In the final instalment of a series of interviews showcasing the potential for lawyers beyond the‘traditional role’, Syed Nasser speaks to Caroline Wayman, the outgoing Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman. As a high profile female leader she offers a real insight into the challenges many organisations face around D&I as well as the challenges in leading a public service organisation.

1. Please tell us a bit about who you are, your background and current role?

I’m Caroline Wayman, chief executive and chief ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service – an independent public body set up by Parliament to sort out complaints between financial businesses and their customers in a fair and impartial way. After studying law at Nottingham Law School (NTU) I was called to the bar and spent my early career working in the insurance industry, before joining the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau in 1999. I joined the Financial Ombudsman Service in 2000 and was appointed to the executive team, in 2011 as principal ombudsman and legal director. In 2014 I became chief executive and chief ombudsman. Outside the ombudsman service, I also sit on the board of the Crown Prosecution Service, am its Senior Independent Director and chair its Nominations and Governance Committee. I am also on the Board of Governors at Nottingham Trent University and sit on their audit and risk management committee.

After nearly 7 years as chief ombudsman & chief executive and after 22 at the ombudsman service, I have decided that the time is right for me to step down from the role and will leave in April. The ombudsman service has reached a pivotal point in its history and as nations, organisations and individuals, we are contemplating a landscape shaped and forever changed by a global pandemic. It’s against this backdrop, that the service is embarking on the next phase of its journey and it’s time for me to do the same. I am very excited about the next chapter in my career and what the future may hold.

2. You studied law and were called to the Bar but didn’t practice. Have you remained close to the law in some way?

When I finished my studies, I decided to take a year out and planned to come back and practice the law at some stage, but my career ended up taking a different path. One of the interesting things about working for an ombudsman service is that it has a lot of similarities to a court – an ombudsman needs to weigh up the evidence from both sides to reach an independent view about what has happened and decide what needs to happen to help put things right when they have gone wrong. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service an ombudsman has to take into account relevant law and regulations; regulators’ rules, guidance and standards; codes of practice; and (where appropriate) what the ombudsman considers to have been good industry practice at the relevant time. But a complaint must ultimately be determined by reference to what the ombudsman considers to be fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case. If an ombudsman makes a decision that departs from the law, they have to clearly explain the reason why. As principal ombudsman and legal director I had to work through sometimes very complex areas of law to understand how that might relate to the casework we saw, and the everyday problems people might encounter. I helped establish the ombudsman service’s approach to payment protection insurance (PPI) and later helped successfully defend a judicial review against that approach. Now more than £33billion has already been paid back to people who complained about the sale of PPI with the financial industry applying the ombudsman service’s well established approach to determine if someone is owed compensation. As chief ombudsman I am responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the service’s casework policies and approaches –for example our approach to fraud and scams cases and more recently complaints caused by or affected by Covid-19.

3. What led you to the Financial Ombudsman Service?

One of the things that drew me to working for an ombudsman service was that remit of ‘fair and reasonable’. Fairness is something that I have always been passionate about and I have always ensured that was front and central in any career decisions I took. I will continue to look for opportunities that align with my passion for fairness and doing the right thing – values I worked hard to embed in the ombudsman service and which I will carry with me when I go.

4. What have been the biggest challenges you have faced as chief ombudsman and chief executive?

I’m sure this must be the answer everyone would give at the moment, but leading the organisation through the Covid-19 pandemic has been one of my biggest challenges. We had to transform to a fully remote organisation overnight and maintain a good level of service to our customers whilst also needing to maintain a strong focus on our people’s health and wellbeing. Demand for the service substantially increased as a result of the pandemic and we needed to ensure we continued to respond to vulnerability and complexity in the complaints we were seeing – providing additional support to those who needed it. Our people’s strength and resilience was tested in ways it never has been before and it was important the service provided as much support and flexibility as possible to help people adapt to the huge changes in their personal and professional lives. I’m extremely proud of everything our people managed to achieve despite all those disruptions and I think is real testimony to what can be achieved when you lean into a challenge and work together to overcome it. Aside from the challenges the global pandemic brought, over the years there have also been times when we have faced periods of extended external scrutiny. As a public service organisation, it is absolutely right that the ombudsman service is subject to external scrutiny and challenge but that can of course be very difficult at times too. I’ve found that being as transparent and as open as possible on the work and challenges we face as a demand led organisation helps ensure we can help set the wider context and give appropriate account of the work we do.

5. What unique challenges, if any, do you feel you have faced courtesy of being a woman in a high profile leadership position?

There have been plenty of times in my career where I have been the only woman in the room and sadly, I have experienced explicit sexism in my career – although gladly never from someone from within the ombudsman service or other organisations I have worked for. On a more positive note though I have found that in general there is an extremely supportive wider community of senior women who have always been incredibly generous with their time, advice and support. I have always tried to mirror that approach and give back as much as I can – whether that be through mentoring programmes, at networking events or more informally over a cup of coffee and a chat. As a senior leader I have a responsibility to challenge where I see inequalities or discrimination of any kind and to ensure there is a constructive narrative to help move conversations and attitudes forward.

6. What has been the biggest change you have noticed during you career?

Definitely how much more open employers have become to recognising the value of and encouraging diversity of backgrounds when they are hiring or promoting to roles. Also, people’s careers can take much less linear pathways than in the past which I think also really adds to the richness of backgrounds and experience that we’ve started to see come through in recent years.

7. Diversity and Inclusion is a hot topic of course, but what do you feel are the benefits beyond simply being the right thing?

I have always tried to make sure I lead a workplace where people can join knowing they can be themselves – and in doing so I believe they will provide the best possible service to customers. The ombudsman service is one that is available to everyone in the UK and I don’t think we’d be able to understand our customers and the society we serve if we weren’t a diverse and inclusive organisation. Of course, Covid-19 wasn’t the only significant event of 2020. The issue of racial injustice was also brought into sharp focus – something which, sadly, has impacted many of our people. We made sure that we gave our people a platform to share their experiences of racism and helped us understand where we can do more. As an organisation and society more widely, keeping up the momentum on these conversations, continuing to ask ourselves tough questions, and exploring the areas where we aren’t as good as we want to be, remain extremely important.

8. What advice would you give yourself in your early 20’s?

Part of what I really enjoy about leading an organisation is having the opportunity to hear a wide range of views and perspectives in my day to day role. When you first go into any type of leadership role it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all the responsibility for ideas and solutions fall on your shoulders. I think I would definitely give my 20 year old self the advice that actually it’s the diversity of thoughts and perspectives and working collaboratively that will bring out the best in your own leadership style and will ultimately help you to create an environment where people see the success of an organisation as a shared responsibility and something everyone can take ownership of. Also, try to learn the importance of not being too hard on yourself when you don’t get everything right first time. When you learn an important lesson – celebrate it – as it means you are continuing to learn and grow – something that we should never stop doing.

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions

& Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 

Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

As part of a series of interviews we are showcasing the potential for lawyers beyond the ‘traditional role’. In Part 4 of the series, Syed Nasser speaks to Al-Karim Makhani, a former litigation lawyer in a City firm, to discuss his experience transitioning out of private practice and into the exciting and expanding legal technology universe.

1.Could you tell us a bit about your background and your current role?

I am a Vice President at TransPerfect Legal Solutions, prior to which I was a senior disputes associate in the London and HK offices of Stephenson Harwood. The plan was that I brought that “coalface” experience to bear on a talented tech team who were breaking into the English eDisclosure market – TLS empowers lawyers to leverage technology, particularly AI and analytics. We work with firms ranging from the Magic Circle to highly specialised boutiques and GCs from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. I lead our legal technology offerings for EMEA and APAC. My role today is as different to the role I left practice for 5 years ago. But, the evolving nature of the work is why I still haven’t suffered the Sunday blues once!

2.What made you leave private practice?

The next few years would have been head down to secure partnership. Once you’re made up, it takes a few years to see the benefits. I thought to myself, if I don’t try something new now – I never will. I’d always been interested in disruption and in the business side of things. Whilst I felt my learning and passion had stagnated I didn’t want to leave behind almost a decade’s worth of knowledge and network. I wanted a new challenge, to broaden my horizons. I looked into a variety of things – going in house, litigation funding, even recruitment – there were actually a lot of good options out there. But TLS ticked boxes for something commercial, entrepreneurial and progressive. It’s not quite as brave as it sounds. The beauty of being a lawyer is that you always have the safety net of getting back into practice if things don’t work out!

3.What challenges did you face?

 After 8 years you have both good friends and good will in abundance. Leaving all of that behind is scary. Going from an office with just myself and a trainee, to bustling open plan space with sofas, table tennis tables and hundreds of people was a shock to the system (although it became quickly clear I was more of a distraction to open plan than vice versa). In private practice you’re focused on giving legal advice. Tech and even business are somewhat tangential and you never know quite where you will land. That fear soon disappeared – shift in the balance of the commercial, advisory and tech elements of the roles was a surprisingly quick and smooth transition. There was of course the intangibles like status, the perception, questions marks about why anyone would leave a successful career track in a firm. Lastly – going from the middle age wise, to one of the oldest 5 people in a 500 person office. A few too many lost 80s film references.

4. In your new role, what are your biggest challenges?

 The speed of change. As a technology company, you have to be at the cutting edge. What works today, may be obsolete tomorrow. So there is constant pressure to innovate and diversify. Law is always changing but technology updates faster. Either intersection – legal technology or data centric regulation seem to keep pace with the latter. When I started, the GDPR didn’t exist and you think how much that has permeated into society. Robot lawyers were painted as Susskindian machinations but real AI is being used to radically innovate all over the legal world. The diversity of the role is hugely satisfying. But it means I always feel time poor. It’s all well and good saying “prioritise”, but different hats mean genuinely urgent things for different teams. So then you’re looking at the big picture. It’s really important to keep sight of the organisation’s strategic goals and values.

5. Is your typical working day different now?

 Cliche as it sounds, there is not a typical working day. On Monday, I could be advising on the GDPR ramifications of reviewing data across divergent merger control proceedings. Tuesday speaking to a room of 500 people about the application and ethics of AI in the legal space, Wednesday looking at billables, revenue, gross margins etc. to see how we can be more profitable, Thursday collaborating with a client’s innovation team on a legal hackathon to design a piece of tech responding to real client needs, Friday piloting a new piece of information governance technology that could revolutionise (but cannibalise) our legal tech offering and on Saturday diving into one of our awesome CSR initiatives. May not be quite as exciting as Craig David’s 7 days, but it keeps me on my toes.

6. What advice do you have for those considering a similar move?

 Borrowing from Nike (a client!), just do it. Often lawyers are blinkered to their own transferable skills. There may be some areas of extended specialisation, especially for senior lawyers, but the soft skills you learn are invaluable anywhere. Communication skills (written and verbal) are paramount for most roles. The ability to ingest and simplify complex concepts. Strategic thinking and problem solving. A good understanding of risk. But – leaving the law doesn’t always mean less late nights. The last few years I’ve clocked more time working than even my busiest years in practice.

7. Anything you miss about the world of law firms or any advice to law firms?

I sometimes miss the pride which used to stretch across my parents’ faces when they told people their son was a lawyer! Joking aside, there is a certain status about being at a City firm in a legal/financial centre like London. That was hard for the first year. I miss some of the legal jousting – with colleagues, counsel or the other side. Overall though, anything I miss pales in comparison to what I’m grateful for. Job satisfaction, happiness levels, continuous learning, leadership opportunities, and a global business to service. The list really does go on!

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions

& Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 

Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

TransPerfect Legal Solutions :

As part of a series of interviews we are showcasing the potential for lawyers beyond the ‘traditional role’. In Part 3 of the series, on International Women’s Day 2021 and during Women’s History Month 2021, Syed Nasser speaks to Mary Bonsor, a former property litigation lawyer, to discuss her experience transitioning out of private practice. Mary is an exceptional female role model and won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Women in Law Awards 2020 as well as winner of Entrepreneur Category at the Women in European Legal Tech Awards 2020.

What is your background and current role?

I am the CEO of Flex Legal – a platform to connect law firms and in house legal teams to lawyers and paralegals on a flexible basis. We have over 5,000 paralegals on the platform and 300 lawyers. Before setting up Flex Legal, I was a property litigator at Winckworth Sherwood for 4 years. I won Entrepreneur of the Year in the Women in Law Awards 2020 which was a great honour.

What led to you leaving private practice?

I didn’t fall out of love with the law, but I knew that if I did not set Flex Legal up when I did, I would never do it. I was 28 and did not have a mortgage at that stage, or children and thought it was the best time to take a leap of faith and take a risk. My mother always said “fortune favours the brave” and so I thought what was the worst thing that could happen and if it all goes terribly wrong, I will have learnt a lot along the way and could always go back to being a lawyer. I do love that I am still involved in the legal space, but just in a different way and have found a number of skills very transferrable.

Were there any challenges in making a move?

Yes! The first challenge was getting into the head space of taking a risk. It did not come naturally as most lawyers are quite risk adverse and it took 4 years of research and weekend work to take the jump. This is why it was important for me to raise some funds to check it was a good idea and that people I didn’t know were willing to invest in the idea and me. We only raised 120k to get going so tried to boot strap it which meant learning on the job rather than hiring lots of people to start with, so I had to learn how to be an accountant, a salesperson, a recruiter and a COO – you are the jack(ie) of all trades to start with!

What are some of your biggest challenges today?

Our biggest challenge is trying to ensure we can differentiate ourselves from some of our competitors, learning new skills such as managing a team rather than being involved in the day to day operations and scaling the business. This means we have to ensure our processes are efficient and things which were “in my head” are clearly on our platform so people can pick them up. A good example with this is account management and ensuring that all placements and how they go, are clearly recorded. This is a really important part of scaling and ensuring knowledge can easily be shared across teams. Our platform plays a key part in this.

How does your working day differ now?

My day is very different to when I was in PP. I spend a lot more time in excel then I did as a lawyer and spend a lot more of my time speaking to clients and really getting to know them. Weirdly I didn’t do enough of this as a lawyer and I actually think lawyers should spend as much time with their clients as possible to really understand their commercials and motivations which would make them a much better lawyer to that client so I am a really big fan of secondments.

Do you have any advice for those considering a similar change?

Just do it – you never regret it and continuing to be challenged is very important! Also don’t be afraid to ask for help and network, network, network.  I am amazed at how generous people are if you ask them for advice and have found having mentors incredibly important. I also could not have done it without my co-founder James, who is amazing – and the techy behind the idea. He is brilliant and we work very well as a team because we are incredibly different – he is brilliant at thinking things through, and I want to get on and do it (which means we can drive each other up the wall by challenging each other, but it works very well!) so I would also try and find someone to do it with who has a strength which you don’t as otherwise I imagine it could be very lonely!

Do you have any advice for start ups looking for investment?

My advice would be to also make sure your investors are right for you, and do your due diligence on them too. I always find it odd that the due diligence often only seems one way- from the investor side but it is crucial to make sure the investor is a good fit for you, supports your vision and can offer value otherwise it is not worth taking their money.

Do you have advice to law firms as a result of your experiences?

I think law firms have come a very long way in terms of innovation over the past 4 years but I think law firms could be more savvy with their data. They hold so much data and trying to analyse this more can help create a better service and make them more efficient. An example of when I was in PP where I could see this working is when I did a seat in real estate. Although each matter had time recording against it, the firm never looked across each case and looked at how long a transaction took and asked why did some deals take so much longer than others? Asking these sorts of questions could then lead to more efficiency, analysis and prioritisation of some clients over others. I think we will see a lot more data analysts in law firms over the next few years.

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions

& Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 

Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

Flex Legal: Flex Legal

As part of a series of interviews we are showcasing the potential for lawyers beyond the ‘traditional role’. In Part 2 of the series Syed Nasser speaks to Ben White, a former Magic Circle lawyer to discuss his experience transitioning out of private practice.

1. Please tell us a little bit about who you are, your background and the new role and business

My name’s Ben White, I’m the Founder of Crafty Counsel. We’re a media startup that helps legal professionals to learn, achieve, and share. What that looks like tangibly is that we create content (for example, on legal careers and innovation), support an active community (for example, we manage several virtual meet-up groups for in-house counsel), and run ‘Crafty Counsel Studios’, where we use our content making skills to help our clients such as law firms and legal tech companies on their own creative projects. 

I started my career at Clifford Chance, where I trained and qualified into the Corporate team. I left after four years’ qualification to move into an in-house legal role at Global Fashion Group, which is a holding company for several large fast fashion e-commerce brands around the world. 

2. What motivated you to leave private practice?

I started to get a nagging feeling not long after qualification that I didn’t want to become a partner. It took me a while to really accept that that was the case, but eventually the question really became how long to stay at Clifford Chance – what was the right point to move? 

I was in a great team and was lucky to work with partners who I admired and who trusted me to crack on with some important client relationships. I worked on some massive deals, which was – frankly – completely exhausting and stressful at the time; but which also formed some of my proudest memories. I also got to travel a lot – I spent my trainee secondment in Shanghai, and travelled on deals and on client relationship trips to the United States, Chile, and around Europe. And, I led a pro bono relationship with Sadler’s Theatre, which was fabulous as I was and am a big fan of theatre (even if some of their interpretative dance productions were a little avante garde for my taste!). All in all, a great experience, and I was very lucky. 

But, as I approached my fifth year after qualification, I started to look more seriously at other options. I’d done a secondment to a UK Government department which was then called the Shareholder Executive (now UK Government Investments) and that had given me a taste for in-house legal life. In parallel, I’d developed an interest in start-ups – and one reason for leaving was that, at the time, I didn’t see a way to work on entrepreneurial ventures at Clifford Chance (funnily enough, this was just before they started a legal tech subsidiary and put even more emphasis on their Tech practice! I don’t know if that would have changed my mind, but it is somewhat ironic…).

When a role came up at a large venture capital backed startup called Global Fashion Group, I thought that this combined start-ups, corporate legal work, and had an international dimension – bingo. 

3. What challenges did you face in making the move?

Well, I made two moves. First a move in-house. Then, leaving that role to focus full-time on my own business. 

I definitely felt that a challenge about in-house life was getting to grips with areas outside my former specialism of corporate law, without the infrastructure around to support to me. An important question was that of judgement – when to look for help, and from whom. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and I remember wasting quite a lot of others’ time with ill-placed “client comments” during a debt facility negotiation, for example. 

That said, in-house life, when it works, can come with some real positives – such as a much richer range of expertise and personalities that you deal with on a day to day basis. I developed very strong relationships with venture capitalists, my colleagues in Treasury, Finance, and Risk, and leaders in our group’s various portfolio businesses. 

I kept on seeing a real gap in terms of community and resources to support in-house legal teams, particularly those outside of the very largest (almost quasi-law firms) teams in banks and so on. I found that we had frequent challenges which felt much surely have been solved by teams in other businesses. That feeling led me to start work on Crafty Counsel, first as a side project. Roll on a year or so and I found that I was interviewing for my next in-house role, while having a business up and running on the side. I felt that it would be a mistake to step into a new in-house counsel position without having tried to give my own  business a real crack. 

Working as an entrepreneur as I do now – well, there have been countless challenges in that move! Such as…. 

4. In your new role, what are the biggest challenges you have faced?

Figuring out what are the really important things to work on and focusing on those. It’s really easy to get sucked into absolutely everything. As founder of the company, I want to be across every detail. That’s not always helpful and, as we mature, it’s important to figure out when to leave my team to it!

5. Does your typical working day differ now?

There’s no typical day as an entrepreneur, but it’s quite normal to find myself involved in every aspect of the business: content, sales, marketing, technology, investor relations, managing the team. And, yes, even our legal documents!

6. Do you have any advice for someone thinking of doing something similar?

Regarding my in-house move, I would encourage private practice lawyers to take a more proactive approach than I did. I found myself regularly checking jobs boards and careers emails from the likes of The Lawyer. That was a very reactive approach. In retrospect, I would have been better off taking a more proactive approach, by really identifying the sorts of organisations I wanted to work for, shortlisting relevant companies, and developing my network of people and recruiters who could give me introductions to people in and around those sorts of companies. It’s difficult to find time to do that, of course – it’s a lot easier to browse job ads from your desk at 1am while you’re waiting on comments back from the other side! 

I would also say, diligence any in-house role really carefully, and try to be objective about it. What do you think of the business strategy? How are the financials? Who will you work with? My in-house role worked out over a two year period, and it was an important and beneficial experience for me, but there were definitely some times not that long after I joined where I wondered if it had been the right move. Unlike in a law firm, you are totally dependent on that one “client”. 

Regarding setting up my own business, a lot of people ask about risk. I would encourage lawyers thinking about this to address risk head on. We tend to be risk averse. Ask yourself, ‘what is the realistic worst case scenario?’ For me, I thought in terms of foregone income and career progression. My conclusion was that if my business failed after a couple of years, I could package up that experience into a CV “story” that would be attractive for a legal role in venture capital or at another start-up – even presenting this as my own personal version of an MBA. Doubtless that was somewhat self-serving logic, but it helped.

7. Is there anything you miss about working in a law firm?

Being surrounded by people who are absolute experts in what they do and relentless in getting the best results for their clients. (Of course, that would also describe the Crafty Counsel team!) 

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions

& Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 

Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

Crafty Counsel: Building a Legal Community | Crafty Counsel

As part of a series of interviews we are showcasing the potential for lawyers beyond the ‘traditional role’. In Part 1 of the series Syed Nasser speaks to Sanjay Mehta, a former law firm partner to discuss his experience transitioning out of private practice.

Could you tell us a bit about your background and your current role?

I’m the Chief Commercial Officer and General Counsel at ITARMI. Previously I was a partner in a US-HQ international law firm (and at a UK-HQ firm before that). ITARMI simplifies the delivery of IT engineering services through an innovative software platform. We’re an international business, serving well-known, large enterprise customers across different sectors from financial services to consumer technology and providing services into locations as diverse as New York, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Melbourne. My working environment and role are quite different to my career in private practice. I also advise other startups (e.g. edtech and deeptech). In terms of values, I am passionate about Diversity & Inclusion.

Why did you leave private practice?

Practice had been a very rewarding career, but for some time I’d been looking for the right opportunity to join a great team that was building an industry-changing business (ITARMI’s mission is to change the way that managed IT services are delivered). This means having fewer committees and a stronger bias to action. As a startup, our opportunities and challenges are both significant. Also, I wanted to have a broader, commercial role. In addition to overseeing legal, I work very closely with other members of the C-suite (esp. the CEO, CTO and CFO) and with our teams that are focused on sales, commercial strategy, product development and information security management systems.

Were there any challenges in making a move?

Plenty of challenges. I’ll mention one that was maybe less obvious: as I wanted a business leadership role, it wasn’t enough for me to re-imagine my own role; I also had to demonstrate wider capabilities, interests and ambitions to a range of stakeholders, such as teammates and investors. If you want to diversify your role, you have to help stakeholders and decision-makers to envision that outcome – this applies whether you’re in an organisationally complex corporate or a startup and it’s an ongoing process. On an ongoing basis, having a growth mindset also helps to show that you want to grow dynamically with your new role.

What are some of your biggest challenges today?

One of the biggest challenges is time management. I’ve found two coping strategies have helped. Firstly, triaging – focusing on high priority, measurable and realistic goals for any given period (e.g. Q1 2021). Secondly, being able to look at an unfinished “to do” list without too much guilt or judgment. This also means recognising that certain things are outside of my control and that there are always going to be fires burning. I haven’t mastered these techniques yet, but I’m working on it.

How does your working day differ now?

Firstly, tremendous variety – there’s always stuff to keep you interested and on your toes. It’s not a comfort zone. Secondly, closer communications and collaboration. Tools such as Slack and Teams make it easier for distributed teams like ours to manage business operations and execute effectively. Thirdly, deliverables: I’m focused on what we need to achieve – whether that’s me, a team or the company. Aside from revenue, we try to measure progress and results in terms of objective criteria (e.g. OKR, NPR or KPI). On a personal level, I’m not tracking billable hours.

Do you have any advice for those considering a similar change?

The marketer in me is a fan of the “power of 3”, so I’ll mention 3 things! Firstly, be an infinite learner (I’m borrowing the words of Silicon Valley legend, Reid Hoffman). You’ll be more engaged and engaging. To put it another way, enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Secondly, develop your personal brand. Think about what your core values are, what you can contribute to a company’s culture (“culture add” rather than “culture fit”) and how you can share these attributes. You may need to shift gear on this if it’s not something that’s been particularly encouraged or celebrated at your firm. Lastly – and most importantly – Diversity & Inclusion. Embrace it. Just as you have a unique contribution to make, so do others. Empower, include and support others. It’s not just right thing to do, it’s important for your own sense of well-being.

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions & Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 

Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

ITARMI: Business IT Support Platform | ITARMI

Fides Search is delighted to welcome Dorothy Adu-Mfum to the team. Dorothy joins us as Researcher and will be supporting our clients on pre-search analysis, mapping and due diligence. Dorothy adds to our London based capability and will also support our clients in continental Europe and the Middle East. Dorothy will work with clients across Professional Services, Financial Services, Technology and Life Sciences. Dorothy has a strong passion for the legal industry thanks to her legal studies, having completed her LPC and MSC in 2020 with a distinction and her undergraduate degree in Law in 2016 with a first-class.

Dorothy is also passionate about thought leadership and contributes to a female-led magazine which empowers female-owned, and female-led businesses to positively impact their communities; both socially and economically. This allows her to add further depth to our thought-leadership in our cross-sector Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives.

Having experienced hardship while growing up, Dorothy founded Law City in December 2019, a platform that connects aspiring lawyers from Low-socioeconomic status (SES) households/backgrounds to the legal sector in London. With a long history of championing social mobility, Dorothy will play a leading role in increasing social mobility within our network.

She joins us at Fides Search during a period of growth following the appointment of Syed Nasser who joined as a Venture Capital and Technology Transactions specialist, Mathew Parker who also recently joined our TMT sector group and Chris Excell who leads our IP and Patents sector group.

Edward Parker, Director of Fides Search had this to say:

Dorothy is a tremendous person, we are all very excited to have her join the team. What she has achieved academically and in terms of setting up Law-City is simply incredible and points to the kind of person she is. Having a first class research function is vital to the success of any search business as such Dorothy will be a key member in the team and someone we think will add great value. We look forward to working with Dorothy and we look forward to working with the Law-City community and our existing clients/network to help push the social mobility agenda along with our other areas of thought leadership.

What Dorothy had to say:

I am very happy to join the growing team at Fides Search as a Researcher. I am particularly excited to contribute to our thought leadership in our cross-sector Diversity and Inclusion initiative and providing insight in regard to Social mobility. I am proud to be part of a Search firm that leads in delivering exceptional service and client experience.

Dorothy’s Bio can be found here

Email: dorothy@fidessearch.com

D: +44 (0) 20 3137 7101

Venture Capital is all the rage, Right? Yes!

In London, new research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners revealed that 2020 was a record year, with tech firms raising $10.5bn of VC investment. London has been the second fastest-growing global tech hub since 2016, seeing increasing levels of new VC funds set up, and being home to the highest concentration of unicorns and future unicorns in Europe. Whilst once Private Equity was the darling of the City when it came to law firm hiring, VC is stepping up to the plate with an increasing number of our law firm clients talking to us about their desire to either establish or add strength to their VC teams.

Why has this happened? Simply put, VC has potential to provide better returns and be more profitable on a public market equivalence basis. Not to mention of course that the lines between PE and VC continue to blur with PE having to adopt the VC model, better understand technology companies, take more risks and drive growth through diversification. Fundamentally, technology has bridged the gap between PE and VC and the trend is set to continue and probably will accelerate after the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, according to Private Equity News.

So let us turn our attention to what this means in the world of lateral partner recruitment at law firms in London, first by taking a look at some of the key Partner moves over the last 5 years:

2020

2019

* Rob Young is a tax partner specialising in venture capital transactions

**Matthew Edwards joined from an in-house position at a VC fund manager

2018

Note – Withers acquired JAG Shaw Baker, a corporate and Intellectual Property boutique, to create WithersTech

2017

2016

As we can see, there are some clear trends. In general, the amount of lateral hiring of VC Partners has increased steadily since 2016. Another trend which is more clearly seen in 2020 and 2019, is that major US law firms are hiring Partners in this space. Last year Latham and Watkins established a VC practice, hiring Shing Lo and Mike Turner from UK firms. Brown Rudnick also hired three partners from Baker Botts.

In 2019, Goodwin Procter built a sizeable team including taking four partners from UK firm Taylor Wessing. And 2018 saw the much-anticipated arrival of the leading US tech firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in London.

Across the board (with the exception of China, where investment into private technology companies slowed) the size of the market in terms of capital invested into tech, much of it from VCs, has grown steadily, as can be seen below:

In addition, the leading seed investors are raising larger and larger funds and the arrival of leading US VCs means they are now also participating at seed level in Europe. Sequoia Capital opening an office in London is a clear demonstration of this, and Peter Theil recently spoke about why he is increasingly investing into European tech, having previously dismissed it.

It is therefore no surprise that with growing fundraisings and increased investments that law firms are increasing the size of their VC practices and competing for the best talent. Nor is it a surprise, with increasing US VC presence in Europe alongside increased US activity by UK-based start-ups seeking growth, that US law firms are now extremely interested in this area.

It would be no surprise if 2021 was yet another record breaking one bearing in mind there was of course an initial Covid-19 slowdown in Q2 in 2020, with capital flow and investments grinding to a halt before bouncing back so strongly in Q3. Eileen Burbidge, partner at London VC firm Passion Capital, recently stated (Reuters) that she has been ‘seeing pitches back to pre-COVID levels or higher’. Lateral moves have already started with Erika McIntrye joining Taylor Vinters from WithersTech in January 2021.

However, whilst the future is looking bright indeed, there are likely to be some challenges. There has been a growing trend to focus on Diversity & Inclusion within the VC and technology world, which seems to have a greater disparity than one might naturally assume. This is something that we shall investigate further in a follow-up piece, so keep a look out. In the meantime, it would be great to hear from you: what trends are you seeing in the VC and start-up world? Please feel free to get in touch!

By Syed Nasser, Head of Technology Transactions & Venture Capital

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7960 739 158 | Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

Fides Search are delighted to welcome Syed Nasser to the team. Syed joins us as a Senior Consultant and will be leading our Venture Capital and Technology Transactions practice.

Syed has a long history of working with UK, US and boutique law firms in London as well as internationally on Partner Search across a plethora of practice areas but has developed a particular interest and track record in the Venture Capital and Corporate Technology Transactions in recent times. Syed will add further depth to our partner search capability in helping clients secure the best possible talent across our core international markets whilst also working with our clients on consultancy and due diligence projects. In addition to law firms, Syed also works with established and emerging tech companies, family offices and financial institutions. With a long history of campaigning, Syed will also play a leading role in our cross sector Diversity and Inclusion initiative.

Having previously qualified as a Barrister, Syed spent 7 years at a leading legal search boutique before establishing his own firm, Twyford Search in 2014. He joins us at Fides Search during a period of growth following Mathew Parker who also recently joined our TMT sector group and Chris Excell who leads our IP and Patents sector group.

Edward Parker, Director of Fides Search had this to say:

Syed brings over 12 years of legal search experience to the Fides team. His experience will help our clients in highly competitive areas such as Venture Capital and Technology Transactions. He has a consultative and diligence led approach which we believe is a fundamental to achieving the right outcome for our clients. We look forward to working with Syed and properly introducing him to our clients in due course.

What Syed had to say:

I am very excited to join the growing team at Fides Search and to focus on the venture capital and technology space. It was a unique opportunity to join a Search firm that genuinely values client relationships by strategically partnering with them and focuses on delivering a first-class service and client experience.

Syed’s Bio can be found here

Email: snasser@fidessearch.com

D: +44 (0) 20 3642 1871

M: +44 (0) 7960 739158

After speaking with a number of IP practitioners within both industry and private practice about using existing technology, we thought it would be useful to report on the state of platforms used. Are the tools at their disposal are good enough, or what, if anything, can be improved to make the overall experience better for them and their clients?

Existing technology:

A good starting point is to list the common platforms that IP professionals use to search for patents and managing them. This is not an exhaustive list and is a combination of paid for and free to use software.

• Anaqua Patent Search Services – combines insight with well managed processes and services to turn intellectual property into a competitive advantage
• Derwent World Patents Index – database which allows up to 3.6million records per year to be added
• Equinox – software specifically designed for IP teams worldwide
• net – launched in 1998, it was to “revolutionize public access to international patent information”
• GenomeQuest – seen as the industry standard and is the largest repository of sequences cited in patents
• Google Patents – free to use with the ability to search patens on terms, date, assignee and inventor
• Orbit Intelligence – dedicated to patent research and analysis
• PatBase – extensive database that you can conduct a citation search on.
• PatSeer – an AI driven approach to searching, analyzing, reporting, collaborating, and managing patent data projects
• PatView – enables the ability to search on commercial patent databases from over 100 countries)
• Patentscope by WIPO – free access to 83million patent documents from multiple participating patent offices.
• PatSnap – allows a visual and analytical overview of IP portfolios to determine risk and reach management decisions that align with business strategy and future opportunities
• PatentTracker- a patent register monitoring service used by legal / IP departments
• PQAI – an initiative of AT&T, it provides a simple way to run prior-art checks

As the above is not an exhaustive list, the immediate thoughts are there are so many different types of software to use and there is not one uniform platform. Whilst there is an argument to say this is no bad thing, for lawyers and attorneys across IP, this is a professional nightmare. There is no consistency and if anything, there is an overabundance of technology available (albeit not all will be fit for purpose)

Concerns from patent professionals:

Having spoken with patent professionals, it was consistently referenced that technology should be there to simplify processes. If they need to trawl through several databases and use multiple pieces of software, then this goes against that sentiment and creates additional problems that the technology is meant to aid.

A large part of making their life easier comes simply down to the interface with the user. Most of the platforms mentioned above are quite complex and not user friendly at all. It makes it difficult to keep track of patents. Examples do exist where tools have been developed to track prosecution status which enables

With that being said, there has been the introduction of tools that track prosecution statuses, such as PatentTracker, making it easy to comply with inventor laws (depending on the jurisdiction) These tools will automatically submit a claim that has to paid, directly to the law firm / individual in question.

A number of those questioned for this article commented that there is a lack of technology that suitably brings together all the component parts of the process from search to filing. This is deemed to be the next big evolution for existing technology.

Current platforms and software require extensive training to properly implement and use the technology, which is a huge time investment. During the life cycle of a patent attorney / lawyers’ career, it is highly likely they will be having to re-train themselves on moving to a new firm that does not use the same software.

The biggest difficulty when it comes to processing patent applications, and to a certain extent, trademark applications, is that the terminology can often vary. This hampers a search as a catch-all search will not necessarily capture the correct information and can leave the client / firm exposed to infringements and potentially serious litigious action taken against them.

One individual I spoke with raised an excellent point. They were comparing patent searches with other industries; in this case it was the recruitment world. By default, certain industries incentivise you to submit the correct information. For example, if you are interested in a new role, you will go to the website, fill in the form and submit your CV. All of this is relevant purely for that submission.

In the patent world, it is very much the reverse. There is no correct pre information to digest. You are relying on hundreds, if not thousands (and beyond) individuals inputting the correct information across different jurisdictions. This is something that cannot be managed properly unless technology changes.

Unfortunately, nobody is arranging the data in a way that can be accurately processed. As it stands, professionals use different terminology for things that really should be categorized in a consistent way. This must change to generate accurate searches.

There are further barriers when it comes to accurate translations incorporated into existing software. A majority of this is currently outsourced to companies who will translate on their behalf. Again, surely this is something that existing platforms should look to incorporate? Whilst a few platforms have this offering, it goes back to the original points about user interface which can be complex.

The way forward?

Arguably the greatest changes have been the introduction of the cloud for data and the EPO now offering online filing. These are only baby steps though, and until there is an algorithm or software that can capture all the relevant information, IP practitioners are still some way off harnessing the potential upside of technology.

With the advancements in big data, storage, and AI we are nearing a point where the increased demands and expectations could be successfully met. It will greatly enhance the experience of client and patent professional whilst de-risking what is a highly litigious market.

Inhouse patent teams differ greatly in terms of size and resource. Historically, there used to be inhouse research teams, which in some cases, circa 100 people, conducting multiple searches on existing patents and freedom to operate. Nowadays, it is more common that we see leaner teams which in-itself points to the fact that some technology solutions are working and have reduced the need for headcount. This provides further validation that technology solutions can impact established norms and improve efficiencies.

Conclusion:

The conundrum faced by leaders in this space; do you want a user friendly platform that is accessible but lacks many of the key end user requirements, or do you want a platform that lacks the front end user functionality but offers additional elements such as; compiling reports, covering  annuity payments, hosting electronic files etc.? If the latter, then end users must grapple with what is best described as a complex system whilst also being unsure as to whether searches are deep enough to fully inform their views. We feel that there is a long way to go for existing systems can be fully relied upon to meet the needs of IP and patent professionals.

It is fair to say that the UK legal establishment has been ‘blindsided’ by the announcement by the Irish Law Society. Overseas solicitors will not be entitled to Irish Practicing certificates unless they have a physical presence in Ireland from the 1^st of January.

What do you need to know:

Practising certificates – Solicitors outside the jurisdiction

The review confirmed the Society’s view that, under the Solicitors Acts 1954 to 2015 and the regulations implementing those statutes, a practising certificate only entitles a solicitor to practise in Ireland from an establishment in Ireland. The review also confirmed that a practising certificate can only be issued to a solicitor on that basis.

Jurisdictional limit on practising certificates

The practice of issuing practising certificates to solicitors outside the jurisdiction may create the erroneous impression that the Society permits practice pursuant to the Irish practising certificate outside Ireland. It is clear that no such practice is permitted and, by adopting this approach, the Society will be making clear that such practice is not permitted.

Why is this important?

Post Brexit we have seen a flurry of law firms move to register their solicitors in Ireland. It has become so common place that many considered it necessary admin. Has this all been in vain? Possibly? There are of course a number of international firms with a physical presence in Dublin, this includes but is not limited to Covington & Burling, Dechert, Dentons, DLA, Eversheds Sutherland, Pinsent Masons and various others. Over the coming weeks/Months we may see a significant spike in international law firms registering and opening an office in Dublin.

It seems that the Law Society of England and Wales learned about this change through a press release on the Law Society of Irelands website. Thus hinting at the likelihood that there was no consultation or formal notification prior to releasing the update. Interestingly other EU-qualified lawyers based in England and Wales it seems, are still be able to continue practising in their home jurisdictions state law including EU law.

As a reference to the size of impact since 2016 some 4,000 lawyers had successfully gained admission to the Irish roll of solicitors with an understanding, they will be able to advise their clients on EU law. It makes sense does it not?! The largest number of solicitors that gained admission had come from Allen & Overy and Linklaters but this is perhaps a fair reflection given their size and lack of a Dublin presence. This could be seen as the law society of Ireland expecting solicitors to have a genuine connection with their jurisdiction. Removing the chance of lawyers in the UK having a back door to the EU via Ireland. This is of course understandable and in turn focuses work to Irish based solicitors but it could be with a view to attracting more international firms to Dublin.

What to expect?

Dublin itself is an exciting market thanks to the lure of Technology and Financial Services clients. Currently Northern Ireland and Scotland have not issued a notification of any changes to their requirements.

It certainly seems that those firms that have already invested in their Dublin capability have a significant advantage both in the context of Brexit and crucially a first mover advantage when it comes to acquiring local talent. Whatever your thoughts on this change it is clear that the spotlight on Dublin shines strong.

By Mathew Parker, Consultant at Fides Search. He dedicates his time to working with clients on their key strategic hires within TMT, Data protection & Cyber Security. To find out more get in touch with Mathew:

Mobile: +44 (0) 7391 405 563 | Direct Dial:+44 (0) 20 3642 1874 | mathew@fidessearch.com