The Balancing Act: How to prioritise your wellbeing (& still be a great lawyer)
Q&A with Millie Jackson, Legal Counsel & Founder of The Balanced Lawyer Tell us a bit about your background as a lawyer and what inspired you to start a wellness business My career in law started after graduating from university and completing the LPC part-time whilst working as a paralegal. A few years later, I qualified into Commercial Litigation with a top regional firm. I loved the intellectual challenge of litigation but began to find that the adversarial ethos that defined the area didn’t lend itself well to my health. I moved in-house at the start of the pandemic and have never looked back! I love being able to give commercially focused, pragmatic legal advice and work with a diverse set of people and functions, all centred around a common goal. I took a time out in 2022 and a step away from law completely. Yoga had been an effective method of stress relief for me for some time, but I decided to embark on my teacher training to expand my knowledge so that I could effectively and safely share the practice and lessons learnt with others. In June 2023, The Balanced Lawyer was borne, where I began to share the power of yoga and meditation specifically with the legal community. TBL encompasses “all things wellbeing”. Can you tell us what ‘wellbeing’ means to you and why it’s important for lawyers particularly? Wellbeing for me is a commitment to caring for your body and mind in the most sustainable and organic way possible. From my experience, lawyers are trained to be “always on” and to operate at a hard and fast pace. This means, they have less time to think about their health, which can suffer a detriment as a result. Can you share some common signs of burnout, or of a “poorly balanced” lawyer? In my experience from working with lawyers and teaching them yoga, common signs of burn out or a lack of balance can include: Always feeling you have to have achieved something with every waking minute of your time, even on weekends Finding it difficult to relax or switch your brain off Poor sleep Imposter syndrome Stress, anxiety and depression (as well as other mental health issues) You’re a legal counsel and a small business owner – what are your go-to practices for stress management? I love a weekly run, a spin class and a HIIT YouTube work out, to boost my brain with endorphins, particularly first thing in the morning I like an early night and reading to gently wind my brain down before bedtime, with an early old fashioned radio alarm clock for my wake-up call! I keep a tech-free space in my bedroom, stay away from screens from 9pm onwards and of course practice yoga and meditation almost daily Finally, eating well and nourishing my body with food (I love food!) “Wellness, and particularly meditation, can help a lawyer to harness their own mind, before they serve their client.” Christmas is often such a busy time of year for lawyers. For those reading who might be feeling overwhelmed, what advice do you have for them? Although you may feel short of time over the month of December, now may be the perfect opportunity to build in a wellness practice to your life. Can you go to bed 30 minutes earlier and get up 30 minutes earlier to build yoga and meditation to the start of your morning? Setting yourself up with that mental and physical clarity at the start of your day will fundamentally transform how you manage your workload and approach tasks throughout the day. It is scientifically proven and you will think in a clearer and more strategic way (saving time in the long run!) Could you provide some insights into creating boundaries when it comes to attending client events and networking while managing workload pressures? Don’t feel you have to go to every event. Following the pandemic, employers seem to have (hopefully) adopted a less mandatory approach to out of work activities. Deeply understand and trust your own energy levels. Respect your own mental and physical limits and boundaries. For those tasked with organising networking events, do you have any advice as to how to make them more innovative or inclusive? The organiser of an event should aim to have actively recruit a proportionate range of attendees for the event, to ensure it is as inclusive as possible. I am a firm advocate for sober networking events as alcohol excludes people (particularly of certain faiths and religions). If the legal industry could embrace more creative and innovative ways to network (for example networking events with a holistic wellness focus for all – like TBL’s breakfast and yoga sessions) I believe the connections forged would be more diverse, wide ranging and meaningful. What do you think makes a great lawyer? How does wellness contribute to that? For me, being a great lawyer means: being strategic, analytical and being able to deeply understand the mind of your client or stakeholder. Wellness and particularly meditation, can help a lawyer to harness their own mind, before they serve their client. If you adopt a mindful approach throughout your day, you can see when emotions get heightened and where you may be entering a zone where you will not be making decisions with upmost clarity. You can then learn how to self-regulate, dial the heightened feelings down, return to a place of calm and get back to delivering the task at hand. What’s your one piece of advice to associates looking to progress their careers? When focusing on developing their legal journey, potentially towards a position of leadership, associates should find a sustainable approach that works for them. Undoubtedly, many hours of hard client work and connection forging across the business will be paramount, particularly the path towards making partner. However, if you’re trying to operate at 150mph to get there, know that this will have an impact on other areas
View from the other side | What do in-house counsel really think about law firms?
Q&A with Niki Sadeghnia, Legal Counsel at a leading teletech company Tell us, in a nutshell, what does your role as Legal Counsel look like? This is my third role as Legal Counsel now, and it’s evolved over the past years. In smaller teams, I find myself handling a multitude of responsibilities, many of which carry significant seniority. On the other hand, when part of a larger team, the role becomes more concentrated, focused, and specialised. My current role is a healthy balance of the two: part of it entails collaborating with product managers (a product manager works closely with the product development team) to draft terms and conditions for cloud products. I am currently a product lawyer; my job is to extract their knowledge about the product, the techie stuff, and then turn it to terms and conditions. I also work on operational improvement projects, which is essentially legal operations. Besides providing standard legal advice, I also engage with external counsel for their legal tech. What BD or marketing activities do you appreciate from law firms, and which are you not a fan of? Networking events can be super fun, but I must admit that I occasionally find myself growing a bit weary of the typical small talk that can dominate such gatherings. I find smaller and more intimate settings more helpful to foster genuine relationships. For example, if a tech lawyer or if a commercial department from a law firm wants to know my view on, I don’t know, cloud products and what we’re doing in that respect, reach out to me. Let’s talk about it. Whether that’s a call or, whether it’s going to grab a coffee – you know what you’re there for and what you’re trying to achieve, it’s an exchange of ideas which is valuable. I really appreciate insightful newsletters or webinars. That said, I can lose focus easily, so I don’t enjoy long (often very monotone) webinars; I prefer it when it’s brief and to the point and when the wider audience gets involved. If I’m honest, I do feel sometimes that it’s the wrong people presenting – to keep the audience engaged, you really do need to have strong presentation skills – please don’t talk at us for 45 minutes straight! I’m sure other people must think that too! What are your thoughts on LinkedIn? I love LinkedIn. I think it’s great. Most of my jobs, have been through LinkedIn. I use it and I think it’s a great way of sharing information and keeping in touch. It’s interesting to see how people’s personal brands are developing on there – I’m still new to that, but I have noticed more and more legal influencers around. I do think you have to be careful how you use the platform and your brand though; I do avoid anything that is personal or political, from a business perspective I feel that LinkedIn isn’t the right place for that type of thing. What qualities do you value most in external counsel when establishing a long-term partnership? Genuine interactions and a diverse background. As I bid farewell to one of my junior roles in private practice, one of the partners took me out for a leaving lunch, which gave us the opportunity to connect on a more personal level. This genuine interaction laid the groundwork for future collaboration. I later engaged the firm once I was in a more senior role, and I would do so again in future. I also find it important that external counsel comes from a diverse background for a few reasons. For example, I find that a lawyer who has had an alternative career path before becoming a lawyer might be more likely to understand commercial issues or realise that in-house lawyers are not necessarily always looking for legal advice but are seeking general problem-solving. I also think that diversity feeds into the way language is used, and the way advice is delivered, besides many other benefits. Having different perspectives makes legal services more effective and adds variety to the legal world. In your experience, what should associates (and partners) avoid doing when working with in-house legal counsel? One of my biggest pains is often the billing process. I really dislike receiving a generalised bill for ‘x hours worked’ with a vague description. Budgets and legal costs are important and as an in-house lawyer, I want to know what I am paying for because ultimately, I’ll have to justify it internally. Having to dig through emails or seek clarification is a tedious process and really takes up too much time. When it comes to itemisation and descriptions in a bill, more information really is more, and helps strengthen trust (or at least not damage trust) between external and in-house counsel! What is the most annoying thing you have experienced when working with external counsel (without naming names of course!)? Besides the painful billing process that I mentioned earlier, it’s frustrating when external counsel provides you with solutions, only considering the legalities and leaving out practicalities or costs. Ultimately, as a business, you need to consider not only the lawfulness of your actions, but also things such as culture, delivery, people involved/impact on the business and costs etc. Also, when external counsels’ advice is delivered in a way that I don’t easily understand. I find it helpful when someone delivers advice to you, using similar language, and in a manner that is easy to follow. What do you think makes a great lawyer? I think a diverse range of experience and a diverse background makes a great lawyer and a great legal team. There is benefit in having worked a variety of jobs or in different industries before your legal career, as it gives you a greater understanding of how businesses operate and what their priorities may be. This, in turn, fosters a better grasp of clients’ needs. For example, I think it’s quite normal in IP that patent lawyers were engineers
Unlocking the secrets of rainmaker partners: the Activator approach
The legal profession has shifted dramatically. In today’s highly competitive environment, lawyers are expected to possess a broader skill set. It’s now not only about legal acumen but also demands a level of business savvy. Business Development (BD), once viewed as an optional task if time allowed, has become an indispensable aspect of the job. In fact, the BD approach taken by both current and future partners holds the key to unlocking fresh opportunities and driving revenue. Lawyers and law firms alike must embrace this shift in mindset. Those who invest not just time, but also resources into BD, are poised for success in this evolving legal landscape. A recent in-depth study conducted by DCM Insights, as featured in the Harvard Business Review, delved deeply into the habits of rainmaker partners. This research provided illuminating insights into the specific behaviours that distinguish successful partners in the modern legal world. The research The study identified five distinct partner profiles, each with their unique approach to business development. While each partner exhibited traits of multiple profiles, they excelled in one. It’s absolutely fascinating and no matter your role in a law firm, whether you’re a lawyer or a BD exec, you’ll undoubtedly recognise these traits from the partners/lawyers in your team/firm. So, what are the five partner profiles? The five partner profiles 1. The Activator An activator is proactive in building networks, converting prospects into clients, engaging on platforms like LinkedIn, organising events, and fostering connections across the firm. 2. The Expert The expert is a reluctant networker. They’re often reactive in their BD approach, relying on their expertise to attract clients. 3. The Confidante The confidante is the trusted advisor lawyer, who has a small group of loyal clients, handles all the work they bring in personally, and is reluctant to share it with their team or to cross-sell to other departments – they want to keep control of the relationship. 4. The Debater The debater is opinionated and they seek to challenge clients’ perspectives and reframe their thinking to create unique differentiators in the market. 5. The Realist A realist partner is transparent, honest, and pragmatic, managing client expectations realistically. Which partner profile achieves the best outcomes? The research showed that partners falling within the ‘activator profile’ – those who proactively build networks, actively engage with clients, and create meaningful connections – outperform other profiles regarding performance and revenue. Interestingly, partners in law firms are heavily weighted toward the confidante profile. Yet it’s the experts and confidantes that are most likely be be in the low performers category, indicating room for growth within the legal industry. Of the high-performing partners (in terms of revenue and performance), the majority were activators, while the lowest-performing bracket contained very few activators. Times have changed, and while some clients may still routinely go back to their existing firm based on familiarity and long-standing personal relationships, many are now reevaluating and instead want to choose the best provider. So, adopting some ‘activator’ behaviours is essential. How to become an activator partner 1. Commit Don’t let your day job overshadow your BD commitments. Dedicate specific time to your business development efforts and structure that time purposefully. We recommend starting small. Commit to 15 minutes a day for networking activities. Be specific and actionable, like engaging with three new connections on LinkedIn every Monday and following up on business cards from events on Wednesday. 2. Connect Set goals for making new connections and attending relevant events. Following up after events is crucial and using LinkedIn to do this is often a great way to do this. Sending a quick follow-up message post-event is a great start. Look for opportunities to connect your clients with colleagues who can add value to their businesses. Make introductions that matter, demonstrating your commitment to their success. For example, if a connection has recently moved to your city, offer recommendations and support, building the connection beyond the professional sphere. 3. Create This is where you start to ‘activate’ the network you’ve created – and it’s all about being proactive without being salesy. A good rule of thumb is to try and help them personally, introduce connections and assist others genuinely without the expectation of getting new work. This could include proactively bringing relevant information to your clients and checking in with them regularly, sharing articles or news stories that might be of interest, and offering to discuss them further over Zoom or coffee. Becoming an activator partner requires commitment, active networking, and a proactive approach to client engagement. By following these steps and embracing the activator mindset, you can elevate your business development efforts and create a positive impact on your firm’s growth. But what about the firm itself? BD and networking isn’t something taught at degree level or as part of the training process so it can’t be expected that all lawyers are born networkers – but it is absolutely something that everyone can be taught. Firms must invest in BD training, enabling activators at every level and for the best results, As with most things, practice makes perfect so starting at the associate level makes for fantastic future activator partners. Thinking about how the firm structures events to encourage meaningful conversations, how it rewards activator behaviours, and creates a healthy organisational culture that supports proactive networking are all things that can help foster a community of activators, driving success in the competitive legal landscape. Need help on putting this into practice? Feel free to reach out to us for support and guidance.
Directories 101: Four foundational steps you should never skip when compiling a submission
Whether you’re an associate, a partner or in BD/marketing you’ve likely spent more than enough time working on your team’s legal directory submissions and understand the importance of the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. These directories can play a crucial role in showcasing your firm’s expertise, and a leading individual ranking can significantly impact an individual’s career. Here are five steps you should never skip when pulling together your submission. 1. Understand what the researcher/directory is looking for Before you even begin the submission process, take the time to remind yourself of the criteria that the directories use to evaluate firms and individual lawyers. Each directory has its own unique set of guidelines, and it’s essential to align your submission with these criteria. Read through their guidelines carefully, and make sure you address all the relevant aspects they’re looking for, preferably before you agree on which matters you’re going to include. For example, don’t disregard a matter because the value is low – remember that complexity and context count too. Even if it’s a small monetary value, if it was instrumental in helping your client’s business, it’s worth including. 2. Showcase your expertise and achievements (without overdoing it on marketing speak) When it comes to the submission, don’t be modest. The researcher will be reviewing tens of submissions for the same practice area, so make it stand it out and make it count. Highlight your achievements, successful cases, and areas of expertise, but without relying too heavily on what we call ‘marketing speak’. We recently interviewed Simon Christian and Al Marsh at Chambers & Partners and overuse of marketing speak was one of their top gripes. An example: “we are 100% committed to our clients’ best interests” (as opposed to what?) – look at your content with a critical eye, make sure to add context, and provide specific examples that demonstrate your team’s capabilities. Use metrics and data wherever possible to substantiate your claims. Remember, the more evidence you can provide, the stronger your submission will be. 3. Be smart about your referees Client and referee feedback is gold – it’s near impossible to be promoted without it. There is so much to say about referees that this will be a dedicated article on this topic later in our series. In short: collate a list of potential referees well before the deadline (preferably throughout the year) so it’s not a last-minute scramble. Make sure all your leading individuals have sufficient referees (don’t fall prey to politics), and be sure to obtain their permission to use their feedback in your submission. 4. Keep it concise (and remember the researcher is a layperson) While you want, and often need, to provide comprehensive information, it’s crucial to present it in a clear and concise manner. Legal directory researchers see hundreds of submissions to review in one submission round, so make their job easier. Remember that while the researchers go through intensive training, they often come from a non-legal background. Littering your submission with legal jargon isn’t going to impress them without content. Review every matter with a critical eye – for teams with BD support – do they understand why a matter is important? If not, consider how it can be rewritten. Interested in finding out what else Simon and Al from Chambers said about how associates can get ranked? Sign up to our newsletter. Feeling overwhelmed by the directory process? Get in touch for a chat with Gemma. Keep an eye out for the next instalment of our series, focusing on mistakes to avoid with your referees.
The difference between BD & Marketing
Let’s be honest: Being a lawyer is a tough gig. Competition is fierce, and new client instructions are the holy grail, yet fairly often, lawyers haven’t been taught how to build their own practice until there’s a pressing need to do so. Understanding the distinction between Business Development (BD) and marketing is a game-changer for your career. These two disciplines may seem similar on the surface, but they play vastly different roles in the success of a law firm, and to your own personal development. In this article, we’ll delve into the nuances of BD and marketing and explain why knowing the difference is crucial for your professional growth, and most importantly, why you can’t (or shouldn’t) really have one without the other. BD: The personal touch BD in a law firm context is all about the personal touch. It involves one-on-one interactions with clients, prospects, and key contacts. Here’s why BD is so important: 1. Client-centric approach: BD revolves around nurturing existing client relationships and establishing new ones. It’s about understanding your prospects’ and clients’ needs, anticipating their legal requirements, and providing tailored solutions. Put it into practice: Schedule regular client meetings to discuss their legal needs and concerns, but most importantly, to chat with them on a human level. Listen actively, ask open-ended questions, and demonstrate your commitment to understanding and helping them with the challenges they’re facing. 2. Revenue Growth: BD efforts directly contribute to revenue growth. This means identifying cross-selling opportunities, collaborating with colleagues from different practice areas, spotting potential areas of expansion for your firm and converting prospects into clients. Put it into practice: The best place to start BD is at home (your own firm). Networking with colleagues from different practice areas is as important as with external contacts. Identify opportunities to cross-sell services to existing clients. 3. Building relationships: BD involves actively expanding your network. Building strong connections within your practice area or industry with potential clients and intermediaries is key to opening doors for new opportunities. Put it into practice: Attend industry-specific events. Follow up with new contacts promptly and consider organising or inviting them to firm events or for a coffee to showcase both yours and your firm’s expertise. Marketing: The bigger picture Marketing, on the other hand, takes a more holistic approach. It’s about creating a brand presence and crafting messaging that resonates with a broader audience. Here’s why marketing matters: 1. Brand visibility: Effective marketing enhances your law firm’s visibility and reputation. It ensures that your firm is recognised and trusted by a wider audience, which can lead to increased referrals and new client enquiries. Put it into practice: Start building your personal brand on LinkedIn. Share regular content and engage with people in your industry – this is a great way to showcase your expertise (and personality). 2. Thought leadership: Marketing through thought leadership trumps flyers/brochures every time – it’s a way of demonstrating your expertise rather than asserting it, positioning you and your firm as an expert. Put it into practice: Write articles or blog posts on emerging legal/industry trends and share them on your website and LinkedIn. Note: getting your article placed in an external industry-focused publication will always have more impact than just publishing onto your firm’s website/ LinkedIn company page – it will reach a wider, often more engaged, audience and adds to brand credibility. Why understanding the difference matters and how to implement it Marketing sets the scene and gives you credibility, whereas BD helps you to turn it into a conversation, and in time, a relationship (and hopefully revenue). Understanding the difference matters because it gives you the ability to cover both angles, in an environment where so many do one or the other. This goes some way to giving you a competitive edge. Example scenario: speaking at a seminar Marketing aspects: You, your firm and the event organiser sharing details on social media before and after the event Your speaker bio in the seminar brochure Speaking at the seminar BD aspects: Sending personal invitations to 2 – 5 contacts/target clients you know would benefit from hearing the topic you’re speaking about Researching attendees beforehand and compiling a shortlist of people you’d like to meet, and seeking them out Following up with audience members who had specific questions to continue the conversation Ideally you would do all of these things – build your brand and your network.
How to make it into the directories
We chatted with Simon Christian, Global Research Director, and Al Marsh, UK Research Director on exactly what associates need to do to get that coveted ranking in Chambers & Partners. In a nutshell, how would you describe Chambers & Partners? Al: The world’s leading provider of data and analytics to the legal profession and the most prestigious and most widely used legal rankings employed by the top GCs globally. Simon: We conduct independent research into law firms around the world, and our rankings help in-house counsel select the best lawyers for their most important matters. Our research process is unrivalled in its quality, depth and accuracy, and is founded on the 70,000+ in-depth client and lawyer interviews we do every year, as well as surveys and submissions from the firms under consideration. What are the most important things to consider/include when putting in a submission? Al: The quality of the work highlights, the quality of the work highlights and the quality of the work highlights. You simply won’t get very far if you don’t have 20 impressive matters. Simon: And those impressive highlight matters also need to be supported by strong, positive feedback from your referees. What are the most annoying things law firms do when putting together submissions/referees? Al: Not including matter values when it is obvious that they could have been included (e.g., a public M&A deal); referencing any accolades, particularly those awarded by Chambers’ direct competitors; not giving ranked lawyers work highlights (this sounds so obvious, but you’d be surprised how many firms manage it). Simon: Prolixity and overuse of “marketing speak”. We set word limits on certain sections of the form for good reason. Our researchers read lots of submissions, sometimes one after another, and long-winded puffery like “we are 100% committed to our clients’ best interests” (as opposed to what?) or “we handle the most complex, high value, market-leading matters” (we’ll be the judges of that) is even less persuasive when you’ve read much the same thing in 30 other firms’ submissions already. The same goes for jargon: some may be unavoidable, but you should try always to explain things in terms that a well-educated non-lawyer can understand. What would you say are the biggest benefits to an individual or firm being listed? Al: There are almost too many to list but just a few include: recognition from an independent, trusted third party; the ability to leverage your prestigious ranking in pitch decks, social media, etc; the improved chances of winning new business and retaining and attaining top talent through your ranking. Simon: If you’re an associate looking to make partner in the next few years, a listing in Chambers is a powerful external validation of your abilities and of your standing among the firm’s key clients. It’s also something recruiters will notice… What advice would you give to an associate or senior associate who has submitted for a few years but still hasn’t been listed? Al: Ask us why. There is a myriad of reasons as to why you haven’t been successful. Don’t suffer in silence, as it might be something easily fixed. Simon: For instance, the firm might not have included you on any work highlights on the form. Or, you might not have been mentioned by the firm’s referees. We might have got some good commentary about you but not quite enough to include you this year, but which is still very promising for next year. How can individuals who have been listed leverage their ranking? Al: Shout about it! Put it on your bio, mention it on your LinkedIn, use it in pitches… Simon: A ranking in Chambers should be used to support and corroborate all your other marketing and business development efforts. It’s an independent validation from a well-known and trusted brand that tells potential clients, referrers and competitors that you really are as good as your marketing says you are. Al: … and don’t forget to learn the secret handshake that will get you into the most exclusive speakeasy in the city. It can be difficult for an associate to stand out when the partners in their team dominate a submission – do you have any advice as to how they can overcome this? Al: This is really a question for the person in charge of the submission: who do you want to focus on? With 20 work highlights to play with, you can give at least six lawyers a leading highlight each (more if some highlights are co-led). There should be room for some associates to appear on some work highlights – especially given that we expect associates to be assisting more than leading, much of the time. Simon: I’d encourage associates to make sure their specific contributions to the firm’s highlight matters are recognised wherever possible. In the matter write-ups, for instance, you could say that “[Partner] had overall responsibility for this matter, including case strategy and client handling; [Associate] led on the jurisdiction issue, which was of vital importance at an early stage of proceedings and required complex analysis of the authorities…” etc. Does it make it harder for someone to be listed if there are multiple associates put forward at the same time? Al: Generally, a department will struggle to get more than one or two new individuals ranked for the first time in any given year. Therefore, trying to get, say, five lawyers into the rankings in one go isn’t a winning strategy. A lawyer debuting in the table will likely need multiple examples of positive client feedback. Assuming this is a typical table where most departments have one to four ranked lawyers, try not to spread your referees too thinly between too many unranked lawyers. Simon: Be strategic about which team members to focus on and keep trying if they aren’t successful at the first time of asking. It’s frustrating to get some good information about an unranked lawyer, not quite enough for a ranking this year but showing great potential for
Making the jump to partner
Rachel Davison joined the Taylor Wessing partnership in 2021. She shares her story, how she maintains her client relationships and tips on how to succeed with that all important jump. How would you describe your progression up to the partnership? This is probably common to most people, but I wouldn’t say it was a straight-line trajectory. Starting as an associate on day one, looking forward and being ambitious, which I always was, I sort of knew early on that, ideally, I’d like to become a partner. But it wasn’t a case of ticking the boxes each year, and then boom, year ten, I’m suddenly ready to become a partner. Part of that journey, to use the cliché, was slowly but surely realising what all the different component parts are to being a partner and that appreciation over the years of the different skills that you need to have within your toolkit to be an effective partner. There will always be times when you’re receiving constructive criticism, and it can feel quite difficult sometimes receiving this, but you need to learn and develop, and some things will be more natural than others. How did you know you were ready? For me, it was the moment when I no longer felt insecure about the thought of having the partner badge. It really came down to my client relationships and how those had developed, specifically how I was interacting with key clients and how they were looking to me as their trusted advisor and the first point of contact. It was that moment of realising when the client had a problem I would be the first person they called. They trusted me to do that, and I trusted myself to play that role for those clients. That is such an integral part of being a partner, but it’s not the only part. You also need to be able to go out there and win work. Having built up a profile in the market and having referrals coming directly to me, I could see how I could develop this if I had the partner badge, and I was ready for that. It wasn’t waking up one day and just saying, ‘I’m ready now’. It was that slow but sure appreciation that actually, I was effectively performing the role of partner, which I think is the ideal. You don’t want to be made a partner and suddenly be floundering around saying, ‘Oh my God, what do I do now?’. I think that’s a necessary part of it, that you feel you are operating at the level of a partner before you actually become a partner. How did you build your client base? I would say it was two aspects, the first being existing clients. I think a big mistake anyone could make is to say, ‘I’ve won those clients, I’m now the client partner, it’s done and dusted, so I must focus on new clients’, because existing clients continue to be the best referrals of new clients. When you start neglecting your existing clients or even seem not to be paying them attention, you’re really doing yourself a disservice in terms of your ability to win new clients from them. So that’s something I always do my best to keep an eye on. In terms of completely new clients (i.e., those that existing clients don’t refer) it’s all about contacts and trying your hardest not to let any go cold, which is easier said than done. Time just passes so quickly, and you need to make sure that you’re not looking at your contact list and saying, ‘Gosh, I haven’t spoken to that person in six months or a year’ because that’s just way too long. There needs to be that continuity and that constant sort of engagement in whatever form that may be, if it’s updates, phone calls, going for a coffee, etc. But just so that when that matter comes into them, you are there in their mind because if you’re not there, you’re not part of the thought process. And you just never know where your next instruction might come from. I think what I’m realising as a partner is that new work can come from really weird and wonderful places. You said that you keep up with all of your contacts. How do you manage that list in practical terms? I suppose it’s a bit old-fashioned, but I have an Excel spreadsheet, and it’s kind of broken down by category. The US market is my central focus, so I have a list for the various ‘hubs’ making up the US private wealth market e.g. Miami, New York etc, and I have a list of the people who work in the US space. I literally look at it each week. I have a handwritten list in my BD to-do list, and it’s just putting their names so that I make some contact with individuals on my list, so that, as I say, they’re not going completely cold because it is quite hard to pick things up over a year, when you may as well be starting from scratch. What strategies or activities have been most effective for you in building your client base? I think it comes back to the earlier point about the lists. It can sound a little mundane, but I think it’s having that discipline of knowing you have to give a certain amount of time on a daily or weekly basis in order to keep all of the plates spinning. Clearly there’s your fee-earning work, and I’ve talked about how fundamental it is that your clients are getting the best possible and highest quality service because your reputation rests upon the work you’re doing out there for your clients. But then also, there’s going out into the market and looking to win new work. I spend around 30 – 40% of my time on business development. So, I think it’s being disciplined and not