The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes yesterday confirmed it had become the latest Bahamian law firm to establish a Lyford Cay satellite office, a move designed to improve service to its high-end clients and “pick up our share of new business” from western New Providence’s rapid development.

Brian Moree QC, McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes’ senior partner, told Tribune Business the new office put the law firm in “close proximity” to its existing institutional and high net worth clients, many of whom were based in western New Providence, thus enabling them to avoid the travel-related hassle associated with visiting its downtown Nassau headquarters.

The leading QC also disclosed to this newspaper that McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes had been assessing whether to expand overseas, having looked at “opening offices in one or two major cities”.

No final decision had been taken on this, but Mr Moree said that, to-date, the Bahamian company had enjoyed “a great deal of success” through its alliance with other independent law firms via the Lex Mundi network, which has a presence in around 165 countries.

Describing this as “a more economic model” through which McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes could provide global legal services to its clients, Mr Moree added that the company had also been working to “upgrade our entire service platform” over the last several months.

Its Lyford Cay office, opened quietly at the end of March 2012, is being headed by partner, Lourey Smith, and a full-time staff of three.

Explaining the strategic thinking behind the move, Mr Moree told Tribune Business: “The primary reason we decided to open this office is we recognised that, in the western district of this island, there are at least three, maybe four, major residential areas - areas where there are high net worth individuals involved in different types of transactions.

“In order to provide a better level of service top those individuals, we need to have an office in the western district that’s in close proximity to those major residential centres of Old Fort Bay, Lyford Cay, Albany and Charlotteville.

“That’s what we’re hoping for - to provide better service for existing clients and to pick up our share of new business.”

Apart from Albany’s continued build-out, other communities under development in western New Providence include Lyford Hills and Serenity. Anticipating the population growth, and the need to provide them with services, New Providence Development Company is investing $30 million in developing the Old Fort Bay Town Centre.

In addition, many major international banks and trust companies have also relocated to western New Providence, putting themselves in close proximity to Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

Major law firms, too, have followed, with McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes joining rival commercial leaders such as Higgs & Johnson in establishing a Lyford Cay office. Indeed, Lennox Paton has shifted its main office from downtown Nassau to Bayside Executive Park.

Ms Smith pointed out that it was “never too late” for McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes to join the westward trend, its office located in the Harbour Green Plaza opposite Lyford Manor.

“It’s perfect for the international clients. They’re finding it a lot easier, as we are literally five minutes from the airport,” she said. The same applied to McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes’ Family Island clients when they needed to fly into Nassau to meet with the law firm.

Mr Moree, meanwhile, acknowledged that McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes was looking to exploit “the business opportunities that arise from development on the western side of the island.

“We’ve received positive feedback from some of our existing institutional clients who’ve moved out to that area, and are finding the Lyford Cay office very convenient, not having to come into town,” he added.

“We thought it was a good investment in upgrading the level of service to our clients and making us competitive in the context of new business, putting us in close proximity to the centres of development out there.”

Confirming that McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes was not just focused on local expansion, Mr Moree told Tribune Business: “In terms of strategic direction, we’ve been looking at opening offices in one or two overseas jurisdictions.

“We have been looking at that very carefully as part of our strategic planning. We haven’t made a final decision on whether we’re going to do that, but what we have been focused on, with a great deal of success, is developing strategic alliances with major independent law firms, which allows us to provide a global service to clients.”

As a member of Lex Mundi, the world’s largest network of independent law firms, McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes has potential links to 164 countries, giving it a strong base for client referrals and attracting legal work.

“We have found that striking these strategic alliances is certainly a more economic model and, in many ways, easier to get off the ground and achieve the essential objective - to service clients on a global basis,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business.

Establishing alliances with overseas law firms, rather than “putting down our own flag and footprint”, enabled McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes to tap into their local expertise and knowledge, plus minimise its own costs.

The senior McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes partner added that the law firm was also working to integrate its information technology (IT) platform with its service platform, in a bid to further improve delivery to clients.

“One of the major areas of focus for our firm is to provide premium service to our clients,” Mr Moree told Tribune Business.

“We have been examining our service platform over the last several months with a view to upgrading the entire platform for delivering our primary product, legal services, in a manner which is affordable, and on the basis of providing a premier service comparable to the quality of service clients would get in the major cities of the world.

“We’re trying to integrate our IT platform with our service platform to get the synergies necessary to provide state-of-the-art communications.”

McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes, Mr Moree added, was also focusing on in-house training to ensure it had “a well-trained and qualified cadre of support staff”, and upgrading its internal telephone system.