Leader August 2015 - Scott+co

Highland rovers –
tales from the North
Meet Gareth
Hughes of
Marston Holdings
Inside the Oval
Office - SMASO’s
new President
05} summer 2015
the
Leader
2
3
+ The View from Scott + Co
T
he Summer Leader
appears a little
later in the
season this year.
Late summer, or early
autumn as it’s known
in these latitudes, is
a time of transition.
Quite appropriate, as
the reason we delayed
publication was to
include the news that
Scott + Co have become
part of Marston Holdings.
This is a hugely exciting change, expanding our
service provision to new and existing clients.
Dugald’s hidden gem,
Knoydart
Cover
gruinard bay, wester ross
Part of Scott + Co’s
northern territories
03
The VIEW FROM SCOTT + CO
David McLaughlin
04/07
UNITED WE STAND
Introductions All Round Gareth Hughes, Chief Executive
of Marston Holdings
08/09
The sheriff officers’ tale
Serving papers from
parchment to palm-top
10/11
Hail to the Chief
A new President at SMASO
12/15
Highland Rovers
A day out with the men with a
higher annual mileage than the
Ice Road Truckers
C
16/17
Once in a lifetime
Lifetime Achievement Award
winner Douglas Connell reflects
18/20
Sky scanning
The legal team behind
Scotland’s digital powerhouse
21
More presidents
than the united states
IRRV President, Kevin Stewart
surveys a changing landscape
22/25
Winning Women
Spartans series continues with
the players on the park
26/27
Shooting star – Sara Jalicy
Legal Awards Rising Star
{contents}
It’s a big change on one level, two companies both dominant in their
own market places coming together. Our clients will immediately
notice the difference in terms of cross-border collection and
enforcement. We’ve thought long and hard about the decision and
we’re very happy to have found a partner with the same focus on
professionalism, principles and service excellence.
But on another level, there will be no change. Joy McLaughlin and I
will remain with the company as will the staff across our network of
offices. Our success as a company has been due to many factors, but
our people, their integrity, training and local knowledge, have been
our core strength throughout. That will not change.
In the next few pages of the Leader, Marston’s Chief Executive
Gareth Hughes, outlines his passion for this business. His relentless
focus on a service driven by ethical values explains very clearly
why we felt Marston offered the perfect fit. Scotland is different,
but increasingly in all aspects of business, borders of any kind are
less important, so we look forward to being part of a bigger more
expansive company.
So it really is business as usual. Let’s not forget then that our
service is delivered on the ground, in every corner of the country.
So it’s fitting that we also take a look at the wide panoramas of
the Highlands. Served by Scott + Co’s Inverness office, the biggest
sheriffdom in the country has its own unique collection of challenges
and rewards. The determination and ingenuity which our team in
the area have to call upon is well illustrated in the article. Dugald
and Chris are at the sharp end of a difficult job but they do have
certain compensations. Not the least of which is having some of the
greatest scenery in Europe as your office.
It’s only a few hours from the hills of Sutherland to North Edinburgh.
It’s the sort of sharp contrast we take for granted but demonstrate
the diversity of our country. Scott + Co has sponsored the Spartans
Women’s Team for many years. The contribution they make to an area
of Edinburgh that has faced many challenges over the years has been
documented in the Leader before. In this edition we turn to the sharp
end with a profile of player Claire Crosbie. But as you will see, even
for first team stars commitment to the community is never far away.
Another rising star in a different profession is Sara Jalicy at Anderson
Strathern. Winner of the Rising Star Award at the Scott + Co Scottish
Legal Awards, she represents the twenty first century face of the
Scottish legal business. Young, ambitious and focussed, she is very
much a leader of the future.
There is much debate about the future of law; it’s been a major
theme for several of the events that Scott + Co have sponsored for
the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association. I recall a time when it was
widely predicted that lawyers’ future role in marketing property
would be swept away by market forces. Sara’s passion and vision
for property and the lawyer’s role on marketing homes and guiding
clients through the frequently nerve wracking process, is a warning
against making wild predictions about any business sector.
At the other end of the career spectrum, Douglas Connell is an
equally visionary lawyer. His work in helping build Turcan Connell into
a legal powerhouse is well known. What is less widely acknowledged
is his vision in blending scalpel sharp business acumen with a highly
personal focus on the needs of individual clients. An alchemy that
has combined the best of traditional and modern legal practice.
But Douglas’s passion for his business is matched by his enthusiasm
for art. The Turcan-Connell collection has brought together the best
of Scottish painting and sculpture, nurturing new talent alongside
established artists.
The third Legal Awards winner featured is Skyscanner. The winners
of the most overused journalistic use of the phrase ‘high-flying’,
but also In-House Team of the Year. The team at Skyscanner are
a reminder of the crucial role that lawyers play inside our most
successful businesses, particularly where these businesses are
breaking into new digital territories every day.
Our diverse land has seen the odd political change and controversy
over the last two years. A healthy mix of political opinion is always
good. But in our guest piece, IRRV President Kevin Stewart, asks
some key questions about possible practical outcomes for welfare
and revenue. There is always a testing moment when the dust settles
around theoretical debate and the practicalities begin.
Finally, we come close to home and Scott + Co’s Joy McLaughlin’s
Presidency of the Society of Messengers at Arms and Sheriff
Officers. Representing court officers from the outer isles to the
heart of our cities is a responsibility, but it won’t be without its
compensations either. Amid a bundle of articles celebrating contrast
and change, it’s wise to reflect also on the continuity of the role of
the court officer. We don’t quite go back to knocking on the stone
door at Scara Brae, but Sheriff Officers have stood on the doorsteps
of croft and baronial pile for many a long year.
So we enter a new phase in our own history at Scott + Co. An exciting
new era, rich with potential for staff and for clients.
David McLaughlin
Managing Partner
4
5
We spoke to Marston Chief Executive, Gareth Hughes,
who outlines his beliefs about judicial services,
business and yoga.
Summer afternoon. If the novelist Henry James
thought they were the most beautiful words in the
language, then the words ‘corporate website’ are
unlikely to get many people’s vote for runner-up.
And yet the corporate website tells you so much
about a company. One click into Marston Holdings
website and you meet the staff. Not all 2,000
employees and contractors of course, but nine
people, talking to camera about their jobs, the
challenges and the rewards of their work. There is no
clearer way of stating how important people are to
a judicial services business, a business which at the
sharp end takes staff and contractors onto peoples’
doorsteps.
The Marston website vignettes range from front line
agents to senior managers. Up to and including
Gareth Hughes, Chief Executive.
Lightly grilled by Fiona Bruce, he explains why ethics
is at the heart of the business, a theme which drives
his vision of the business, and one he returned to
frequently through our conversation.
‘As Marston Holdings has grown, we have built
an ethical dimension through all layers of the
business. Our Advisory Group works independently
from the Board to ensure a constant focus on
values. We’ve also just come to the end of our third
Ethical Audit, an independent review of how we
measure up against key principles such as respect,
accountability, and transparency.’
“The image
of this
profession
has been
transformed”
{
O
n Monday 15th June, Scott +
Co became part of Marston
Holdings group of companies.
It brings together the
leading judicial services company
in England and Wales with the
leading operator in Scotland. It is
quite a moment in the history of the
profession, creating a group with
a UK wide reach and an integrated
service ready to face any future
challenge.
{
+ United We Stand
The Advisory Group membership is a microcosm of
British public life. Chaired by former Parliamentary
Standards Commissioner, Elizabeth Filkin CBE, it
draws membership from respected individuals from
local government, business, and communications
and consumer groups, including Baroness Eaton,
former Chair of the Local Government Association.
If there was a first team in public service the
Advisory Group would be a good place to start.
Gareth has no truck with any suggestion that ethics
and culture are the soft stuff of business.
‘Without this ethical basis there is no trust. Think of
what we do, collecting and enforcing on behalf of
government, courts and businesses; ethics and good
governance underpins all of this work. It is the basis
on which the whole business is built.’
It is also the reason why Marston was interested in
Scott + Co.
‘We knew that David and Joy shared our vision of
trust and honesty at the core of the business.’
Gareth continues. ‘Scott + Co has a fantastic
reputation, local knowledge and sound relationships
across Scotland. But the clincher for us was the
culture and the principles that envelop the company
from top to bottom.’
‘Without a clear ethical framework, the business of
collection and enforcement has no foundation. It is
the core of what we do. A focus on key principles
is what connects boardroom discussions to what
happens on the doorstep and on our helplines,’
Gareth continues.
continued over}
6
7
“We will take exactly the same approach to Scott
+ Co. It will be business as usual – for the long
term, not just the short term.”
Gareth Hughes
Gareth’s commitment to core principles is not
restricted to his own company. He sees the
advancement of Marston Holdings moving in step
with the profession as a whole. While the company
was growing from a turnover of £10m in 2002 to its
current £100m, he played a role in helping to reform
judicial services in England and Wales.
Even before Gareth became Chief Executive in
2012, he participated in discussions with the
Ministry of Justice on the reform of fee structures in
England and Wales. Stop for a moment to consider
the fiendish complexity and intertwined agendas
lurking under the words ‘fee reform’. An eighty
page submission, two working groups and thirtyfour separate meetings with MPs and a Minister of
Justice later, new enforcement regulations came into
effect last year.
‘The image of this profession has been transformed.
Reforming the fee structures was key. The aim was
to ensure that the costs of recovery are applied fairly
to customers, and that they incentivise early stage
collection. It is important that systems are in place
to assist the vulnerable.‘
Gareth has no doubts about the importance of the
Marston and Scott + Co’s work.
‘Without a professional collection and enforcement
administration, the system of justice would not
function effectively. Without someone to deliver the
will of the Courts, justice is denied. Without a social
contract where taxpayers contribute, local services
would be affected. If people do not repay loans, then
people would stop offering them credit – and the
irrigation system of the economy would dry up.
‘We are clear that those who can pay their debts
should pay – and those who can’t should be engaged
with according to their individual circumstances. Our
humanity and fairness as a profession rests on being
clear and effective about that distinction.’
There is no question about Gareth’s passion for
the standing of his chosen profession. He came
into judicial services after a career with KPMG,
which took him to London and Melbourne – before
a year of travel around SE Asia. It was working
with Marston on corporate fundraising while at
Old Mutual Securities that brought him into the
company at the age of twenty-eight as Finance
Director. He became CEO in 2012 following a
management buyout.
He has a clear strategy for the business.
‘We have enjoyed strong organic growth, building our
core client base. But we have also come together
with complementary businesses in different markets
where we had not previously had a strong presence.
We came together with Welsh-based Swift Credit
Services in 2013, for example, and also council tax
recovery specialist Rossendales that same year.
‘Taken together, our family of companies process
over 1.4 million court orders per year. One of the
things I am most proud of is the fact that £400
million is recovered annually on behalf of local and
central government to help create essential public
services. That equates to 8,000 nurses, plus training
for 1,000 doctors and the education of 20,000
children all the way through primary and secondary
school. This underlines the benefit to society of our
work, and it’s something that reinforces our values.‘
Business as usual
The companies that have become part of Marston
Holdings have all continued to grow, and have
maintained continuity of their senior management
teams. This is a factor that Gareth sees as being key
to the growth of the Group as a whole.
‘You don’t want to disrupt a business that is working
well. If companies are successful because of the
people that are in post, then it is important to
support those experienced senior teams.
‘We will take exactly the same approach to Scott +
Co. It will be business as usual – for the long term,
not just the short term.
‘You have to cherish what is there in a business.
There are reasons why Scott + Co is such a
successful company. That’s why David and Joy
McLaughlin’s ongoing involvement in the business
is so welcome. David and Joy, the senior
management team and the staff across
the network of offices are the company. We can
provide additional depth of support, but we want to
foster the energy, commitment and principles that
have made Scott + Co a market leader in Scotland.’
Gareth is looking forward to working in Scotland.
He’s very aware of the differences which separate
the countries, judicial, political and cultural, ‘but
I also know that Marston and Scott + Co have the
same commitment to professionalism and core
values. That is more important than any differences.
‘For clients and customers,’ he continues, ‘there is
the reassurance that they will be dealing with the
same people, in the same way, and from the same
offices. That local knowledge, knowing the lie of
the land, will still be there.
But as well as a new cross-border capacity, I know
we can also bring our experience, our technology
and investment into the mix.
‘Two of the five Marston Executive Board members
are from Scotland, so we aren’t short of insights
into the country. But our job from now on is to listen,
to learn, to support and to take the business further.’
As an opera lover Gareth is also looking forward to
spending more time in Edinburgh, particularly in the
last three weeks in August. The slivers of free time
left over are invested in the calming and restorative
business of yoga. ‘There are moments in this job
where stopping and just concentrating on your
breathing is quite important’, he laughs.
For the Group as a whole, Gareth foresees a period
of growth across the UK. Clearly there are wider
horizons beyond England, Wales and Scotland, and
international expansion may be explored one day.
But for the meantime there is letting the Group
settle in and keeping an eye on the core values.
‘Ethics are good for business – and good businesses
are ethical’, he concludes, as unimpeachable a
mantra as you will find anywhere.
8
9
+ Old Times
A
nyone who might have had a
moan about a parking ticket
or citation to serve as a juror
might want to consider how
things were in the olden days.
Before the law was established you were only a
sword’s length away from losing all your property. It
might be you only had a pig and a few bits of shabby
furniture, but it was yours and without the law it
might not be for very long.
There is no space for a learned discourse on the
development of canon and civil law in Scotland,
fascinating though that might be, suffice to say that
it is generally recognised that a key step forward in
protecting the property rights and security of the
lieges of the nation came with Malcolm III’s decision
to introduce Sheriffs.
And the Sheriffs couldn’t be everywhere and so they
needed Officers to sort out the issues on the ground.
Big name Sheriffs, particularly the Sheriff of
Nottingham, have rather besmirched the name of
the medieval law men. But remember that if the rich
are those with one pig there isn’t much margin for
redistribution no matter how merry the men.
Sheriffs in Scotland also saw the introduction
of sheriffdoms which logically enough were the
territories overseen by each Sheriff. These replaced
the feudal thanedoms thereby breaking a rather
negative association with the early career of
Macbeth and establishing the units of government
which would evolve eventually into local authorities.
Sheriff Officers may in fact pre-date the
establishment of sheriffdoms, stretching back to
pre-feudal. This makes Sheriff Officers the oldest
office in the legal system. Certainly they make
anything resembling a police officer look like a very
late arrival.
Messengers-at-Arms, originally Officers of the
King, were then, as now, less geographically
constrained and took the King’s word across the
rock strewn roads and boggy moors of the Kingdom.
Some might say little has changed in the Scottish
transport infrastructure.
By 1510 The Lord Lyon King of Arms was directing
Messengers-at-Arms. In a remarkable piece of
management continuity, the Lord Lyon still appoints
Messengers-at-Arms in Scotland.
Present day Messengers-at-Arms are appointed from
the body of Sheriff Officers and require a further
level of training. Sheriff Officers are appointed by
Sheriffs Principal in six Sheriffdoms and serve 49
local sheriff courts.
The Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff
Officers was established in 1922, to represent the
interests of Scottish officers of court. The Society
acts as a channel of communication between
officers of court, the legal professions, prospective
clients and various authorities concerned with civil
court warrants.
All members have to abide by the Society’s
Constitution and Code of Professional Ethics,
ensuring confidentiality and good business practice.
Training is a vital part of the profession, and SMASO
helps ensure that Messengers and Officers are
kept up to date with a constantly evolving legal and
technical environment.
Messengers-at-Arms range freely across all the
Sheriffdoms of Scotland and can serve papers from
the Supreme Courts.
Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers are
now equipped with leading edge digital support
systems. But they are a link to a time not just before
technology, but before even many of the basic legal
concepts we now take for granted. It’s a direct line
connecting a soggy man on horseback (no gender
equality then) in a dark country lane to a present
day Sheriff Officer serving court papers in a Scottish
city. All change, but the core purpose and values
have remained the same.
10
11
N
ot strictly speaking
true. The President
of SMASO works in a
rectangular space much
like the rest of us. But unlike
Joy McLaughlin, the President
of the United States is head
of an institution that is only
239 years old. And while, were
we to split hairs, we’d concede
that SMASO, the Society of
Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff
Officers, was established
in 1922, the institution of
Messengers-at-Arms has been
around since not long after
Columbus slipped over the
horizon. Which makes the other
President look like an arriviste.
It might also be noted that if Barack Obama
has a more impressive chain of office we’d
like to hear about it.
Certainly Joy exudes a presidential air of
quiet confidence about her role. She’s
no stranger to the higher reaches of the
professional body, having served on the
Executive Council for two years and as
Deputy President for another two.
It is experience that will be helpful, for,
despite the historic provenance of the
position and the solid-gold symbol of office,
this is very much an active role.
Membership of the Society is compulsory for
all Messengers at Arms and Sheriff Officers,
as is compliance with its CPD requirements.
Prior to applying for a commission as a
Sheriff Officer, individuals must complete
a three year training period and pass the
formal examination set by the Committee of
Examiners..
+ Inside the Oval Office
‘The Committee of Examiners is responsible
for ensuring that the professionals are
properly trained to begin with and the
formal CPD regime ensures that as they
progress through their career they are kept
up to date’, explains Joy. ‘For many people
our members are their first and only contact
with the court system. And as the whole
legal profession and criminal justice system
has been going through a period of real flux,
it’s vital that our members are constantly
being updated. Even to take one topic like
digital technology, technical change is
developing faster than the law can keep up.
But our members are on the front line and
have to develop strategies.’
like the Institute for Revenue, Ratings and
Valuation.’
The profession demands very specific
technical skills and an unforgiving attention
to detail. But it also requires an ability
to handle people in extremely stressful
moments in their lives, a unique blend of
toughness and compassion.
Joy’s view is that, ‘maintaining the basic
skills of the profession is a key part of the
Society’s role. Making it possible for Officers
from all round the country to come together
and share their experiences and learn from
each other is vital.’
SMASO represents the sharp end of the
system and its voice is critical in ensuring
that decisions taken at a judicial level are
practical and workable on the doorstep.
The Scottish Civil Justice Council is the
body charged with examining, and where
necessary re-writing, the secondary
rules – the means by which an Act can be
practically implemented. The people who
implement the laws are a vital part of the
process and are often the only people who
can tell whether a law is workable or not.
In a modern judicial system where there are
The domestic tasks are matched by SMASO’s
“Maintaining the basic skills of the
profession is a key part of the Society’s
role. Making it possible for Officers from
all round the country to come together
and share their experiences and learn
from each other is vital.” Joy McLaughlin
many interested parties, an organisation like
SMASO has an important role in building
partnerships.
‘Our primary role is to represent the needs of
individual Officers,’ says Joy, ‘ but we also
have to look at the bigger picture and the
role that the profession and the companies
they work for play in the wider system.’
The Accountant in Bankruptcy was
established in Scotland as the body to
oversee personal and corporate insolvency.
It has an evolving role and there is close
liaison between SMASO, the AIB and the
Scottish Government’s Minister for Civil
Justice.
‘There are many challenges on the horizon,
says Joy, ‘SMASO will provide input to the
AIB’s review of diligence later this year. We
will also be involved with Revenue Scotland
in the biggest change to the Scottish fiscal
scene for decades, perhaps for hundreds
of years, as the Government considers the
continuing devolution of tax gathering to
Scotland. The shift of revenue gathering and
spending powers from the UK to Scotland
will have huge implications. And we will
continue to work very closely with partners
international role. The Society is a member
of the Union Internationale des Huissiers de
Justice et Officiers Judiciaires, which as well
as sounding as if it should be a division of
Napoleon’s cavalry is also an opportunity to
draw experience from around the world.
‘Every jurisdiction is different,’ laughs Joy,
‘but the challenges faced by court officers
are fundamentally the same all round the
world and we can always learn from other’s
experiences. In a landscape of increasing
cross-jurisdiction business, there’s no room
for parochialism.
While Joy isn’t planning any long haul flights
during her time in office she is looking
forward to the two year term. There is
nothing to suggest that it is going to be a
dull twenty-four months.
12
13
Dugald’s hidden gem,
Knoydart
Chris McEwan and
Dugald MacInnes
+ On the Road Again
C
hris McEwan and Dugald MacInnes’
territory is bigger than Belgium.
A day’s commute can take them to
the Outer Hebrides and back. If
they’re lucky. If they’re unlucky it might
be more than A day before the ferry
can get through.
As part of Scott + Co’s Inverness team they face all the
challenges that Sheriff Officers face anywhere in the country;
complex missions sprung without warning, the need for
painstaking attention to detail, the uncertainty of what might
face you on arrival and the gravity of the tasks. Ultimately
officers of the courts are the sharp end of the legal system.
+ One week in May
in May
MondayCaithness
TuesdaySutherland
WednesdayKinlochbervie
ThursdayDrumbeg
Friday
Inverness and Nairn
Dugald – ‘ I once arrived on one of the Small Isles to
discover that the only taxi on the island had a philosophical
difficulty with having a Sheriff Officer as a fare. Now the
name ‘Small Isles’ is a relative thing. There was no option
but to walk to our given address. Four miles of not great
road there and four miles back, although the way back is
always longer somehow.
‘But there’s nothing very unusual about a request like that –
it’s a fairly common type of short-notice requirement.
‘These can be quite long days. But when you spend them in
some of the best scenery in the world it isn’t too much of a
hardship. Although my wife at home with our three children
doesn’t think being out on the road is too taxing.’
Chris is a fully qualified Sheriff Officer and Messenger-atArms. He started as a trainee in the millennium
year of 2000 and has worked his way through the
professional exams.
You collect a certain type of wisdom from Chris and Dugald’s
40 years touring the Highlands. Here we share that wisdom.
Single minded determination is not optional
Chris – ‘The logistics are the challenge. What would be a
merely tricky instruction in the city, can become a widescreen epic across mountain, moor and sea. One Friday
evening we received an instruction from a solicitor for an
urgent High Court witness citation. I’m one of the few
Messengers-at-Arms to cover the whole area for
High Court business.
‘For us it involved a sixty mile drive to Ullapool, the three hour
ferry crossing to Stornoway, then the 135 mile drive down
the entire length of the Hebrides including the forty minute
crossing from Eriskay to Barra. Of course once the papers
are served that’s not the end of it. The return journey was
via the 6 hour crossing to Oban and didn’t end until after the
110 mile drive back up the Great Glen to Inverness.
But add to that the sheer logistics of a responsibility that
stretches from the Butt of Lewis to Nairn and from Muckle
Fugga to Barra Head and you get some idea that daily
transport difficulties are slightly more complex than a shed
load on the M8.
Dugald as a witness is a vital part of the Sheriff Officer team.
He worked for thirty-three years in the electricity supply
industry until he retired. At a loose end, he decided on a
retirement job as a witness. That was twenty five years ago.
Possibly the longest retirement job in history. And possibly
the most interesting, It’s a long way from giving wood-glue
advice in B&Q.
Expect the unexpected
Flexibility is the thing
Toyota Prius Hybrid
Careful owner: Slightly
Above Average Mileage, 450 mls per tank – about a day’s
run. 2 ½ years old – 100,000 miles. Reliable runner –
700-1000 miles every week. Very clean car – possibly
some grass and turf attached to underside.
Dugald – ‘No matter how often you have done the job, there
is still no telling how people will react when you turn up.
We’re often arriving at people’s lowest ebb. It’s the point
where they know there is no way out, and so people can
be angry – often as not it’s anger at themselves, knowing it
shouldn’t have got this far.
‘I’m pleased to report that the next time we went to the same
island to see the same client he came down to the pier to
meet us, so we missed out on the fresh air and exercise that
time.’
+ Hidden secret?
]
Dugald – ‘I’d say Knoydart (pictured
above) is the real hidden gem. It’s
certainly crowd free, you need a bit
of application to get there in the first
place. It’s a boat trip from Mallaig and
once you get there it’s either walking
or a hired bike. But nowhere has quite
the same sense of being on the edge of
the world, away from all the clutter of
civilisation, except for the pub of course.
It is definitely the place to get trapped
between ferries.
‘So you have to be able to step back, absorb the noise and
quietly get the business done.’
continued over}
14
15
“There was no option but to walk to our
given address. Four miles of not great road
there and four miles back, although the
way back is always longer somehow.”
Dugald MacInnes
Winter can be testing
Chris – ‘In winter we always depart in the dark and
return in the dark. In between it can be less than
blindingly bright too.’
Dugald – ‘Never leave without wellies and a shovel in the car.
I believe that the winters are softening up a bit. No longer
the big snows of the past. But the driving rain is possibly
worse than the snow, not to mention the howling winds.
Opening the car door can be the most dangerous part of
the trip.’
Chris – ‘You can say what you like about winter, but for
true misery you can’t beat the midgie season. There’s lots
of competition for this award, but I’d say Barra in July is
the worst.’
Beware the Wildlife
Chris – ‘Animals are an occupational hazard. There are the
deer on the road of course. And the Highland sheep with
their undying faith in the principle of pedestrian right of way.
But my worst experience was being trapped in the car in
Appin by a psychopathic peacock. It had seen its reflection
in the door and wasn’t going to give up. Every time I moved
the car it followed, raking the door with its claws. The
re-spray job made for an interesting claim. They must still
speak of it in the insurance office.’
Dugald –‘Now dogs are a hazard but I’ve learned to stop
them in their tracks with a good loud shout.’
Chris – ‘Yes, well, that didn’t stop me getting bitten three
times.’
Dugald – ‘It must have been a deaf dog. As long as your
tetanus jabs are up to date it’s not so bad.’
Chris – ’My worst experience though was with a “guard”
chicken. Everyone laughs but having your legs pecked
to bits is not funny. There’s a law in the profession – if
there’s a threat of a dangerous animal - always send in
the witness first.’
A sense of humour...
Chris – ‘It’s the secret – if all else fails.’
Chris and Dugald take a rare roadside break
Dugald – ‘These are long roads. You spend too long in a
car with someone it would be unbearable if they didn’t
laugh, if they didn’t have stories to tell.’
Winter in the
North. A view
of Sutherland
- 4pm 21st
December
+ My favourite route?
Chris – ‘It’s difficult to select one route from
the hundreds of miles of spectacular roads.
If forced I’d go for the road round Wester
Ross – down to Aultbea and Gairloch.
The white beaches, blue sea and wide open
skies aren’t unique but are especially vivid on
this stretch of road. And the whole place is
steeped in history, right up to the Second World
War. Gruinard Bay is as beautiful a
section of the West Coast as you
could get, and yet the anthrax
experiments on Gruinard Island
give it all a sinister dimension.
And the WWII relics around
Aultbea and Gairloch are a
reminder that this was
once the starting
point for North
Atlantic and
Russian
convoys.’
16
17
+ The Art of Client Relationships
T
wo things strike you
as you arrive at Turcan
Connell’s gun-metal and
glass offices. The first
is the warmth of the welcome.
Everything is corporate and
business like, of course, but
the welcome is genuinely
friendly. And we’re not even
clients.
The second thing you notice is that while
the efficient atmosphere of precise
business continues all the way along the
glass corridors, you also have the distinct
experience of being in an art gallery. Not
a gallery full of loft-sale, instant antiquity
pictures or a gallery full of rent-a-corporate
paintings, but full of carefully chosen pieces
reflecting a genuine interest in art.
The paintings are a good place to start with
Douglas Connell, Senior Partner at Turcan
Connell and recent Lifetime Achievement
Awards winner at the Scott + Co Scottish
Legal Awards. They are a perfect blend of
a career which has encompassed building
a 25 partner, 300 employee firm alongside
current and past chairmanship of the
likes of Museums Galleries Scotland, the
Edinburgh Book Festival and the Lottery
Committee of the Scottish Arts Council.
‘The paintings, sculpture and glasswork have
been acquired by the Partnership over a
long period. They are beautiful and inspiring.
But they are also very useful in business. In
private practice we often speak to people at
difficult moments, the paintings are perfect
ways to start conversations,’ says Douglas,
knowingly. The most beautiful office tools
you will find in any lawyer’s office.
Turcan Connell is a Scottish success story,
taking what many regard as the sleepier
world of private practice into the 21st
century without losing the key values of
client knowledge and personal involvement.
Douglas mixes wisdom from a long career
with the same enthusiasm and energy he
must have brought to his first employer.
Was an interest in the law something
that came upon you early?
‘I came into the law as a direct result of
a careers evening at my local school in
Perthshire. At the age of 16, I had just
been made a prefect and one of my
responsibilities that evening was to make
sure that the guests felt welcome. The
evening consisted of a wide range of people
from different jobs and professions who
were available to speak to pupils and answer
questions. I saw this rather smart guy in
a pin stripe suit on his own in the school
library. Out of politeness, I talked to him. He
was a lawyer, a local solicitor in Stirling, and
asked if I had ever thought of the law as a
career which I had not. That encounter led
me to study law at Edinburgh University and
he kept in touch with me as a kind of early
mentor and even arranged for me to get an
interview for what was called in those days a
legal apprenticeship in a major Scottish law
firm called Dundas & Wilson.
‘So it was a case of being given a chance
opportunity and grabbing it. I have been
asked to go back to my old school on a
couple of occasions and once spoke at the
prize giving when my message was – when
you get an opportunity seize it, you don’t
know where it might lead to.’
What advice would you give a young lawyer?
Over my career, I have been given
opportunities and I have also been given
advice. Sometimes I have not taken the
advice. Three examples:When I left university and started my legal
apprenticeship with Dundas & Wilson, I
became involved in a completely new
organisation The Scottish Young Lawyers
Association of which I became the second
President at the age of 20. In those days,
the mid 1970’s, legal apprentices were paid
virtually nothing – £600-£700 per year. I
felt strongly that this represented a massive
barrier to access to the legal profession and
in some ways it was a deliberate barrier. I
had been asked by the Faculty of Law to go
back as a part-time tutor and that teaching
income in effect doubled the income I was
receiving as a law apprentice. I decided
that the SYLA should campaign for realistic
rates of pay but I was “advised” by fellow
Committee members that to do so would
damage my career since I would be seen
as some kind of rebel or militant! Indeed
several members of our Committee resigned
over the issue.
‘I did not take that advice and, along with
my friend and Vice-President of the SYLA,
Ian Bankier – now a highly successful
entrepreneur and the Chairman of Celtic
Football Club – we took the issue of pay
to The Law Society of Scotland which was
responsible for setting the rates of pay. We
found senior figures in The Law Society
surprisingly willing to engage on the subject
and what followed directly led to significant
increases in the remuneration for law
apprentices, taking them to a living wage
and importantly making the legal profession
in Scotland much more open to a wide
range of people from different backgrounds.
Taking that position did not damage my
career.
‘I knew that I should specialise in some
area of the law and everybody was being
encouraged at that time to become
involved in the big firms with corporate and
commercial work. I was keen to work with
individuals and families and was mentored
by the then Senior Partner of Dundas &
Wilson Pat Turcan, an outstanding private
client lawyer for whom I had great respect.
He was the uncle of Robert Turcan.
‘So, I became involved with advising on trusts,
estate planning, succession law and a range
of issues affecting individuals and families. I
became a Partner in Dundas & Wilson at 24
in April 1979, the youngest ever Partner.
‘Many years later, Arthur Andersen which
was at the time a global accountancy and
professional services business, came along
and wanted to take over Dundas & Wilson
to become part of Andersen Legal. This
was financially very attractive but Robert
Turcan and I decided that being part of what
was a global monolith run from Chicago,
was not for us and we offered what was in
effect a management buy-out of the private
client business of Dundas & Wilson. I was
strongly advised against this by several of
the partners in Dundas & Wilson and one
told me that I would be committing financial
suicide. Again, I did not take that advice. As
it happens, five years later Arthur Andersen
ceased operating after a financial scandal
involving the auditing of Enron, an energy
corporation based in Texas which had filed
for bankruptcy. Turcan Connell grew and
continues to thrive.
‘So sometimes it is better to act on instinct
rather than follow conventional advice. It is
sometimes better to have the courage to
make your own decisions and seize your own
opportunities.’
Looking back, what has given you the
greatest satisfaction?
Of course, playing a part in the creation
of Turcan Connell. It is not easy to build a
completely new professional firm. We are
not yet 18 years old having been founded in
1997. It has needed a bit of courage, a bit
of resilience and a lot of hard work.
The second thing I am proud of is putting
private client work back on the map. When
we established Turcan Connell, it was not the
area of choice for ambitious young lawyers.
We were determined to put this area of work
on an equal footing with other areas of the
law. I think that we have achieved that.
The third success, and what gives me real
pleasure, is helping to bring on the next
generation of lawyers in our business. I was
given chances in my late teens and my early
20’s by some senior and experienced lawyers
and it has been enormously satisfying to
repay that debt of honour by identifying at
an early stage young talented lawyers and
helping to fast track them into partnership
positions in our firm. Succession planning
has always been at the forefront of our
minds. Although Turcan Connell is a
relatively young firm, we are confident that
we have in place the next generation of
partners to take the business forward and
also the generation behind them to support
and run the business long into the future.
Seeing the success and commitment of
these generations of lawyers is what gives
me the greatest satisfaction and also gives
me the confidence to take a back seat now
having done 40 years since I started my
legal apprenticeship.’
18
19
Skyscanner is a travel meta-search company;
their field of operation is across a huge
range of jurisdictions. If the Law’s future
is global then Skyscanner is reconnoitering
the way forward. They are pioneering at two
levels – fast moving technical innovations
that evolve quicker than laws and working in
jurisdictions which are setting up their own
responses to new digital challenges.
Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away
If you could use some exotic booze
There’s a bar in far Bombay...
‘In Europe there is obviously quite a wellestablished super-national regulatory
structure which gives us a degree of
harmonisation,’ says Andrew. ‘ In Asia
countries are often coming slightly later to
the challenges of digital law making, but
are creating new and imaginative solutions.
We have to keep on top of new frameworks
wherever they are being developed.
+ Where the air is rarefied
T
he take-off and steady
climb of Skyscanner has
exhausted the aviation
themed metaphors of the
nation’s business journalists.
And rightly so. Its success
has demonstrated Scotland’s
potential as global players in
digital business. But right at
the heart of the company the
legal team are a key component.
There is some debate over whether flying’s
age of glamour ended when cabin crew
started to sell you scratch cards rather
than giving you complementary cocktails or
whether it came to a more abrupt halt when
passing through an airport meant padding
through an X-ray machine in your socks.
Either way the received wisdom is that
getting on a plane is on the same level as
getting on the No12 bus to Leith but without
the comfort, entertainment or dramatic
scenery.
It’s not a view that they share at Skyscanner.
In fact they have contrived to make a
company involved in the act of purchasing
the ticket, perhaps the least breathtaking
part of the journey, one of the most exciting
businesses in Scotland.
The Quartermile global HQ is like a set that
a very keen designer would put together
to meet the brief for a cutting edge, sexy,
hi-tech outfit. But that string of clichés does
Skyscanner no justice. It’s not just one of
the most exciting, high profile businesses
in the land, some regard it as a beacon of
hope for Scotland’s economic future. It is
seen by many as evidence of the sort of role
that Scotland could have in a boundary free
global market driven along by talent and
ingenuity.
In March the seven strong legal team were
In-House Team of the Year at the Scott +
Co Scottish Legal Awards. The Award sits in
crowded company in the trophy cabinet at
Skyscanner. OK, it’s more a trophy alcove
than anything as old fashioned as a cabinet,
but despite being a company as familiar with
award podiums as check-in gates there is
real pride at the win.
Andrew Farquhar, Senior Legal Counsel and
his colleague Craig McIntyre, trainee solicitor
see the reward as recognition of the key
contribution that legal skills make to the
success of Skyscanner.
No business could be more international.
‘There is need for harmonisation across
jurisdictions. We need a robust framework
to protect commercial interests. But
at the same time frameworks that are
too constricting run the risk of stifling
businesses and deflecting innovation.’
Andrew trained at DLA Piper and made
the classic move from firm to client. ‘I was
Skyscanner’s customers come from all over
the world. Just try putting any airport in
the world into their search box and watch
it come back with all the flights that are
going there. You could while away a whole
afternoon.
‘Our department is involved in all aspects of
the business,’ explains Andrew, ‘in addition
to the core in-house corporate work around
acquisitions, intellectual property, brand
protection, HR issues and commercial
contracts, we are also increasingly getting
involved in the regulatory side of things, as
that can have an important bearing not just
for Skyscanner but for the travel industry
and internet businesses in general. With
Skyscanner being so focused on innovation
and on developing new products or ways
of doing things, and with users potentially
accessing our products from any country in
the world, none of that is routine work. And
often that is taking us into new ground where
there is no precedent, where legislation and
the regulators have not yet charted out a
legal framework.
‘The result is that we work alongside the
regulators, especially at a European level,
helping to shape the framework.’
+ Your travel
headaches solved
Who better to provide
insightful advice than
lawyers whose business
is travel? There were
many protests about
how unglamorous and
travel-free life was at
Skyscanner. But we
were not fooled for
one moment.
always interested in technology and at DLA
Piper, Skyscanner was my favourite client.
It wasn’t a difficult move to make. I can’t
think of a position in-house or otherwise
where there is such a continuous stream
of challenges.’
Craig is hoping to qualify in July 2016
His route to Skyscanner took in a degree,
diploma and a stint working with a mobile
phone group. All vital bits of training for
Skyscanner. ‘I’ve always loved technology
and how it can empower consumers.
Knowing how people use technology,
especially mobile technology is almost
as useful as commercial law training in
this job.’
There is no danger of life becoming dull in
the legal department at Skyscanner, the
team hum and rattle with new ideas like a
737-300 on final approach. Like all inhouse departments their day-to-day life is a
balance between legal caution and seizing
the moment.
value to the initiative. We definitely want
to be in at the earliest possible stage of a
project. There is nothing worse for an inhouse lawyer to be summoned to consider a
new project just before launch. All the work
has been done and everyone is jumping with
excitement and then you have to squash it
because there is a big fat legal problem right
at the heart of it – something that could
have been avoided, if the legal department
had been involved at the early stages.
‘We are part of the business not a source of
neatly delivered legal notes. We are here to
add value not create legal black holes into
which projects can be swallowed up.’
Your travel headaches solved.
Who better to provide insightful advice than
lawyers whose business is travel? There were
many protests about how unglamorous and
travel-free life was at Skyscanner. But we
were not fooled for one moment.
‘We like to take a commercial not a legalistic
approach’, Andrew concludes. ‘Our aim is
not just to look out for pitfalls but to add
Craig
Andrew
What is your favourite city?
Budapest (I was there with
work recently)
Berlin – ‘because everything is
dripping with history, it has a
great vibe, and it’s also where I
met my Danish wife’.
What’s your favourite airport?
Schiphol – best coffee of all
the airports
Prestwick – ‘I know, I know, but
when I was growing up in Ayr
that’s where the rest of the world
started. And don’t forget the
history, it’s where Elvis set foot on
Scottish soil (allegedly)’.
What is your top packing tip? ‘Roll them up – best use of
space and no need for ironing
– usually.’
What do you forget to pack?
‘You get so used to travelling
in the Euro-zone it’s easy to
forget when you step outside
the territory. What currency do
they use in Hungary?’ Answer:
forint.
What is the best seat
on the aircraft?
‘There’s too many aircraft
variables but go do the
research – try SeatGuru.com’
‘Just chuck ‘em in! ‘
‘Nothing!’ (he lied)
‘That’s a personal preference
thing – but aircraft interiors are
developing and improving all the
time. The new Dreamliner, for
example, takes the use of space
and lighting into completely new
territories.’
continued over}
20
21
Left: High
flying legaleagles - the
Skyscanner
team
“We are in for
interesting and
challenging times
and I will continue
to keep a close
eye on what is
happening in
Scotland.”
- Kevin stewart, president irrv
+ Changing Times
+ It’s all about the people
A
I believe with the increasing austerity programme and
welfare reform agenda the challenges and pressures for the
public sector in the next five years will increase across the
United Kingdom including in Scotland.
cquiring new
companies - It’s
all about finding
companies with the
right talent and with a
good fit to Skyscanner.
It’s a key part of the legal
department’s work, but
the contribution isn’t just
limited to making sure the
contracts are in order.
Andrew explains,
The Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV) is,
I am pleased to say, very strong in Scotland. Whilst I am
very lucky and humbled to be the National President of the
IRRV and come from south of the border (currently working
at Luton Borough Council), I am pleased to say that my
father was born in Edinburgh, with his family coming from
Glasgow and I myself was a volunteer Clydesider during
the successful 2014 Commonwealth Games. So I like to
keep more than a watching brief on Scottish affairs - taking
a great personal interest in current matters in Scotland.
Indeed when my Presidential year finishes on the 7 October
2015 at the IRRV Performance Awards Gala Dinner in Telford
I will hand over the reins to a good friend and esteemed
colleague from Scotland, Jim McCafferty. I am sure that Jim
will do an excellent job representing the Institute in both
Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
‘It’s not just like going to the company
shop and buying a business. The key thing
for us is to find companies which have the
technology and the talent which will help
to build and grow what we offer.
‘Our job as lawyers is to understand the
regulatory environment the company
works in – a key part of the process.
‘And since the most important things we
acquire when we buy a company are the
people, we assist the HR department in
making sure that these key assets are
looked after.’
T
his last year has seen some
huge events culminating in the
recent general election in May
2015 that saw such a turnaround
particularly in Scotland, after the
devolution vote last year.
+ Growing the brand
An acquisition gazetteer of the world.
Zoombu
FOGG
Youbibi
Distinction
United Kingdom, 2011
Spain, 2013
China, 2014
Hungary, 2014
The IRRV Scottish Association President currently is
Joan Hewton. The Scottish Association runs a number of
successful conferences during the year with large delegate
numbers at every one of them being the envy of the rest of
the Institute across the country. I have been very lucky to
not only attend the Scottish Benefits Conference in Crieff in
December 2014 but also chair a large number of sessions
at the conference along with the IRRV Scotland Welfare
Reform Conference held in Grangemouth in January 2015.
The success in Scotland is largely due to the excellent work
undertaken by Fraser Macpherson, manager for the Institute
in Scotland and who is one of the main reasons for the large
attendances at the meetings and events held. Fraser does an
amazing job for the Institute in both Scotland and Northern
Ireland and this is so appreciated by me and others. The
next Conference in Scotland will be the Annual Scottish
Conference again in Crieff at the Hydro Hotel on the 2 and
3 September 2015 when I am pleased to say that I’ll be
attending as National President and will see for myself what
excellence there is in our profession in Scotland. I am also
delighted that Scott and Co will again be the overall sponsor
of the IRRV Scottish Conference this year.
The agenda for the next 5 years will be interesting. Will the
recommendations of the Smith Commission in Scotland
be applied in full? Will Westminster grant further devolved
powers to Scotland to fulfil promises made just before the
devolution vote last year? For example, these include limited
powers in relation to Universal Credit including treatment of
housing costs. This is not only of significance to Scotland
– others will be watching the outcome of this, with Wales
taking a particular interest.
Local Government continues to collect Council Tax and
Non-Domestic Rates extremely well with collection rates that
are the envy of most other organisations, including central
government. But we have many challenges ahead with a
welfare reform agenda that is likely to speed up. Scotland
has not yet seen the level of cuts for people of working age
in their Council Tax Reduction as has already occurred in
much of England – thanks to funding in Scotland provided by
the Scottish Government and local authorities. There may be
challenges about the long-term sustainability of this funding,
so collection of Council Tax may become harder. If you
include further reduction in the Benefit Cap and the ongoing
roll out of Universal Credit as well as the bedroom tax, the
impact is going to be felt on authorities and customers alike
in both Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
We are in for interesting and challenging times and I will
continue to keep a close eye on what is happening
in Scotland.
22
23
the Olympics and Commonwealth Games,
but I know it was the right choice because
otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here.’
{
{
“It’s a real
family at
Spartans,
you are
never just
a player.”
+ A Life of Two Halves
A
s Count Lev Nikolayevich
Tolstoy might have
said if he’d taken up
sports writing, all bad
sportspersons are incompetent
in different ways, but good
sportspersons display a set of
overlapping accomplishments.
There is a logic that suggests that general
fitness, good hand-to-eye coordination and
a determination to win is common to all
sports. So by extension there is a logic which
suggests that an ability to keep running for
90 minutes or an understanding of how to
put backspin on a ball would stand you in
good stead for most sports.
And on one level it accounts for all the
retired footballers who take up golf.
But I can think of no Premiership players
who have clocked off at Annfield to make the
cut at Augusta the next weekend.
In the historical record there are some
notable over-achievers. Let’s take the
exceptional Lottie Dod, Wimbledon Ladies
“Here” is the glossy new building at James
Gillespie’s High School in Edinburgh where
Claire teaches PE. The school is bright and
full of energy and light, a new building which
gives of an air of being built round the
pupils and not just to impress the adults.
‘I went to the USA at 17 and after my four
years I was qualified to teach PE in the US,
but I couldn’t wait to get back to Edinburgh,
and to Spartans.’
Although it meant an extra year’s training
back in Scotland, it took Claire through
several schools to her present post , and
back to her first team position with Spartans.
‘It’s a real family at Spartans, you are never
just a player.’
its new home at Ainslie Park. They weren’t
going to let me get away. Even when I was in
Montana they kept in touch, kept me up to
date with developments. It’s a real family at
Spartans, you are never just a player.’
Claire is a regular part of the first team, a
team that has been there or thereabouts
for years in the Women’s game in Scotland.
Spartans is in the top three clubs in the
country, never far from the top of the league
and Cup semis and finals.
Injury has interrupted her season but has
not kept her away from the club or out of
the reckoning for the first team.
‘The club gives you huge amounts of support
to get you back into the team’. Which may
be true, but would be nothing without
Claire’s own determination to keep training
and build up her strength.
‘Part of my decision to return to Edinburgh
was to get back to Spartans. I’d been
involved with teams run by Walter McGill and
Carson Ralton before and while I was away
in America they had established Spartans at
Our series looking at Spartans FC takes us on
to the pitch and into the heart of the action.
Champion five times, captain of the England
ladies hockey team and winner of the ladies
national golf championship in 1904. When
she retired to give someone else a chance
across three sports, she filled up her empty
hours by taking up archery and went on to
win silver at the 1908 Olympics, snapping
her bracer in frustration at the missed gold,
no doubt.
Andy Murray ain’t no Lottie Dod, but he did
turn down a trial at the Rangers School of
Excellence when he was 15.
But Claire Crosbie, star player at Spartans
Women Football Team, faced a much more
acute dilemma at roughly the same age.
‘My choice at 16 was a tough one, stick with
my badminton and go on to the national
team, or take up a sports scholarship at
Montana State.’
Nice dilemma to have, you might say. But a
tough call at 16.
‘I did have the odd retrospective moment
of hesitation when I saw former doubles
partners and team mates pick up medals at
continued over}
24
25
“Spartans have been loyal to me
and so I return that loyalty.”
Claire’s Schedule
Monday : Spartans training - 90 minutes
Tuesday : Evening off - surely some mistake?
Wednesday :Spartans training - 90 minutes
Thursday : Gym - strength sessions
Friday : Spartans training - 90 minutes
Saturday : James Gillespie’s team games
Sunday : Spartans first team games
Claire’s schedule makes non-athletes look
around for somewhere to have a little lie
down just from reading it. Those who have
neglected their training may need oxygen. It
is relentless, physically and psychologically
demanding. If she isn’t training herself she
is training pupils during and after school
hours. But Claire sees nothing but positives
from her dual career.
‘We do state of the art drills at Spartans.
I take them and adapt them for other sports.
And it also means I don’t have problems with
the under-14 boys team. At that age boys
can occasionally get a bit above themselves.
So I just have to go on and take the ball off
them. That shuts them up.’
Claire is full of professional as well as
personal admiration for Debbi McCulloch
whose innovative coaching and leadership
skills were features in The Leader Summer
2013.
‘Debbi is a brilliant coach – I learn from her
all the time. She has such insight into each
and every player, she knows exactly what will
work for them.’
As if her two jobs as teacher and
professional footballer weren’t enough,
Claire also contributes to Spartans
community role.
‘Spartans have been loyal to me and so I
return that loyalty. It’s not just all about
doing your best as a player. Spartans is
more than the first teams. Its community
role is vital in North Edinburgh. Whether
you’re serving in the cafe or just being
available to talk to the kids who drop in,
you are contributing to the club.’
You don’t get to where Claire has got today
without skills, determination, or ambition.
The first step is to make a post-injury
contribution to the Spartans first team.
She’s also looking forward to the split
new sports facilities at James Gillespie’s.
Currently a dusty building site but soon to
be a swimming pool, gyms and all weather
pitches. Ultimately she sees her future in
guidance, looking after pupils’ emotional
and social well-being, as well as their health
and leisure. As someone who tackled a tricky
decision early in her career and who made
her own way half-way across the world she
has lots of experience and wisdom to share.
Lucky kids.
26
27
“A career in residential property is a window on people’s lives.”
‘It’s why residential property relies on the very best of
personal service. What could be more stressful than a
transaction that carries so much emotional and financial
weight? You can’t look a computer property programme
in the eye and know that you can trust it.’
Sara’s passion for property has taken her to Partner
and Head of Residential Property at Anderson Strathern,
a move that made her one of the youngest Partners in
the country and the youngest for a decade at Anderson
Strathern. It’s also just delivered her the best Award at the
Scott + Co Scottish Legal Awards. The Rising Star Award is
the one to win. Sara is rising from a pretty high point already,
so goodness knows where it might take her.
Her decision to pursue a career in residential property
comes from an interest in architecture, buildings and
construction. As part of her training she spent much of her
time with surveyors, learning her trade in the property world.
Combined with this is a passion for sales, all adding up to
the perfect credentials for a residential property lawyer.
Being a role model to young women coming into the legal
profession is one of the issues at the forefront of Sara’s
mind. After a recent speech Sara gave at the Scottish Young
Lawyers Association Women in Law event, she was contacted
by trainees and new entrants who attended the event to say
how inspired they were to see a woman of her age to have
risen so far already.
‘I’m still working a few days a week at our Haddington
office,’ she explains. ‘I went to school there and grew up
there, so I know the local market.’
In between, her career has followed what could be described
as the new legal pathway – no family history in the law, no
private school and no testosterone. It’s a changing face of
the profession and one that more accurately reflects the
profile of those key people, the customers.
It’s like being loaned someone’s vintage Bentley
Sara’s move to Anderson Strathern was widely seen
as a way to unlock the potential of their residential
property department.
‘It was an opportunity to modernise and develop residential
property as a department in its own right,’ says Sara, ‘there
was a gap in the portfolio of services. The company has
had an amazing period of growth. The potential for cross-
‘But trust is also key within the company as well as with the
clients. I had to work to gain the trust of colleagues in-house
who were handing over their most precious asset, their
clients. It’s like being loaned someone’s vintage Bentley.’
Sara continues, ‘the revitalisation of the AS Residential
Property department is part of the growth of the Anderson
Strathern brand. We’re a brand that is about dynamism as
well as core professional expertise. If we can bring together
different sorts of thinking to help a client, we will.’
‘It’s a company that doesn’t care about your age. Just about
whether you can do the job,’ says Sara. It hasn’t just paid
off for Sara individually, as Anderson Strathern swept up
another two gongs at the Scottish Legal Awards, for Public
Sector Team of the Year and Employment Team of the Year.
And there is even more reason to be proud – Anderson
Strathern has just received the Investors in People Young
People Award. “I have had such encouragement at AS, “ says
Sara. “The firm is totally committed to developing its young
people and recognising talent, helping us grow”.
Not surprisingly Sara puts great weight on the importance
of team building. Her team of seven has four members
under the age of 35 and she takes a very untraditional
approach to motivation.
‘I’ve tried to build a culture where we reward people and
where we celebrate success. I’ve tried to identify people with
strong interpersonal and sales skills who can actually go
out and talk to customers. Often the best people are hidden
away in an administrative back room. Let them loose, give
them training and support and they’ll shine. All you ever have
to do is work out what you’re good at and pursue it. But it all
comes from the top. A positive culture doesn’t just happen.’
Rising Star –
Sara Jalicy
+ On Location
One source of Sara’s management nous is not a familiar one
in the world of Scots Law.
‘I learned a huge amount about management from my time
at Tesco in Haddington. I worked there all the way through
school and university. I rose through the ranks – check-outs
to Customer Service Team Leader.
‘I had to manage team members who were much older and
who might have been a bit put out to be told what to do by
a teenager. So I quickly learned how to handle all sorts of
people. I had to be able to defuse customer complaints as
well as help manage a team.
‘Tesco were brilliant on the training side. They made
no distinction that I was part-time and recognised
that developing skills is the key to an effective and
happy work force.’
With a partner who is a Chartered Surveyor and ambitions
to do the RICS exams herself one day, it’s probably safe
to conclude that Sara isn’t contemplating a transfer to
corporate law anytime soon.
{
Sara is from the East Lothian town of Haddington, and
although her property career has taken her all over Scotland,
she can still be found in Haddington one or two days a week
at Anderson Strathern’s office in the town.
servicing of clients was there. Law is a business founded
on trust and if the client trusts you to deal with their
commercial business there is no reason why they shouldn’t
trust you to sell their house too
“It’s like
being loaned
someone’s
vintage
Bentley.”
{
s
ays Sara Jalicy in the decidedly
non-residential glass tower that
is Anderson Strathern’s Edinburgh
office. ‘It is a great privilege to be
asked into people’s homes and allowed to
look around. A home is more than your main
asset, sometimes your life savings,
it’s your home, a real and tangible part
of your life.
With Property Partner at
Anderson Strathern, Sara Jalicy
‘My first task is to continue to consolidate
the team. There is still more to do here. But
I’m not going anywhere from Residential
Property. I have plenty other things in my
life, but I love the satisfaction that comes
from helping someone through one of their
most anxious times. Of course, it does
mean working at weekends and the mobile
ringing at unexpected moments. But that’s
what customer service is all about. And you
get the opportunity to see some fantastic
houses, so it’s always worth it!’
Uphill all the way
You might think that being an award winning
lawyer and a Partner at 29 meant that when
you eventually get some free time, putting
your feet up with a spot of Strictly and a
large white wine might be the order
of the day.
Wrong. A month or two after she joined
Anderson Strathern, Sara completed a
Land’s End to John O’Groat’s cycle ride to
raise money for the Marie Curie cancer trust.
So that’s 10 days, 100 miles every day. No
rest, no days off, no padded bicycle seats,
just the endless road and when it’s not
raining and into a headwind, you can be sure
it’s uphill. Even when it’s not.
It’s not even as if she does a lot of cycling.
But neither did she spring from the couch
straight on to the bike. Sara was a county
class badminton player and still plays at a
high level so she doesn’t exactly have a low
level of fitness. Still, it’s a long way sitting
down.
Will power and a spot of acupuncture saw
her through to Caithness, with her group of
27 cyclists raising over £100,000. Not your
usual work-life balance. But then Sara isn’t
your usual girl.
28
Locations
+ Head Office
+ Dundee
+ Inverness
12 Drumsheugh Gardens
Edinburgh
EH3 7QG
Unit 1B
63 Brown Street
Dundee
DD1 5AQ
29 Innes Street
Inverness
IV1 1NP
Telephone: 0845 345 8980
Fax: 0845 129 5160
Email: [email protected]
+ Aberdeen
16 Queen’s Road
Aberdeen
AB15 4ZT
Telephone: 0845 129 5161
Fax: 0845 129 5162
Email: [email protected]
+ Ayr
Suite 3
Beresford Court
6-8 Beresford Lane
Ayr
KA7 2DW
Telephone: 0845 129 5173
Fax: 0845 129 5174
Email: [email protected]
+ Dumfries
15 Bank Street
Dumfries
DG1 2NX
Telephone: 0845 129 5165
Fax: 0845 129 5166
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0845 129 5167
Fax: 0845 129 5168
Email: [email protected]
+ Dunfermline
22a East Port
Dunfermline
KY12 7JB
Telephone: 0845 129 5169
Fax: 0845 129 5170
Email: [email protected]
+ Edinburgh
9 Melville Crescent
Edinburgh
EH3 7LZ
Telephone: 0845 345 8980
Fax: 0131 220 2928
Email: [email protected]
+ Galashiels
50/52 High Street
Galashiels
TD1 1SE
Telephone: 0845 129 5179
Fax: 0845 129 5180
Email: [email protected]
+ Glasgow
276 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5RL
Telephone: 0845 129 5171
Fax: 0845 129 5172
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0845 129 5163
Fax: 0845 129 5164
Email: [email protected]
+ Perth
1 Charlotte Street
Perth
PH1 5LW
Telephone: 0845 129 5175
Fax: 0845 129 5176
Email: [email protected]
+ Orkney
3 Anchor House
10 Bridge Street
Kirkwall
Orkney
KW15 1HR
Telephone: 0845 129 5181
Fax: 0845 129 5182
Email: [email protected]
+ Stirling
Viewfield Chambers
Viewfield Place
Stirling
FK8 1NQ
Telephone: 0845 129 5177
Fax: 0845 129 5178
Email: [email protected]