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Page 1: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Inside

Page 2: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

We are Fladgate ...................................................... 1

About us ................................................................... 2

Financial insights ..................................................... 3

What we do .............................................................. 5

Internationally independent ...................................... 6

Our clients ................................................................ 7

Our work .................................................................. 8

Inclusivity and diversity at Fladgate ....................... 10

The Law Society Diversity Charter ......................... 11

CSR at Fladgate .................................................... 12

Sports & social at Fladgate .................................... 13

Wellbeing ............................................................... 15

Work flexibly at Fladgate ........................................ 16

Our culture ............................................................. 18

Our people ............................................................. 19

What we offer ......................................................... 20

Progression to senior associate ............................. 22

Progression to partner ........................................... 23

Recent promotions ................................................. 24

My Fladgate story .................................................. 25

A final note ............................................................. 28

Find out more about Fladgate ................................ 29

2019

Index

Page 3: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking.

As a business, we are dedicated to offering first rate work with great clients, good quality training and development within a friendly, supportive environment. We have proven that this is conducive to highly motivated and successful lawyers who proudly call Fladgate their home.

When it comes to attracting new talent, we appreciate the value of presenting our professional and financial achievements but, more importantly, offering an in-depth understanding of what it really means to be part of the team at Fladgate. After all, this is a two-way process and we encourage an inquisitive thought process to determine not only whether you think you are right for us, but indeed whether we are right for you. If you like what you see and would be keen to talk to us in more detail, please get in touch with our recruitment team.

We are Fladgate

A note from our partnership board...

Bree Taylor, Ruth Elliot, Grant Gordon, Simon Russell Stephen Lewis, Richard Reuben, David Robinson, Julian Lewis

Partnership Board 2018/2019 1

Page 4: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Fladgate is a law firm with a strong international focus, servicing a wide range of corporate, institutional and private clients. We are proud of our reputation for commercial pragmatism in tackling complex and business critical matters. Our driving purpose is to use our legal and business expertise to address the diverse challenges our clients face in an ever changing market.

We are innovative, progressive and entrepreneurial and very much in growth mode. We are one of the UK’s top 100 law firms, with over 183 staff and over 80 partners and over 260 in total and are continuing to work towards a strategic increase in headcount. We adopt a partner led approach in which partners not only take the lead but, along with a team of highly technical associates, also do a significant amount of the detailed work. Our associates can be assured that they will receive first rate training and development working directly alongside some of the leading names in the industry.

About us

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Life at Fladgate is not all hard work and late nights. We are fortunate in our location: when the work is done we are in one of the liveliest, most attractive and best served parts of London.

Covent Garden

Page 5: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

At the end of the 2017/2018 financial year, Fladgate announced a double digit increase in turnover for the seventh consecutive year with an 8% rise to £53m, breaking the £50m barrier. This builds on the 15% increase achieved in 2016/2017 (£49.2m) and 14% in both 2015/2016 and 2014/2015.

All of this has been achieved against a backdrop of financial stability, no debt and significant investment in the business’s infrastructure. Our partner profits have increased with turnover and remain among the best in our peer group.

Strategic recruitment and organic growth have been consistent features at Fladgate in recent years with both lateral hires and internal promotions.

Our “2020 vision” envisages a further 40% growth to take us to a turnover of £65-£70m.

Financial insights

Simon Russell, Chief Operating Officer

Richard Reuben, Chairman

“Our results reflect the considerable efforts of partners and staff across

the firm.”

“Our financial stability creates the platform for us to invest in the future success of our

business and to attract the highest quality talent.”

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Page 6: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Since October 2005, we have proudly held the Lexcel Quality Mark. This is a demonstration of

our relentless commitment to delivering a quality service and we remain committed to raising

standards.

Page 7: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

What we do

Fladgate offers advanced legal expertise across all major legal specialisms, combined with a detailed understanding of the dynamics and pressures of our clients’ business sectors.

The firm is organised into three main departments: corporate (which includes funds, finance & regulatory, tax, private capital, employment, commercial, sports and intellectual property groups), litigation and property (which includes separate planning, construction and property litigation teams). The firm also operates a number of specialist cross-department teams that provide co-ordinated legal advice on a range of issues.

Banking & finance

Commercial

Construction

Corporate

Dispute resolution

Employment

Family

Immigration

Private wealth

Real estate

Tax

Betting & gaming

Energy & resources

Engineering & construction

Fashion

Financial institutions

Hotels

Insurance

International

Leisure

Life sciences

Media & technology

Owner managed businesses

Private client

Professional practices

Projects & infrastructure

Public attractions

Rail

Real estate

Retail

Sports

Expertise Industries

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Page 8: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Internationally independent

At Fladgate, we offer our clients with international business a technically expert, efficient service, characterised by commercial and cultural awareness and delivered by experienced, multilingual, multi-qualified teams of lawyers. Nearly 40% of our business comes through non-UK clients.

We support and advise a wide range of companies and individuals with international concerns, including many who are investing into, or doing business with, the UK.

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Our international strategy is based on our resolute independence. Rather than operating a number of overseas offices, which would restrict the choice of whom we partner with, we aim to combine our lawyers’ experience with that of the most appropriate local law firm. This enables us to provide our clients with advice from the best-equipped specialists with the most relevant experience in each jurisdiction, delivered in a collaborative way.

Over 26 languages are currently spoken at Fladgate.

Page 9: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Our clients

Clients come to us to help them resolve challenges and address issues – they want jargon-free advice and recommendations that will lead to answers and results. Many of the matters we tackle require an innovative or bespoke approach. For us this is normal. We often work with entrepreneurs and clients who are doing something for which there is no precedent. These are circumstances in which we excel.

We understand the commercial imperatives driving our clients and we recognise their need for clear, unambiguous advice and recommendations. Our focus is on helping them to get the job done by delivering practical, cost-effective advice and outcomes.

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Page 10: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Our work

From our base in London, we help our clients to realise their goals, close deals, and protect and preserve their assets.

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Dobbies

Advising the equity investors on the acquisition of Dobbies Garden Centres from Tesco

for £217m. The group of equity investors was led by Midlothian Capital Partners

and Hattington Capital 

Madison International Realty

Real estate aspects of the £200m acquisition from

Oxford Properties of a half share in the Paternoster

Square London EC4 campus

Hodson Developments

Planning consent and funding to commence the Chilmington Green Development, a new

garden city project near Ashford, Kent

Aldgate Tower Investments

£346m disposal of 100% of the shares in ATI to a joint

venture between China Life and Brookfield Property

Partners. ATI is the owner of the 317,000 sq ft Aldgate

Tower in London 

iZettle

Acted for the lead group of financial investors on the sale

of their entire interest in iZettle to Paypal Holdings,

subject to regulatory approval, for $2.2bn

 

FEMSA

On-market sale of approximately €2.5bn worth of

shares in Heineken NV and Heineken Holding N.V., representing 5.24% of

FEMSA’s combined interest in the Heineken Group

Yoo Capital

£296m acquisition of Capco’s exhibition business (including

Olympia London) by our client, Yoo Capital, and a

consortium of German institutional investors  

Samsung

Five LCIA arbitrations arising out of the refurbishment of

one of the largest oil refineries in North Africa – value

US$50m

London & Regional

Finance aspects of the

refinancing of 55 Baker Street, a

530,749 sq ft prime office building owned and managed

by London & Regional

Page 11: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

We want to work with talented people from all backgrounds to bring energy, enthusiasm and

creativity to our business.

Page 12: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Inclusivity & diversity at Fladgate

At Fladgate we run our business in ways that promote equality of opportunity and respect for diversity. Ours is a business that thrives on bringing together people with different perspectives to address our clients’ challenges, so we value and encourage diversity, both internally and externally.

Promoting inclusivity and diversity is a key element of our commitment to being a great place to work, enabling us to attract and retain the best talent. We are committed to the fair treatment of everyone and to ensuring that each individual is valued and respected.

All our partners and staff attend diversity training, which encourages them to consider and be aware of how language and behaviour impact others. We support our people in maximising their potential within our inclusive culture. Our diversity statistics demonstrate that we are steadily broadening our racial, gender and age profile and we are continually looking for ways to further embed diversity in our firm.

For more information on our Inclusivity & Diversity policy, visit: https://www.fladgate.com/about-us/inclusivity-and-diversity/

Sunil Sheth, inclusivity & diversity partner

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“Our Diversity Committee comprises individuals from all roles and levels across our business. Their active participation and contribution has been invaluable in supporting our progress to date.”

Page 13: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

The Law Society Diversity Charter

Gold for Fladgate

Every two years, Fladgate voluntarily submits responses to a very detailed questionnaire, sent out by the Law Society in respect of their Diversity Charter. The questions are under eight separate headings, and our responses enable us to see how we have scored and to what level we have progressed. In 2015, we scored gold in two categories and were awarded a ‘silver’ award overall.

This year’s results show that there has been significant progress; we scored gold in five categories and were awarded an overall ‘gold’ status – a fantastic achievement.

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Page 14: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

CSR at Fladgate

CSR is extremely important to us, and representatives from all corners of the firm ensure that we run and participate in a number of fund raising initiatives each year such as the London Legal Walk, sponsored cycles and the occasional abseiling! We also have a ‘Monday Knitting Club’ producing garments and blankets for premature baby units within London. Each year we choose two charities, by firm-wide vote, to support, one local and one national.

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Page 15: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Sports & social at Fladgate

Fladgate’s active social committee arranges a number of firm-wide functions each year as well as regular departmental events. You will also be able to join the sports and social clubs set out below.

Touch rugby

Netball Football Squash

Table tennis Tennis

Yoga Book club Knitting

CSR committee Diversity committee Social committee

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Page 16: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

While we work hard, we aim to give our people a sensible work/life balance.

Page 17: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

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Wellbeing

The firm recognises the importance of the health and wellbeing of all our people and that it can play a part in promoting an environment which allows everyone to flourish and reach their full potential. The various elements of our wellbeing programme are set out below. Our wellbeing programme consists of four key pillars: physical health, mental health, financial health and social & CSR. We continually review the programme, and how we can further build and develop this.

Social & CSR

Corporate access to CityParents

Sports/social events

CSR committee

Mental health

We provide a number of initiatives and benefits in this area including:

An Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7, including counselling sessions

Basic annual holiday of 26 days (full time)

Flexible holiday scheme and the opportunity to buy up to another two weeks’ holiday

A recent mental health awareness session held by Mind

Physical health

We offer a number of benefits in this area, for example:

Bupa private medical insurance

Private dental cover

Eye test vouchers

Flu jabs

Free yoga classes

Discounted gym and sports club memberships and loans

Various sports teams and groups across the firm, including netball, football, squash, touch rugby, table tennis and tennis

Cycle to work scheme

Free personal training sessions

Financial health

We regularly host events with external experts offering guidance on a range of financial issues such as:

Financial awareness and wellbeing

Pensions

Mortgages, including free mortgage clinics

Access to financial advice with an independent financial adviser

Page 18: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Work flexibly at Fladgate

Fladgate embraces flexible working and understands that everyone has different personal needs and circumstances. We aim to provide the support and flexibility to enable all our fee earners to fulfil their maximum potential, while maintaining high levels of client service and quality.

Whether through alternative hours or remote working, many of our fee earners have achieved a sensible and successful work/life balance by flexible working. Here are a few of their stories:

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I have found Fladgate to be extremely forward thinking in terms of flexible working. The systems work incredibly well and the team I work with do not differentiate between the days I work in the office and the days I work remotely. All in all it works exceptionally well for me. Kim Fowler, Senior Associate, Construction

I work flexibly doing four days a week, and I manage my start and leave times in the office around my childcare arrangements. I find Fladgate’s flexible working policy to be very accommodating and tailored to individual needs. I have the flexibility to spend one day a week with my toddler and manage my workload around leaving the office at 5, and the firm’s remote working systems are great, meaning that I still feel part of the team even when working from home. I am very happy with the arrangement and the support and flexibility from within my team is also exceptional.

Rachel Shah, Associate, Corporate

I have found the flexible working at Fladgate a real advantage. From a work/life balance perspective, dispensing with the commute to and from the office one day a week is a nice change. Working at home is also particularly good for those tasks which benefit from sustained periods of focus, like contract drafting. That said, the remote access IT systems works smoothly so that when things are busy, or I need to join calls, there are no problems. All in all I have found the scheme hugely beneficial.

Ben Milloy, Associate, Corporate

Fladgate has a very positive flexible working policy and is very supportive of employees who wish to do so. I work from home one day a week and find it to be of great benefit. Practically speaking, the technology is seamless and I have all resources and support available to me in the office on my home computer. It is also nice to be spared a longish commute and as such allows more working hours in the day if necessary. A number of colleagues in the team also work from home one day a week and evidently, the policy is widely adopted and appreciated by all.

Miles Crawford, Associate, Planning

Page 19: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

We look for the best. We seek candidates who demonstrate high levels of commercial awareness and business acumen,

enthusiasm and leadership potential.

Page 20: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Our culture

We want this always to be a great, friendly place to work. And challenging too, because our clients challenge us to challenge ourselves – and that’s a big part of our appeal. Everyone here is encouraged to grow and develop, and while we work hard, we aim to give our people a sensible work/life balance.

Associates join Fladgate when they are looking for a collegiate, supportive, innovative and progressive place to work, without compromising on quality. Is it realistic to expect that you will be exposed to an excellent quality of work with substantial, hands-on responsibility while being able to maintain your social life or get home in time to put your children to bed? We’ve proven that it is! Don’t just take our word for it; here are some testimonials from our very own associates discussing the benefits of life at Fladgate:

People across the firm are very approachable which makes for a pleasant working environment. I find the regularity and quality of training sessions, which are provided by fee earners of all levels, to be extremely valuable to my development. To complement the work culture, we have an active social committee and the social events are well attended.

Muhammed Bhaimohmed, Associate, Corporate

I trained at Fladgate and was delighted to qualify into the firm’s litigation department in 2016. Since qualifying I have worked on a variety of high-value and high-profile cases as well as smaller matters. I enjoy the level of responsibility I am offered here which has exceeded my expectations. I am well-supported by my colleagues and feel that the firm takes a genuine interest in my development and progression. Fladgate’s lawyers work hard but the work/life balance I have experienced so far has been excellent. I am very content to be a part of a well-respected firm which is going from strength to strength.

Alice Morrissey, Associate, Litigation

Fladgate is about the people. I have made some wonderful friends here and anyone new who joins always notes what a friendly and positive atmosphere there is. The offices have a light hearted feel and no one takes themselves too seriously. People are always there for you to bounce ideas off, to ask questions to, and for moral support, guidance and a helping hand. I’ve been able to maintain a great work/life balance and pursue my interests outside the office whilst succeeding in my career.

Aditi Sawjani, Associate, Real Estate

What initially attracted me to Fladgate was the opportunity to develop my career in a partner-led environment. In some firms you can feel like a resource with little or no meaningful contact with clients and without a real role to play in the firm’s growth and development. This couldn’t be further from the case at Fladgate where there have been great opportunities to work alongside partners to develop existing and new client relationships.

Adam Baker, Senior Associate, Real Estate

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When I moved to Fladgate I was pleasantly surprised by two things. First, there was (and is!) a real culture of openness and support from partners but particularly among the associates. This manifests particularly in a willingness to share knowledge, which has really helped build my confidence as I deal with clients and external lawyers. Second, the firm’s infrastructure has been developed rigorously, which means that a mature set of policies, systems and processes are in place across the firm to ensure you do not find yourself falling foul of any professional requirements or standards of practice. This again has really helped me move forward in my career with a level of confidence that I cannot imagine I’d have had elsewhere. Overall I have found Fladgate a great place to work, where I have made good friends and have improved as a lawyer.

Nick Wood, Associate, Real Estate

Page 21: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Our people

Our success as a firm is inextricably linked to the quality of the people we recruit. We look for candidates who demonstrate high levels of commercial awareness, enthusiasm and leadership potential. We are keen to recruit individuals who thrive on taking ownership of their career development and continually strive to achieve success.

At Fladgate, offering an excellent service to our clients is at the heart of everything we do. Fladgate lawyers operate as an extension of our clients’ business and they do so with a first rate combination of legal knowledge, commercial acumen and, above all, a personable approach and a great sense of humour.

Leigh Callaway was recently promoted to senior associate after 12 months with the firm. Here, he gives an example of the level of responsibility he and other associates are afforded at Fladgate:

“I joined the firm in February 2016, and since that time have been afforded a considerable level of responsibility in the management of the wide variety of cases undertaken by the litigation department, whether that be in respect of day-to-day conduct of a claim, engagement with clients, or determining case strategy. A genuine ‘open-door’ policy, convivial atmosphere and a flat structure within the team ensures that all views are heard, considered and given equal weight.”

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Page 22: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

What we offer

We are heavily invested in the success of every associate at Fladgate. Our aim is to provide you with all of the necessary tools to take control of your career and drive it forward.

Hands-on experience

When it comes to recruitment, our major USP is that many of our associates and senior associates are genuinely running their own matters with partner supervision where necessary. We regularly receive feedback from our associates that their transactional exposure at Fladgate has been second to none compared with previous roles or friends in competing firms.

High level of client contact

We were recently given the Lex 100 “winning firm” status for client contact, as voted by our trainees and newly qualified associates. Client contact is crucial to the development of our fee earners at all stages in their career and is both supported and encouraged by our partners.

Partner-led approach

Our structure results in ratios of almost 1:1 partner to qualified fee earner. Our partners are heavily invested in the development of associates; after all, they all jointly own Fladgate and recognise the strategic importance of organic growth and succession planning. An associate at Fladgate will never find themselves making an appointment two weeks in advance to ask a burning question regarding a matter! The more likely course of action is to swivel their chair around and ask for advice on the spot.

Latest technology

Every fee earner is provided with an iPhone, login details for remote working and split screen monitors on desktop computers. We use the InTapp time recording system and have a simple and effective room booking system for client meetings. We offer a full programme of in-house training including external speakers and ‘lunch and learn’ sessions which are heavily attended all the way through to our most senior partners.

Benefits

Holiday: 26 days

New business bonus

Sports club discounts

Life assurance

Group income protection scheme

Free yoga

Staff introduction bonus

Interest-free season ticket loan

Child care vouchers

Dental scheme

Private medical scheme & flu jab

Cycle to work scheme

Free personal training

Group personal pension scheme

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Page 23: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Progression at Fladgate is a genuinely transparent and merit based process.

Page 24: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Progression to senior associate

Progression at Fladgate is a genuinely transparent and merit based process. Much of our success is from strategic planning and a key part of that plan is organic growth. There are various ways to progress at Fladgate but whatever your background, from the day you join, our “Route to Partnership” document will be made available to you. This details your road from associate to senior associate through to partnership.

Achieving senior associate status recognises that you have the potential to become one of our future partners. There are no fixed criteria as to post qualification experience, however we would normally expect that you will be at least five years qualified and have spent a reasonable time at the firm, so that the partners are able to conduct a proper evaluation of your progress.

Amongst other qualities, a candidate for senior associate will be considered against the following criteria:

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Page 25: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Progression to partner

We are committed to developing everyone to their full potential and promotion to partnership is part of that journey. Anyone progressing from senior associate to partnership spends at least a year undertaking a partnership development programme (PDP) supporting their growth and ensuring that when they are promoted, they are ready to take on all the opportunities and responsibilities associated with the role.

We recognise the need to take a flexible approach to partnership and that, in building the partnership, we require a variety of talents. Entry into the partnership at Fladgate is assessed against the following criteria.

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During the partnership development process, individuals receive a significant amount of training, feedback and support from our current partners and an external coach. We recognise we need a variety of talents in a successful partnership; nobody is good at everything and we look for individuals who excel in some areas and are competent in all.

Page 26: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

Recent promotions

Here are some recent examples of promotions within Fladgate. We are proud to employ such motivated and talented lawyers.

Sam Tye Partner

Corporate

Mike Tremeer Partner

Employment

Claudia Carter Senior Associate

Real Estate

Adam Baker Senior Associate

Real Estate

Hollie Docherty Senior Associate

Real Estate

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Yulia Leyko Senior Associate

Corporate

Karen Mitchell Senior Associate

Real Estate

Amanda Hado-Bodfield Partner

Real Estate

Jamie Hamilton Partner

Corporate

Senior Associate to Partner

Associate to Senior Associate

Page 27: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

I joined Fladgate in March 2007 as a newly qualified associate in the India team. I now co-head Fladgate’s India desk and also lead the firm’s luxury assets group. I work with individuals who buy and sell anything from companies and businesses to properties, hotels, restaurants, aircraft, helicopters and vintage Ferraris. I had previously qualified in India in 2004, and decided to join Fladgate primarily on account of its focused approach to building the India practice by working with Indian corporates, and clients from India and the Indian diaspora. My core skills are corporate M&A, but I have a large private client practice which I continue to develop.

As an associate and senior associate, I worked very closely with partners and their clients, and was often responsible for running and driving a transaction to its finish, which meant coordinating with different teams internally and being the sole point of contact for the client in respect of the entire transaction. This was an excellent way to learn not just the legal aspects of a transaction, but also to project-manage teams, to provide solutions to clients and their teams rather than just raise issues, to manage everyone’s expectations and to appreciate the need to be commercial. At the same time, I was also encouraged to attend networking events, do business development and build a practice of my own. I was able to do all of this, even though I had a young son who needed to be picked up from nursery every day before 6pm. I would often log back on later in the evenings for an hour or so, but only to complete bits that I needed to and to plan for the next day. I have two young boys, both of whom were born whilst I have been at Fladgate - my first in 2009 when I was an associate, and my second in 2015, when I was a junior partner. Needless to say, I would not be where I am today at Fladgate without everyone being supportive of my timings and my need for flexibility.

I was promoted to senior associate in 2011, and then to partnership in 2013. Fladgate has a transparent process of promotion which is outlined in a document available to all staff and partners. People are promoted on merit, rather than on a discretionary basis, and the process of applying for promotion to senior associate and to partner is sensible and achievable.

I have built my career at Fladgate, with the support and guidance of everyone here. I have had an exceptional senior partner as my mentor, and he has always taken a personal approach to my career development. I have made some wonderful friends here over the years, and I genuinely enjoy coming into

work. At the same time as managing my practice and my family, I also do a substantial amount of pro bono work for UK and Indian charities. In 2016, I was appointed a Trustee of Sense UK, a national charity that supports people who are deafblind, have sensory impairments or complex needs.

If I had to summarise “why Fladgate”, I would say:

the spread and variety of work; close working relationships with colleagues

and partners - you will enjoy a different career lifestyle from that of many of the larger/competitor firms;

the quality of work is equal to that of a major City firm;

a supportive, open and friendly working environment - people who are not only intelligent and business minded, but friendly, approachable and have a sense of humour;

huge amounts of direct contact with clients from the outset; and

doors are always open for guidance, moral support and help - you will quickly get to know everyone from senior partners to the most junior staff members.

My Fladgate story

Mythily Katsaris, Corporate Partner

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Page 28: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

I joined real estate in 2008 having been a trainee at Fladgate. I am now a partner in the real estate team and deal with a broad range of matters including commercial investment, development projects, leases, secured lending and portfolio transactions. Whereas other firms see real estate as more of a support department, Fladgate places intrinsic value on its real estate lawyers. Having progressed through the ranks from trainee to partner, I have seen the firm at all levels. The ratio of partners to associates (basically 1:1) means that there is a lot of work to go round and a lot of opportunity to run transactions. The opportunity for direct contact with clients and other lawyers from an early stage helped me learn an incredible amount “on the job” and taught me to take responsibility for matters from start to finish. There was an added bonus of having a very reasonable and realistic chargeable hours target.

I have had opportunities to undertake a huge variety of work over the years and was also actively encouraged to try and generate work from an early stage. This is a key skill for lawyers, but more than just a skill, it is rewarding to work with clients whose business you really understand.

What attracted me to Fladgate was that I saw it as a firm in which I could progress my career in the direction I wanted and I felt the firm would be supportive of that. There was a clear route to partnership with the requirements clearly set out in a formal Route to Partnership document and there was support along the journey at every level from trainee to partner. The application and interview process for senior associate and partner is the same, which made the partner application less stressful having already been through the process and it was a nice to discover that the theory of the route to

partnership framework was followed closely in practice.

My time at Fladgate has been enjoyable. Everyone at the firm is friendly and as there is no obvious hierarchy. With an “open door” policy it is as easy to approach partners as it is trainees.

I would recommend Fladgate to anyone who is looking for a collegiate work environment, a varied workload and a supportive structure in which to build their own practice. You get exposure to clients and lawyers at all levels and there is a wealth of knowledge to draw upon. I am almost certain there are not many other firms I could have joined where I would have progressed so quickly.

My Fladgate story

Gavriel Cohen, Real Estate Partner

26

Gavriel’s timeline:

2006-2008 Trainee

2008-2013 Associate

2013-2015 Senior Associate

2015 – present Partner

Page 29: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

We are keen to recruit individuals who thrive on taking ownership of their career development and

continually strive to achieve success.

Page 30: Inside€¦ · Welcome to your first look ‘inside Fladgate’; we sincerely hope you will find this brochure both insightful and thought provoking. As a business, we are dedicated

I’m Ruth Elliot, Director of Human Resources & Business Services at Fladgate. My role is to ensure that everyone who works here is successful and part of that is ensuring we recruit people who will thrive and grow in our environment.

We have a great team, we do high quality work and we focus on encouraging our associates to interact with our clients from early on in their careers.

I am extremely keen to recruit people who we feel will have a long term career at Fladgate. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive, friendly and collaborative firm, and I hope that has come across in our brochure.

Why don’t you apply to join us, and then hopefully when we meet you, you will be able to judge for yourself.

A final note from...

Ruth Elliot

Director of Human Resources & Business Services

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