Although late last year Mills Oakley had to make two junior property lawyers redundant in response to the weakening market, this year has seen the firm increase its overall staff count. "The financial shakeout is bringing many challenges, but over the past few months we've appointed a corporate partner, litigation and insolvency partner, property partner, banking & finance special counsel and lawyers to our tax and building & construction teams,"said John Nerurker, Mills Oakley's CEO.
Nerurker believes that efficient mid-tier firms have not been as adversely affected by the global financial crisis as top tier firms have. This is because larger clients are increasingly seeking a more competitive proposition from medium sized firms. "That isn't to say we haven't been confronted with some challenges, but we have seen increased interest and work from clients historically accustomed to using larger law firms," he said.
Mills Oakley was ranked third in ALB's Fast 10 law firms in 2008.