Taking Stock - Not wanting to brag, but ...
Take two lawyers and two accountancy firms, set them up to work in the same city and what do you get? Wounds that take a long time to heal, it would appear.
Back in February Ernst & Young could scarcely contain its glee when it announced that it would be setting up an associated law firm after poaching two senior partners from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ tied law firm, Arnheim, Tite & Lewis.
Managing partner Christopher Tite and IT chief Mark Lewis jumped ship after six weeks of talks with E&Y chairman Nick Land.
The defections came as a second major blow for PwC, which set up the firm two and a half years ago.
Don’t forget the defections of Tite and Lewis followed the loss of six partners last year who left to set up KPMG’s law company KLegal.
E&Y formally launched the new firm in May using the somewhat familiar moniker Tite & Lewis.
But it was still bragging last week when senior partners resurfaced after a long period of self-imposed purdah following the hiving off of its consultancy arm to Cap Gemini.
Asked whether E&Y was planning to continue fishing in PwC’s pond for staff for the venture, E&Y’s client service managing partner Mike Cullen said it was simpler than that. ‘All we have to do is answer the phone,’ he told TS.