Hot 100: Gregory Shields, Forster Dean
Gregory Shields (scroll down for video interview) showed off his taste for trying out the new as far back as 2007, when he led the first pure management buyout of a law firm in the UK.
Since then he has taken the number of offices at Liverpool-based personal injury specialists Forster Dean from two to 29. He now plans to add 10 new sites to the firm each year from September 2013 onwards, although the current market environment is also forcing a small number of redundancies.
However, rapid growth isn’t necessarily what makes the CEO’s strategy stand out. Shields has spearheaded a firm that encourages a strict work-life balance (doors close at 5pm, believe it or not) and an ethos of ‘giving back’ to the local community.
Concerned about the erosion of access to law, Shields has encouraged local managers to give back to their community by supplying free statutory declarations and advice on non-core business enquiries as well as offering free photocopying, Wi-Fi, coffee and cake and toys for disadvantaged children in the run-up to Christmas.
It’s an environment that seems to have paid off, with turnover climbing and gender diversity, unlike much of the legal market, more than a distant dream.
A huge number of women choose to work at the firm, with females making up 80 per cent of its 116 total employees and 61 per cent of the firm’s office managers in 2011-12.
For Shields and his team, trying something different has shown the market that it’s not just the big City guns who can be innovative.
Readers' comments (4)
Anonymous | 24-Jan-2013 12:26 pm
Relying on 'off the street' walk-ins for PI and conveyancing is not a business model built for success and the loss of a dozen fee earners demonstrates this.
None of the gimmicks on offer make up for the fact that despite being located (on the whole) in deprived areas in the north of england, there is no legal aid on offer and no pro bono case work is done. Visitors are simply ushered along to the nearest CAB.
At Forster Dean you have access to advice on claimant PI and residential conveyancing only. End of.
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Anonymous | 25-Jan-2013 10:53 am
How is over 12 redundancies equate to 'small amount' in a business of that size, why is a business that is 'in profit' need to make redundancies but in the same breath bost of all the new offices to be opened...
They maybe lawyers but they're certainly not mathematicians because something isn't quite adding up....
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Anonymous | 25-Jan-2013 6:58 pm
I love the FD facebook updates such as come into the office for free cakes, free umbrellas, etc etc. just to get people in off the street. Service and quality should speak for itself. Not very becoming of a top 200 firm, more like the gimmicky marketing tricks of a cheap bakery.
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Anonymous | 24-Apr-2013 8:06 pm
Not just a CPR regime change this month...
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