In the next instalment of our blog ‘Five Minutes With’ we asked Dominic Clark about life as an In-House Lawyer with Eversheds Sutherland’s alternative legal and compliance service, Konexo. Here’s what he had to say…
What prompted your move from private practice to in-house?
I found, as a private practice solicitor, I was helping solve problems, but the cause of those problems was elsewhere, but due to the billable hour model, I felt I was unable to address the cause of the problem. I found that very frustrating, however, I also sympathised with a client paying a large sum of money for every 6 minutes of work. So, after a few years of feeling like that, I explored making the move in-house, to not only eradicate the billable hour issue, but also to better understand how my “client” operated and be able to provide a more complete response to any problems.
HOW DOES THIS ROLE COMPARE TO YOUR PREVIOUS IN-HOUSE ROLE?
Konexo provides alternative legal services to clients, that, mostly, already have an in-house legal and compliance functions, yet need additional support. For me, it is the best of both worlds of private practice and in-house. I work with three or four clients, so I fully understand how they operate as a business (which enables me to offer better, more credible and complete legal advice) but there is not the concern of the “clock being on” when we speak. Yet, I still have access to all of the resources and benefits of working for a top 10 global law firm.
Some in-house solicitors find that work can get repetitive, but that is the beauty of Konexo, I work with a few different clients, so I am not always looking at the same agreement, again and again. Also, the work we do, itself, is quite varied, so you are never quite sure what will come through the door.
How has working life changed since the pandemic?
My first daughter was born in 2016. I worked for a private practice firm in Leeds. I did not work “crazy” hours, but I was on a 7:30am train to Leeds and I knew that the last train I could get home, to see my daughter before she went to bed, was the 6:13pm. As I said, those were not crazy hours, but even then, I saw her for perhaps 15 minutes a day. And as most parents now, the 15 minutes before bed are not the most fun…
However, the pandemic changed all of that! I now do double drop off (we had another daughter in 2019) and can pick them both up when needed. I can attend assemblies, nativities and parents evenings. However, it is not just family changes, I also save time (and money) not commuting five days a week, as well as being able to go to appointments, midweek. I have found the perfect balance in being in the office two days a week and at home three days a week.
Konexo offers the most flexibility of anywhere (including in-house) I have worked. We are trusted to get the work done, with no-one watching when we are available or not available. Some of the team work part time, some change their core hours due to other responsibilities and some people come in late to the office as they have to drop little people off before the commute, and all of that is understood and welcomed.
what do you know now that you wish you’d known when your first started your legal career?
You can be yourself! You do not have to be this perfect, professional robot, all of the time. Clients like a bit of personality. Also, everyone gets things wrong and, really, no one knows everything!
Clients also like it when you give direct, commercial advice and do not sit on the fence. When I look back at the advice notes I drafted as a trainee and NQ, they were more focussed on my demonstrating I knew the law, than solving the client’s problem. Most clients do not care about all the noise, they just want a solution. Sitting on the fence, giving a range of options, but caveating that they all carry lots of risk, is of no use.
if you could be anything aside from a lawyer, what would you be and why?
This is a tough one. I would probably be a successful author, who is also a professional photographer and angel investor (I would also need some money to invest). A combination of those things would allow me to explore all of my passions.
I enjoy writing (which is good for a commercial contracts solicitor), I love taking photos with my camera and I actually do enjoy helping business find new opportunities and solutions to the problems they face (that last bit makes me sound like an absolute loser, but it is true!!).