher has put the man who ran Halliwells when it collapsed in charge of its Manchester office.
Ian Austin was Managing Partner of Halliwells from 2004 and its executive chairman from 2009. In 2010 the Manchester firm collapsed and entered administration after a slashing of associate salaries, rock bottom morale, the expiry of the office air con and threats to sue its critics. Under his doomed tenure Austin committed Halliwells to an eye-wateringly expensive lease of new premises which helped to bring the firm down. It emerged that Austin and his fellow equity partners took a £20 million 'reverse premium' in exchange for accepting the crippling rent and quietly shared £15 million of it between them. Cue lots of bad blood and litigation (cough, we see you KWM management, cough).
Just before the firm imploded, Austin sneaked off and joined small Manchester firm Heatons, leaving hundreds of Halliwells employees and its 51 trainees in the lurch. In an exit-interview with The Lawyer Austin said, “I stuck by Halliwells to the death and I’ve taken this opportunity because it was the right thing for me,” maintaining, “I’ve been committed – I gave my life to that practice”.
After giving his life, Austin joined Fieldfisher in 2014 when Heatons merged with the firm. And he has now obtained another leadership position in Manchester following the departure of Fieldfisher's former Manchester Managing Partner Matt Fleetwood. Maybe he'll be able to update his heavily amended University of Salford profile and buy back his £2.2 million mansion (which featured eight bedrooms, all en-suite, three reception rooms, a billiards room, stables, grazing land, a state of the art office, a gym and a home cinema).
Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick said Austin "is the natural successor to Matt", which might aggrieve Matt, and "is continuing to drive the office's tremendous growth". Staff are advised to scrutinise any new office leases Austin proposes to enter in order to accommodate the tremendous growth. And to keep an eye on the senior partner's conflict checking.
Tip Off ROF
Ian Austin was Managing Partner of Halliwells from 2004 and its executive chairman from 2009. In 2010 the Manchester firm collapsed and entered administration after a slashing of associate salaries, rock bottom morale, the expiry of the office air con and threats to sue its critics. Under his doomed tenure Austin committed Halliwells to an eye-wateringly expensive lease of new premises which helped to bring the firm down. It emerged that Austin and his fellow equity partners took a £20 million 'reverse premium' in exchange for accepting the crippling rent and quietly shared £15 million of it between them. Cue lots of bad blood and litigation (cough, we see you KWM management, cough).
Just before the firm imploded, Austin sneaked off and joined small Manchester firm Heatons, leaving hundreds of Halliwells employees and its 51 trainees in the lurch. In an exit-interview with The Lawyer Austin said, “I stuck by Halliwells to the death and I’ve taken this opportunity because it was the right thing for me,” maintaining, “I’ve been committed – I gave my life to that practice”.
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"I'm not THAT Ian Austin! He wore a tie." |
After giving his life, Austin joined Fieldfisher in 2014 when Heatons merged with the firm. And he has now obtained another leadership position in Manchester following the departure of Fieldfisher's former Manchester Managing Partner Matt Fleetwood. Maybe he'll be able to update his heavily amended University of Salford profile and buy back his £2.2 million mansion (which featured eight bedrooms, all en-suite, three reception rooms, a billiards room, stables, grazing land, a state of the art office, a gym and a home cinema).
Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick said Austin "is the natural successor to Matt", which might aggrieve Matt, and "is continuing to drive the office's tremendous growth". Staff are advised to scrutinise any new office leases Austin proposes to enter in order to accommodate the tremendous growth. And to keep an eye on the senior partner's conflict checking.
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