City PFIunit closes

by Carol Millett Leading City law firm SJ Berwin has closed its PFI projects unit.

Sources said that the decision was prompted by three factors: a marked fall in large UK-based PFI projects, increasing competition from regional law firms offering substantially lower fee rates, and the prospect of a UK recession.

Berwin will now concentrate on working with clients who are financing PFI deals. This will take the place of working with the consortia carrying out PFI work. All PFI work carried out by the unit will now be be transferred to SJ Berwin's existing banking and corporate groups.

Partner Jeff Haley, who headed up the unit, is understood to be moving to a large international firm to set up major project finance groups.

Three others who were at the unit, associate Mark Johnson, along with assistant Paul Buckland and trainee solicitor Rose Murphy, are moving to another law firm, Devonshires.

Devonshires' partner Duncan Brown told CJ that the trio, who specialise in transport and hospital work, will complement the PFI work the firm already does.

"We are involved in a number of PFI and quasi-PFI housing schemes for local authorities and also with the NHS. We saw this as a natural extension to what we are already doing at Devonshires and plan to expand in that direction."

He dismissed fears that PFI work is becoming less profitable commenting that the smaller projects are worth concentrating on.

"The three are confident they can build up their workload. They will not be looking for huge PFI projects, but at the smaller ones which are more profitable."