University: University of Sheffield
Degree: Law
Year made partner: 2020
Position: Partner
Department: Marine business group/shipping team
Pronouns: He/him

What attracted you to a career in law?

During my A levels, I had no idea what I wanted to study at university. However, I knew a law degree was hard currency for whatever career I’d end up pursuing. After finishing my degree, I took some time out to plan exactly what I wanted to do – it was at this stage that I decided to go for a career in law.

There were a variety of aspects that contributed to this decision. Part of it was because I found the subject matter interesting, particularly contract law – I’m a bit of a geek at heart and I like all the detail involved. I was also keen to get into the business environment, with a view to helping other businesses solve problems. I saw a career in law as the route to those goals.

What did the path to partner look like for you?

A lot of junior lawyers see making partner as the pinnacle, but I’d say it’s more of a milestone to achieve.

I was made senior associate quite late – I took on several secondments early on, which may have contributed to this. However, the very fact that I’d undertaken those experiences was a significant factor in my later progress to partner. My secondments were to a London-based protection and indemnity (P&I) club and to a particular insurance client in Norway. I did two six-month seats out in Norway with the client and through that built long-lasting relationships – not only with the client, but also with the wider marine and shipping market in Norway.

It was off the back of these experiences, and once I was around five or six years’ qualified, that I then made senior associate. Due to the groundwork that I’d put in and the opportunities I took full advantage of, I progressed from senior associate to legal director in 12 months and then made partner two years after that.

It felt like a slow and sometimes frustrating start because I saw other peers progress through promotions before me. If there are any lessons to be learned from sharing my experience, it’s that everyone has their own career path so try not to compare yourself to others and keep your focus on your own goals

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

The cases I get involved in aren’t necessarily that different – they’re still shipping dispute resolution cases. However, the type of work I do as a partner has changed. I’m ultimately responsible for the cases and am the primary point of contact for the clients that instruct me. With that comes a level of responsibility, which means that essentially the buck stops with me. The level of work that I undertake now is a lot more complicated and sophisticated, but that’s just a natural factor of becoming more senior.

Within the shipping team, we deal with a lot of casualty-based work, and real-time issues. For example, if there’s a fire on board a container ship that needs a lawyer’s involvement, we’ll assist with the immediate incident response as part of a team of people from different specialisms working alongside the vessel interests. This may include:

• making sure the vessel and people on board are as safe as possible;
• putting systems and salvage assistance in place to deal with the firefighting efforts;
• getting the vessel to a port of refuge to make the vessel safe;
• liaising with other stakeholders – for example, if we act for owners, there’s usually a charterer involved and cargo interests.

Those types of dynamic cases that are live and running often demand a lot of my time.

Please can you outline your area of expertise?

Within shipping dispute resolution there’s a vast array of different types of disputes, in a wide sense, we’re commercial dispute resolution lawyers with a marine focus. Maritime law is one of the bedrock elements of English contract law and it’s fascinating to see how this has developed through the history of the maritime industry in England.

A lot of what we do is contractual – I deal with lots of charter party and bill of lading disputes, including dealing with people who own ships, hire the ships and put their cargo onboard the ships. There are usually lots of monetary claims involved in these contractual relationships.

I also deal with what we call ‘incident-based issues’, which might be where a vessel runs aground, sets on fire, or two vessels collide. We look after the incident management of such issues from a legal perspective and the claims that come out of physical damage to the vessel, cargo or both.  

How do you organise who does the work? How do people in your team interact?

As a team, we don’t have specific associates working with specific partners. We consciously try to spread work from various partners to our whole set of associates because we want them to get the broadest experience possible. Naturally, if an associate is involved in a case with one partner, that may become their focus for the short term. We speak to our associates to find out who has capacity and who’s best placed to assist when new work comes in. Experience is also considered in some cases – for example, if a case requires the level of experience of a senior associate, we’ll direct it to them. We’re also very keen for our associates to have good relationships with our clients, so if there are certain associates who’ve worked with clients before, we’ll try to get them involved again so there’s continuity.

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

There’s a whole host of people dealing with all sides of the marine industry that form part of the marine community. Some are based in the UK but by the very nature of the shipping industry, many of our contacts and clients are much further afield. As an associate, the aim is to meet people within the marine industry, whether that be insurance claims handlers or other relevant contacts to get to know them. As those relationships develop and you become more senior, they may develop into work. Secondments are also important tools to get our associates well integrated with our clients. It’s a good way for our team to better understand what the client needs and wants. This helps us to provide the best legal service to them and enables our associates to be seen as the trusted advisers that they are.

What makes your firm stand out?

I’ve only ever worked at Hill Dickinson, and I’d say there are a number of things that have kept me at the firm. The people and culture are number one – I think it’s fair to say that not many people leave Hill Dickinson, which is a testament that it’s a nice place to work. I think we’re known in the market for being a friendly and eclectic bunch of people. There isn’t a Hill Dickinson type, and that diversity really makes us stand out, and makes the firm a fun and interesting place to be.

On top of this, the opportunities available at Hill Dickinson are incredible. These opportunities were available to me from the very start. For example, as a trainee, I went out to the firm’s Singapore office for six months. We’re all encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities and it’s one of the many reasons I’ve remained at the firm.

What skills/strengths do you need to be a successful partner?

Attention to detail is vitally important to be a good lawyer. What we do is a very detailed assessment of situations, to then best be able to assist our clients. A good level of commercial awareness is also important. This means knowing your clients and the market, and understanding how the client operates and what their market pressures are.

That said, as a partner, understanding the team and the individuals in it is also essential – I’m then properly equipped to put the best people forward for certain tasks to ensure we have the strongest team to deal with particular aspects of an issue. As part of that dynamic, for example, you might have someone who’s very detail orientated who can go through the documents and someone who’s fantastic with clients and can take more client-facing responsibilities. One size doesn’t fit all and working to an individual’s strengths while helping them to develop in other areas is certainly a big part of my current role.

What’s been the highlight of your time at Hill Dickinson?

When I was a trainee, I went on board my first ship in Singapore with the then head of London shipping. We got to go to a shipyard where there was a container ship that had been damaged by a fire. It was a hard hat, boilersuit, steel toe-capped boot situation. This was a particular highlight because it was at this point that I decided that maritime law was the area for me.

What is the most important thing a candidate researching the firm should understand about it?

First and foremost, Hill Dickinson provides sector-specific training contracts. We have three main business groups: marine, health and business services. We ask applicants to express an interest in one of those business groups. So, it’s important for those applying to understand what that training contract looks like and have an idea about whether one of those specialisms might be of interest. We’d expect applicants to have considered the above because our training contract follows a different structure to lots of other law firms. The Hill Dickinson training contract is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring lawyers who are passionate about a career in one of those particular business groups, but the structure won’t necessarily be right for everyone.

What are you reading at the moment?

Other than legal tomes, I’ve recently read a few John Grisham books – the most recent being The Judge’s List.