Leadership & Strategy
As Managing Partner, how do you balance the dual responsibilities of leading a business while maintaining legal excellence across the firm?
To my mind, these are not dual responsibilities. An integral part of leading a business as a law firm is maintaining legal excellence. It is futile to develop and lead a law firm if you are not providing a first-class legal service to all of your clients every day. So, as the Managing Partner, I cannot get lost just in the figures and empirical data but always have to keep supporting and working with our excellent lawyers to ensure they are providing a high standard of legal advice and support to our clients on a consistent basis.
What is your long-term strategic vision for the firm, and how are you positioning it to stay competitive in an evolving legal landscape?
We are the County Durham law firm, with an extensive regional and increasingly national reach. We are very much values and culture driven, and our constant aim is to be a modern law firm rooted in tradition. We want to be reassuring to know so all our clients feel safer and more protected by engaging us.
How do you define effective leadership within a modern law firm, and how has your leadership style evolved over time?
To my mind, the principles of effective leadership are the same, or at least very similar, from many years ago to today. Values, such as being fair and consistent, leading by example, being a role model on a daily basis, trusting and empowering your staff, generally caring about them as people rather than money making commodities, and serving them rather than them serving you, apply as much today in a modern law firm as to one decades ago. It is impossible to lead any organisation well unless you act with integrity, honesty and ethics while constantly retaining your humility and sense of humour.
Culture & Talent
In a competitive talent market, how does your firm attract, develop, and retain top legal professionals?
We aim to offer something slightly different at Swinburne Maddison. Being based where we are gives us a unique position and identity and we’re proud to stand out for the right reasons. The work‑life balance we not only offer but actively encourage, is a core part of our culture and it genuinely sets the tone for how we look after our people. Our lawyers aren’t expected to be tied to their desks, we want them to have fulfilling careers and fulfilling lives outside of work.
Because we are a close‑knit firm, the career opportunities here are significant. Many of our Partners, including me, trained with the firm and that progression is still very much possible today. If you are committed to the firm and believe in what we’re building, there is a genuine opportunity to progress from being a Trainee Solicitor right through to Managing Partner.
We also make sure that high‑quality work is accessible early in people’s careers, supported by the right level of supervision and guidance. We see real value in giving junior lawyers meaningful exposure, including opportunities to join client meetings, build relationships and contribute directly to matters. Many lawyers who join us from elsewhere often comment on how quickly they’re trusted to get involved in work that really develops their skills.
Above all, we value our team as people. We understand that work is not “life or death”, and that everyone has lives, interests, and challenges outside the office. Supporting our people as individuals is fundamental to how we attract, develop and retain talent and it’s a culture that continues to shape the firm today.
What initiatives are in place to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within your firm, and why are they important to you personally?
Swinburne Maddison has always encouraged diversity, equity, and inclusion and we have long been committed to supporting social mobility. Over the years, the legal profession has changed significantly. When I commenced my career, the vast majority of not just Partners but senior lawyers were white, middle class, former public-school boys. That is clearly no longer the case and we are proud to play a part in that shift.
Within the firm, we have several initiatives that help to embed this approach in a practical way. Our recruitment processes are designed to focus on talent and potential rather than background and we work closely with local schools, colleges and universities to broaden access to legal careers. We also run work experience programmes to give people from all backgrounds an opportunity.
If you were to walk into any Partners’ meeting or a social event at Swinburne Maddison, it would be immediately clear that a diverse workplace is not only encouraged but genuinely reflected in the team. This is important to me personally because it is simply the right thing to do and because having people with different perspectives, experiences and approaches is of great benefit to the business and the clients we serve.
How do you cultivate a strong firm culture while managing the pressures of billable targets and client demands?
A strong and positive culture can take many years to develop but can be lost very quickly, so it needs focus on a daily basis. For us, it comes back to trusting and empowering our people, generally caring about them and recognising that there may be significant matters going on in their personal lives which are far more important than how many billable hours they record in the day. We also hugely encourage collaboration amongst our team, so if someone needs some time away to focus on something personal, their colleagues will readily step in for them without complaint to ensure client demands are met. They do this, as they know that when a similar situation arises for themselves, their colleagues will have their back. I also firmly believe that the senior leaders of any firm, including and especially the Managing Partner, set the tone and culture, so if you behave without honour and integrity, you cannot expect your team to do so.
Innovation & Industry Trends
How is technology — including AI and legal tech — transforming your practice areas and how is your firm adapting?
It is almost impossible to read an article or have a conversation at a networking event without the significant impact AI will have on the legal profession being mentioned. It clearly is coming (and to a certain extent is already here) and it needs to be embraced. However, a measured approach certainly needs to be taken, as I do believe many clients will always welcome the human and personal touch.
We are adapting by investing in a new case management system, which is to be implemented later this year, and includes a closed AI function, as we do believe this will be a helpful tool for our team to carry out their roles. We have a very talented Head of Operations and Innovation, who is leading this project, together with his excellent team, and prides himself on being up to date on all tech trends, which will benefit us and our clients now and in the future.
What emerging trends do you believe will most significantly impact the legal profession over the next five years?
It is difficult to look beyond technological innovations, but from a background of employment law and litigation, it will be fascinating to see how AI will be introduced into the judicial system over the coming years and what part it will play in determining disputes.
On a different note, a trend that has already emerged but will continue to do so is how the workplace operates. It is already so different now to pre-Covid in terms of flexible and hybrid working but I believe this will simply develop more over the coming years. Similarly, what is important and really matters to those in the early years of their professional careers is very different to even ten or fifteen years ago. When discussing matters with our more junior lawyers, it is perfectly clear that financial remuneration and chasing a partnership are not their main goals and working somewhere a little different, which enables them to be the best lawyer they can be, but while preserving their all-important life outside of the workplace, is key.
Client Relationships & Community Impact
What differentiates your firm in terms of client service, and how do you ensure long-term client relationships are maintained?
At Swinburne Maddison, we focus not just on delivering good client service, which should be a given, but on the entire client experience. Clients place significant trust in their lawyers and pay substantial fees, so legal excellence and a responsive service are the baseline. What differentiates us is the level of care we put into every stage of the relationship, from the first point of contact to the conclusion of a matter and beyond.
We take time to understand our clients as people and as businesses. Rather than being purely transactional or concentrating only on the immediate job in hand, we encourage our lawyers to be curious, to ask questions and to build a deeper understanding of what really matters to each client. By doing so, we can identify where we can genuinely add value, anticipate challenges and help them navigate the broader issues they face, not just the legal ones.
Maintaining long‑term relationships is a natural consequence of this approach. Our clients know we care about them, that we understand how they operate and that we are invested in their success. In my own dealings with other professionals, whether Accountants, Financial Advisers, or Bankers, the individuals who stand out are always the ones who take the time to get to know you properly. That is exactly the standard we set for ourselves at Swinburne Maddison.
Beyond business success, what role does your firm play in supporting the broader community and regional development?
Swinburne Maddison was created by the merger of two firms 28 years ago this year. However, those firms had existed in Durham for many, many decades previously. That is why we are a firm firmly rooted in Durham and see it as our responsibility as a leading business in it to support and promote Durham and also contribute to its community. We actively support numerous local charities, organisations and sports clubs, not only financially, but encouraging our team to give up their time to be trustees or coaches. Not only is this the right thing to do to help the local community but also helps our team develop and become more rounded people. Every member of our team is able to use a one paid volunteer day each year to a good cause based in the locality, and as there are almost 100 of us here, that is potentially almost a third of the year we are committing to the community. In terms of regional development, I personally devoted much time to the attempt to bring the City of Culture to Durham but have also given up time to be a member of the Panel of the County Durham Growth Fund, and an Ambassador for the Open North Foundation. I am currently on the Advisory Board of Business Durham and have an active role with a College and Society at Durham University. Durham is very important to us, as are its people, as effectively they are our current or potential clients, so the local region is to be ignored at our peril.
