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Partner: Andrew

This Case Study belongs to Commercial solicitor.

Andrew has been a qualified commercial solicitor for seven years. He has recently been promoted to salaried partner in a regional office of a large corporate commercial law firm, where he works in the construction department.

Prior to becoming a solicitor, Andrew had another career as a qualified electrician and contracts manager. Although the careers may seem very different, Andrew believes that his time working as a contracts manager was invaluable as it gave him an excellent basis in commercial awareness, outside the law. It also led to him securing his training contract at his previous place of work, as he had already had business dealings with the law firm where he trained.

Andrew decided to change his career because he wanted a more mentally stimulating position with greater financial reward. This meant he had to go to university and take a law degree part time. Studying for his degree made him much more adept at assimilating and analysing information. It is a skill he still uses in his current role on a daily basis.

After spending several years at the law firm where he trained, Andrew was approached by a current colleague and invited to join another firm. He decided to make the change as the new firm had more scope for development and there was also a greater chance of partnership. In addition, he was impressed by the firm's friendly but professional culture.

In his new role as partner, Andrew’s job has developed quite significantly from the basic duties of a solicitor. In addition to case management on contentious and non-contentious issues, he is now also responsible for key client management and preparing and delivering client tenders for new business. Marketing and training also play a larger part of his role, as the business needs of his firm increase. As a partner, Andrew is also responsible for quality control, which is a key issue in today’s commercial legal market, as firms increasingly market themselves on the quality of the work they provide.

Andrew particularly enjoys being a commercial solicitor. He likes the practical elements of solving his clients’ problems, which means that he must continually apply his commercial judgement as well as his legal knowledge. As he is particularly commercially aware, he also enjoys being a partner because this gives him more influence on the business strategy of the firm. Ultimately though, it is the ability to deliver practical and commercial solutions for his clients which gives him the most satisfaction. On the downside, life as a partner means longer hours as his responsibilities increase, as well as the added pressure, which can be stressful.

Andrew hopes the next step will be to become an equity partner, which would mean greater personal investment in his firm, along with greater responsibility, which is not something Andrew worries about as he enjoys a constant challenge and is always looking at ways to be more commercially creative.

Case Study sourced by Joanne Rourke of AGCAS, 19 November 2007.