Interview with Ruth Needham

Why law and why your particular area of expertise? From an early age I knew that I wanted to do law. I always had an inquisitive mind and influenced by Perry Mason and 'A Few Good Men' I had the idea that I could just suddenly produce a killer piece of evidence and win the case at the last minute; obviously completely ignoring all the legal requirements! I was fortunate to work on the Shipman enquiry while I was a Trainee and this lead to my desire to work in forensic investigative type law therefore Fraud Investigation was an obvious choice. Upon qualifying, I joined Keoghs and started working in as it was known then, the 'Special Claims Unit.'

Describe your firm in three words. Unconventional, visionary and friendly.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Seeing results on the cases especially after a long, thorough and detailed investigation. In the ten years that I have been working in this area I have never lost the passion and drive to get the best possible results for our clients and to ensure that fraudsters don't get paid out. I also enjoy working with clients; meeting new people, understanding their needs, seeing relationships develop and most importantly celebrating our successes together.

In these tough economic times, what is the most challenging element of your job? In a perverse way, fraud isn't affected by the recession. Some might say that any economic downturn leads to an increase in fraudulent claims. However our clients have to work in a very competitive market and the need to reduce legal spend is ever present so for me it is ensuring we do the best possible investigation but always with a consideration for the economics of any investigation.

In your view, what does the future hold for the legal profession; what will be the "next big thing" in the legal industry? For the Insurance market the Jackson Reforms are likely to have a significant effect. The reforms will mean that many law firms will have to step away from the traditional methods of dealing with claims and instead move to more process driven procedures to ensure that claims are dealt with both efficiently and economically.

Who has been the biggest single influence or inspiration on your career? The Partners at Keoghs. They have encouraged me and supported my progress from Assistant File Handler right up to Partner. My career progression has always been supported by the various Partners that I have worked for. Keoghs has always been a friendly place to work with all the Partners having an open door policy. There is a real desire to see people achieve their full potential and it is this environment which allowed me to learn and develop not only my legal skills but also my business skills.

What has been your greatest achievement so far in life? The birth of my two girls!

Tell us a little bit about you. I grew up in a small village in the west of Ireland and came to England in 1994 to study at university. However instead of returning home once I had finished my degree (which was my original intention) I moved to York to the College of Law and then started working in Leeds for a law firm specialising in Construction. It wasn't long before I realised this wasn't for me and soon moved to Alexander Harris (now part of Irwin Mitchell) where I completed my Training Contract. I am married with two children aged five and two and live in a village outside Halifax. As a family we love bike rides and walking although with a two year old you are restricted as to how much walking you can do! When not with the children I love to go horse riding which has been something I have enjoyed since childhood.