Today we bid farewell to one of our founding Partners, Philip Robson, as he embarks on what we hope will be a very long and happy retirement.
It is hard to overstate the role that Philip has played in making Swinburne Maddison the firm it is today. As a Partner in Wilson Maddison, alongside the late Robert Furness, Philip was there from day 1 when Swinburne Maddison was formed following the merger of Wilson Maddison and Swinburne Jackson and Moreland in 1998. Since that date, Philip has worked tirelessly alongside his fellow Partners to build Swinburne Maddison into one of the leading firms in County Durham.
Much of Philip’s career was dedicated to the field of Commercial Property and he was instrumental in building many of the key client relationships that we continue to nurture to this day. Hugely respected by the business community and private clients alike, we know he will be missed by everyone who has ever had the pleasure to call him their solicitor.
Of course, being a Partner is about more than just legal excellence and client service and no one will miss him more than us, his fellow Partners and colleagues. In a career spanning over 40 years, often dealing with a caseload that would have had the rest of us in pieces, Philip never turned up at the office without his sense of humour and a ready ear. Approachable, pragmatic and with a real knack for problem-solving, Philip was definitely a Partner with whom you could share your “tricky cases”. For many of our former Trainee Solicitors, it was these qualities, alongside his patience (so much patience!) which made Philip such a cherished and trusted training supervisor. For everyone else, he simply made Swinburne Maddison a more fun place to work. We’ll miss you, Philip.
But no sad faces today – this is a day for celebration, and we will be seeing off our resident golfer in the style that he deserves, with an evening of booze-fuelled crazy golf!
Better start limbering up…
Fore!
