University: Durham University
Degree: English literature
Year made partner: 2022
Position: Partner/training and graduate partner
Department: Restructuring
Pronouns: He/him

What attracted you to a career in law?

My dad was a lawyer in a high street firm, predominantly dealing with criminal, civil and family law. Of course you look up to your parents, but I really wanted to find my own path. So, initially I gravitated away from law and completed a degree in English because I'd always enjoyed literature.

For the first few years of my career, I worked in industry for an international oil company, in a non-legal role. Probably inevitably, I found I was naturally gravitating towards looking into the legal elements of the work we were doing. I decided I needed to explore this further and ended up completing a conversion course, with a view to becoming an in-house solicitor. However, during my training contract, I discovered restructuring law and haven’t looked back since.

What did the path to partner look like for you?

I originally trained at a Manchester firm. At the point of qualifying, the role that I wanted was in Leeds. So, I moved from Manchester to Leeds and set about getting to know people in a whole new market. Restructuring is a sociable and face-to-face type of practice, so it's very important to embed yourself in the market early on, as well as to network internally with the people at your firm. That’s how I spent the first few years – getting to know people in the industry and making myself known.

That firm ran into financial difficulties when I was very junior and ended up going into administration. However, there was a core group of us in the restructuring and finance litigation team who left together and were tasked with setting up Gateley’s brand new office in Leeds in 2012. I was just two years’ post qualification and this was a unique opportunity. We were effectively starting something from scratch, albeit with the support of a national firm and some great clients behind us.

I feel like I’ve grown with the office. We started out as six people, doing mostly lender-led restructuring and contentious banking work, and are now a full-service office in Leeds with a 130 head count (and growing). My path to partnership followed that process – I was developing my own practice and work streams at the same time as the office grew around me.

How does the work you do as partner differ to the work you did as a senior associate?

There are two partners in our team, and we’re both quite hands-on. We enjoy the work and we enjoy working with our clients. However, inevitably there's a lot more emphasis on work generation, client relationships and keeping an eye on the financials to make sure matters are profitable. I'm very fortunate, I work in a great team, many of whom trained with us. I know all delegated work will be completed to a high standard so, as well as being a legal advisor who likes to get into the detail, I’ve also become something of a project and relationship manager, which is great because I enjoy that side of my job.

This year I’ve also taken on the role of training and graduate partner for the Gateley Leeds office. I’m involved in the recruitment of graduates into the business, as well as supporting trainees during their training contract and beyond. I get a lot of satisfaction from this, it’s very fulfilling to see people progress through their careers.

Please can you outline your area of expertise?

The majority of my role involves non-contentious restructuring advisory work. We deal with businesses that are experiencing financial stress and distress, advising boards of directors, lenders and other creditors as well as insolvency practitioners.

Our main priority is to attempt to find a solution that allows the business to continue to trade solvently. Where that's not possible, we look at other options. That can include formal insolvency,  but always with a view to trying to protect the businesses and their employees as far as possible.

I also do a lot of work for secured lenders advising on distressed real estate lending.

Everyone in the firm is looking for new business, what does this look like? How does it develop over time?

You can never start too early. In the restructuring market, it's important to get yourself known. That includes attending events from an early point, going for coffees, lunches and generally getting out there.

You can certainly network on a targeted basis, although I’ve found that my network grew largely organically by getting to know the people around you. Being consistently visible, following up new contacts and maintaining the ones you do make is key.  If you see an opportunity to make a new contact, it’s almost always worth exploring it to see what it could bring.

Internal networking within your firm is just as important – many opportunities will come from existing clients that are referred to me within the firm, whether in Leeds or nationally. The ability to cross-sell is crucial, and so much easier if you know and get on with your colleagues.

I was doing that from a very early stage, as were many of my peers. As you progress through your career, your contacts do the same. Now I'm a partner at Gateley and a lot of my peer group are partners or in senior work providing positions at the clients I work with, or can refer me to new potential work providing contacts.

What makes your firm stand out?

Gateley is a listed company, so we have a slightly different structure. We’re a core legal business, but we have a lot of complementary non-legal businesses that work in tandem with the legal services we offer. We're all organised through a platform network, which works really well.

We also have a reputation for a really good working atmosphere. I like the people I work with, across my team and the wider firm, which is fundamental to me. This feeds into our recruitment process. We’re a great firm, but also a great place to work.  

The way that we're implementing the transition to the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) means there are now plenty of routes to join us. There are opportunities for graduates via the training contract and graduate solicitor apprenticeship, as well as for paralegals looking to gain a degree through our solicitor apprenticeship programme.

The apprenticeship route has been a game changer. It means that people can qualify as solicitors while studying, which opens access to a wider pool of potential recruitment and can accelerate the process for many. I was chatting with one of our recent graduate placement candidates, who explained that they simply couldn't have afforded to do the Legal Practice Course first and then complete a training contract without working full time. The fact that you can now complete the preparation for the SQE while training on the job as a paid apprentice makes law a more viable career for many who may have struggled to access it before.

What advice do you have for aspiring partners? What are the things that the business will look for when creating partners?

Start building your network early, get good at the job and focus on developing a profitable workstream – but progress through the ranks at your own pace.

I think there are a lot of people who want to accelerate their career as quickly as possible. While that’s understandable, my experience is that as long as you put the effort in, there’ll come a time when everything slots into place. It’ll probably be different for many people – the idea that you have to have achieved certain things by a certain age just doesn’t stack up anymore.  

Describe the firm in three words?

Funnily enough, our motif is four words – “forward thinking, straight talking”. We don't flower things unnecessarily – we like to get to the bottom of issues and make the solution as straightforward as possible.

What’s been the highlight of your time as partner?

There's something very satisfying about being part of a team of good people who are performing well, hitting targets, getting positive feedback and doing decent work for good clients. I also love seeing people progress and do well in their careers, particularly when they’ve been with you from the start.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I've been a drummer from a young age and in various bands over a number of years, mostly playing loud rock music. It's something I turn to when I need to let off a bit of steam. There's something very cathartic about hitting a drum kit – but you need a strong element of control and precision to make it sound good.