'We've already won new work': Peter Jackson on Hill Dickinson's multi-million Everton stadium bet
Hill Dickinson's long-serving leader recently stepped down but had a front-row seat to one of the boldest ever law firm marketing plays.
Contents
Hill Dickinson turned heads earlier this year with one of the boldest law firm marketing moves ever: a multi-million pound deal to put its name on Everton’s new stadium in Liverpool.
Peter Jackson, the firm’s long-serving managing partner and CEO until last year, had a front-row seat. Acting as "consigliere" to his successor Craig Scott, who led the deal, Jackson says the goal was simple: address the firm's brand recognition problem beyond its traditional strongholds.
"One of the obstacles we’d found in growing the business was brand," he says in a conversation for The Non-Billable Podcast. In marine and health, "I’m pretty certain there would have been knowledge of us." But in general corporate - now the largest part of the business - the response from big institutions was often: "who are you?" The stadium deal was designed to change that: "brand recognition formed a pretty big part of the raison d’être for this. It wasn’t the only part."
Everton approached Hill Dickinson, not the other way around. The club’s advisers wanted "a global business with its roots in Liverpool," Jackson recalls. With a history dating back to 1810 and a maritime practice that handled cases stemming from the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania, the fit was good.
The firm had the financial strength too: "We made £57 million net profit the year of account they were looking at." At first, partners were wary. Jackson, a Liverpool supporter, jokes he was the "red in the camp." But as talks developed, "Everton were serious… and long story short we got it done."
The results have been immediate. "We got 6,000 items of coverage globally. We got 31.7 billion audience reach and the searches on Google for our platform went up 548% to 125,000 in that week." Beyond visibility, there are signs of commercial impact. "We know we’ve got work we wouldn’t have got. We can already tell that."
Recruitment has picked up too, particularly for support roles, and Jackson says the sponsorship also reflects a commitment to the city. "We are aiding the regeneration of the city in which we’re headquartered. It’s a good thing for businesses."
Listen to the full-length interview on the podcast. Episode page with links here.
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From ships to the C-suite
Jackson started his career as a shipping litigator, handling the contentious side of maritime law: "ships that sink and pirates, collisions at sea, casualties at sea.” Alongside that, Hill Dickinson developed a niche in the transactional side of the sector, particularly superyacht deals. "We’re one of the three or four firms in the UK that do that… blue chip client base and filled with glamour."
The market, he notes, has shifted from Eastern Europe to the US. To capture more deals, Hill Dickinson opened in Monaco just over a decade ago. "If the brokers were in the UK and it was a sale and purchase or a new build, then we would be on it somewhere. Monaco was the obvious one."
When he joined in 1983, Hill Dickinson was a very different firm. Liverpool and London operated almost as separate businesses. "There was none of this collegiality nonsense and all in this together. They were two separate entities in reality." Growth through mergers brought the firm into the UK top 40, but the trajectory was not smooth.
The toughest call: selling the insurance arm
By the mid-2010s, the firm’s insurance practice - once a cornerstone - was encountering strategic difficulties in a rapidly changing market, and was dragging down the profitability of the firm. "We were seriously at risk of losing some of our star performers in other parts of the business," Jackson recalls.
Bringing in a chief operating officer in 2016 was a turning point. "I was out of my depth given the complexity, I needed somebody more operationally efficient." That freed up Jackson to focus on strategy and clients, including how to deal with the insurance arm. Efforts to white-label, merge, or sell to a US claims business failed. The eventual solution was a sale to Keoghs, backed by private equity firm LDC, the investment arm of Lloyds Bank.
"For us the business was losing money. For them it was in an entirely different position. They had an infrastructure that could accommodate another 20 odd million quid’s worth of business, and it was all about EBITDA." The sale carried risk. Overheads remained, profitability fell and the partners had to agree to lock in for three years while the firm adjusted. Jackson describes the deal as both a gamble and a lesson: "Be brave. Law firms don’t usually divest themselves of stuff. But it was the right thing to do. Get your partners onside."
Be brave. Law firms don’t usually divest themselves of stuff. But it was the right thing to do. Get your partners onside.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £145,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £102,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £47,000 | £49,000 | £72,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £50,000 | £53,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £164,500 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £47,000 | £49,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £120,000 |
| Cooley | £55,000 | £60,000 | £157,000 |
| Davis Polk | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise | £55,000 | £60,000 | £173,000 |
| Dechert | £55,000 | £61,000 | £165,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| DLA Piper | £52,000 | £57,000 | £130,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £47,000 | £49,000 | £88,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £48,500 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £48,500 | £53,500 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £145,000 |
| HFW | £50,000 | £54,000 | £103,500 |
| Hill Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £43,000 | £45,000 | £76,000 |
| Jones Day | £56,000 | £65,000 | £160,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Kennedys | £43,000 | £46,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £55,000 | £60,000 | £165,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Latham & Watkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £55,000 | £60,000 | £150,000 |
| McDermott Will & Schulte | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £45,000 | £47,000 | £82,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £50,000 | £55,000 | £135,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £160,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £60,000 | £68,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | £55,000 | £60,000 | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £48,000 | £50,000 | £83,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £49,500 | £54,000 | £105,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £46,000 | £50,000 | £90,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £105,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £44,000 | £47,500 | £85,000 |
| Travers Smith | £55,000 | £60,000 | £130,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,077 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £34,000 | £36,000 | £70,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| Withers | £47,000 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £3,010,000,000 | £2,400,000 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | £2,300,000,000 | £2,040,000 |
| 3 | A&O Shearman | £2,200,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 4 | Hogan Lovells | £2,150,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 5 | Freshfields | £2,120,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 6 | Linklaters | £2,100,000,000 | £1,900,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,800,000,000 | £1,100,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,620,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,300,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £961,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £844,000,000 | £739,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £749,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 13 | BCLP* | £661,000,000 | £748,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £649,000,000 | £793,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £625,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £574,000,000 | £1,076,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £545,000,000 | £696,000 |
| 18 | Addleshaw Goddard | £495,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Taylor Wessing | £480,000,000 | £915,000*** |
| 20 | Osborne Clarke** | £456,000,000 | £771,000 |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson | £448,000,000 | £556,000 |
| 22 | DWF | £435,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £407,000,000 | £966,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £384,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | DAC Beachcroft | £325,000,000 | £700,000 |
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For a closer look at the day-to-day of some of the most common types of lawyers working in corporate law firms, explore our lawyer job profiles:
Doubling down on culture
After 2016, Jackson put greater emphasis on culture and values. "We restated our values, advising people what the values meant in business terms." Trust was central: "You’ll never cross-sell unless you trust [your partners]. You will never give [another partner] a client that you’ve spent 20 years lovingly caressing unless you trust him."
That translated into leadership style. "That communication was hands on. That comes from the top. Our chair, Jonathan [Brown], now, at every address to the partners on every occasion talks about values." Hiring was filtered through the same lens: "We turned people down who would definitely have been financially advantageous because we didn’t think actually their values were our values."
Jackson sees a balanced partnership as essential. Firms need "the brilliant technicians," "the sort of maverick entrepreneur" who generates business, and "managers able to manage teams." Occasionally one person combines all three, but "that’s few and far between."
Firms need 'the brilliant technicians', 'the maverick entrepreneur' who generates business, and 'managers able to manage teams'.
External capital: opportunity and risk
Today, Jackson also advises a new consultancy set up by private equity executive Adil Taha and former RPC managing partner Jonathan Watmough, focused on the growing flow of external capital into law. He believes investment is now a fixture. "It’s here to stay, it’s not going to go away." Examples such as Knights and Keoghs show it can work; others, like Gordon Dadds, highlight the risks. Most deals so far involve commoditised, volume businesses in the lower half of the top 200.
For mid-market transactional firms, attractive margins make them a target, but the model raises questions. "Private equity in its purest form looks at a three to five year lifespan. I’m not sure what that [exit] looks like with a transactional law firm of any size."
On the law firm side, "I’m not convinced that they actually know what they want. If they think they’re going to sell out and retire to the Bahamas with a bag of cash, that’s not going to happen." And investors may not be ready either: "I’m not sure all the time that a private equity house would necessarily have the skill sets to run a transactional commercial law firm."
Even at the top of the market, complexity is daunting. For global firms, regulatory regimes differ across jurisdictions, especially in the US where only a handful of states allow non-lawyer ownership. "It would be a hell of a job to put together a cohesive business that satisfied the regulations in each."
Leadership lessons
After two decades leading Hill Dickinson, Jackson’s message is straightforward. Running a law firm comes down to "people, your people, clients and cash. You get those three right, you’ve cracked it." Leaders should "stop complicating it. Focus on those three issues and everything you do has something to do with those three issues."
His boldest move remains the Keoghs sale. "Silver medal Halliwells 2010, gold medal Keoghs 2016. That wins the gold medal Hall of Fame." And the principle he has carried throughout his career is simple: listen. "There’s always two sides to every story. If there’s nothing to add, don’t do it."
The Everton stadium deal is the latest expression of that pragmatism: a calculated bet and a long game to turn it into profit. "We’ve massive profile now. We’ve got to monetise that in some way. And that’s down to us to do that on the back of it."
Running a law firm is about people, clients and cash.
| Firm | London office since | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| Akin | 1997 | Restructuring, funds |
| Baker McKenzie | 1961 | Finance, capital markets, TMT |
| Davis Polk | 1972 | Leveraged finance, corporate/M&A |
| Gibson Dunn | 1979 | Private equity, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Goodwin | 2008 | Private equity, funds, life sciences |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 1994 | Private equity, funds, restructuring |
| Latham & Watkins | 1990 | Finance, private equity, capital markets |
| McDermott Will & Schulte | 1998 | Finance, funds, healthcare |
| Milbank | 1979 | Finance, capital markets, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Paul Hastings | 1997 | Leveraged finance, structured finance, infrastructure |
| Paul Weiss | 2001 | Private equity, leveraged finance |
| Quinn Emanuel | 2008 | Litigation |
| Sidley Austin | 1974 | Leveraged finance, capital markets, corporate/M&A |
| Simpson Thacher | 1978 | Leveraged finance, private equity, funds |
| Skadden | 1988 | Finance, corporate/M&A, arbitration |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | 1972 | Corporate/M&A, restructuring, capital markets |
| Weil | 1996 | Restructuring, private equity, leverage finance |
| White & Case | 1971 | Capital markets, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Law firm | Type | First-year salary |
|---|---|---|
| White & Case | US firm | £32,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | International | £30,000 |
| A&O Shearman | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | International | £28,000 |
| Freshfields | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | Silver Circle | £28,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | International | £28,000 |
| Linklaters | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Mishcon de Reya | International | £28,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | International | £28,000 |
This is a condensed version of our full length interview with Peter Jackson on The Non-Billable Podcast. View the episode page here.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £145,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £55,000 | £60,000 | £130,000 |
| Firm | Merger year | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| BCLP | 2018 | Real estate, corporate/M&A, litigation |
| DLA Piper | 2005 | Corporate/M&A, real estate, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 2017 | Corporate/M&A, finance |
| Hogan Lovells | 2011 | Litigation, regulation, finance |
| Mayer Brown | 2002 | Finance, capital markets, real estate |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 2013 | Energy, resources and infrastructure, insurance, finance |
| Reed Smith | 2007 | Shipping, finance, TMT |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 2011 | Corporate/M&A, pensions, TMT |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £145,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £55,000 | £60,000 | £130,000 |
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