In the next instalment of our blog, ‘Five Minutes With’, we caught up with Richard Naish, Partner and Head of Corporate at Walker Morris. Here’s what he had to say …
Firstly, congratulations on your new role as Head of Corporate at Walker Morris! What would you say is your number one plan for the team?
What I’m really focussed on is growing and developing the team. We are nothing without the team and seeing individuals grow and fulfil their potential as we win high quality work is very rewarding. It is an exciting time for Walker Morris as we push into, and through, our next three year strategic cycle. We are wanting to go places and there is an exciting road ahead with real opportunities.
Walker Morris is unique in being the only law firm in the Leeds Big Six that doesn’t have other offices. Why is that and what would you say are the main advantages of working within a single-office firm?
Having just the one office in Leeds creates a whole host of advantages for our colleagues and our clients. A few of the most important ones to my mind are:
– First, even with hybrid working firmly in place, the fact that all colleagues have just one office as their base is great for building cohesive teams and for providing a supportive environment to enable people to reach their full potential and to deliver first rate advice to our clients;
– Second, working closely and in person (on a daily basis) with the partners within the team and the wider firm who will shape careers and progression is massive. There is no ‘management by spreadsheet’ by people hundreds (or even thousands) of miles away. Impress those around you and with whom you work and see daily and the world is your oyster;
– Finally, the fact we are single site means no geography is off limits when it comes to business development. I can go and see a prospective client in Manchester, London, Stockholm or Chicago without the worry of being accused of competing with colleagues in those places (as we don’t have any!).
Although Leeds-based, the team seems to do a significant amount of international work. Could you tell us some more about that?
Perhaps counter-intuitively, the single office in the UK model has helped us win more international work. This has been borne out of an ability to build strong relationships with a whole host of overseas law firms whose models are similar. The work we do with those firms together, by definition, tends to have an international element.
Also, as our work for larger clients (often with an overseas base) grows, the deals tend to be more complex and have cross border elements. Being based in Leeds doesn’t create any sort of barrier on doing this work and provides the team with first rate experience.
You are also Head of the Food & Drink Group at Walker Morris. This must be an interesting sector to work within, particularly in Yorkshire.
Walker Morris has a long and rich history of being a leading adviser to food and drink manufacturers across the whole range of their legal needs, and I am incredibly proud to lead the sector group.
Yorkshire (and the North more generally) has a strong heritage in manufacturing, and the food and drink sub-sector is no different. It’s a very close knit community who are great to work with. The sector has faced significant challenges in/after Covid but its resilience has shone through – businesses have had to work hard to manage costs and major shifts in consumer behaviours, but they have tended to rise to the challenge which is testament to those who work in it.
Many trainee solicitors will currently be making plans for qualification. What qualities do you think a good Corporate lawyer should have?
A good Corporate lawyer needs to have a wide variety of qualities and skills. In no particular order, these include a blend of the following: great communication skills; an eye for the detail; strong coordination and project management skills; personable; being able to keep the bigger picture / client’s commercial objectives in mind and applying that to their advice (and the advice that specialist lawyers provide in the context of a corporate transaction); stamina; adaptable; and a good sense of humour. There are many others, and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ approach. Aspiring Corporate lawyers should play to their strengths, and be aware of (and seek to develop) their weaker areas. Any successful team will have individuals who are stronger in some areas than others, but the mix across a team, and the part everyone can play in that team, makes the difference.
For more information about joining Walker Morris’ Corporate team, please contact Haggerty Jaques on 07740 662995 or 07974 131939.