Interview with Sarah Goulbourne at Gunnercooke

2012 was a great year for Gunnercooke too, not least by picking up yet another award at The British Legal Awards. Gunnercooke won the Law Firm Innovation Award in the face of stiff competition from DAC Beachcroft, GQ Employment Law, Keoghs, Mischon de Reya, Setfords and Wiggin.

Why law? I am a Corporate Commercial Lawyer which means I can wear a lot of different hats! My favourite part of the area of expertise is going to see a new client and listening to them talk about their business. Once you get a really good understanding of the kind of frustrations that they have with their legal services be it contracts, their property, employment advice, tax structuring (the list goes on!) then you can think about how you could save them money, add value or solve a really big problem in their business by simply doing things in a different way.

Describe your firm in three words. Challenge, improve and evolve.

What do you enjoy most about your job? I've worked in legal services both in private practice and in-house for a long time now. As a relatively new business (gunnercooke has been established two years) I love the excitement of being able to make things happen in a better way both internally in the business and in how we deliver our services to clients. I don't have a big hierarchy to go through to implement a good idea; we just do it! The team that we've built over the past couple of years all have their own ideas which I love exploring; if something doesn't work we try something different. It makes it a dynamic and inspiring place to work!

What is the most challenging element of your job? The challenge for us is that the market is very tough and so our competitors are finding it tough too. It means that some people are very desperate and will quote prices that are unrealistic in a bid to win work. We just have to be confident that our services represent great value for money and our experience is first class. For a small firm we have attracted some huge plc. clients and you don't win those by quoting cheap; you win them by delivering results!

What does the future hold for the legal profession? It is a really interesting time for our profession and I think even in as little as five years' time, the market will look very different. The days of charging hundreds of pounds for a 'phone call has ended and those who fail to adapt quickly will, without a doubt, fail. I hope that this will give way to more innovative ways of delivering quality legal services. Technology will play a much bigger role in delivery; as a firm we are paperless which has been a huge shift for some of our more senior Partners! We have invested heavily in ensuring that our team can work virtually and seamlessly enabling us to be very responsive to clients from any location. Ultimately experience and expertise will still be invaluable for Solicitors but in some respects some matters will become much more commoditised leading to a huge shift in pricing.

Who's been the biggest single influence on your career? At the risk of sounding incredibly clichéd I suppose the biggest positive influence would be my Business Partner Darryl Cooke. Through speaking to him over time and realising that we shared similar goals we have enabled each other to establish gunnercooke; a firm that takes lessons learnt from our previous experiences of the legal sector and that allows us to do things in the way that we have always wanted to do them. Starting gunnercooke has been the biggest leap I have ever taken. Darryl is a brilliant person to work with, he is very creative and innovative and his enthusiasm is truly contagious. I've always wanted to be my own boss and grow my own business and I am passionate about the way that we should develop gunnercooke. I think the way in which I look at strategy and growth works well with Darryl's natural sales instinct.

What advice would you give to an ambitious Solicitor at the start of their career? I would advise them to say yes to everything and to gain experience in as many opportunities as they can. One thing I know our clients really value is Solicitors with in-house legal business experience. Working in a big firm is an exciting environment but gaining real business experience can prove invaluable and be something that provides avenues in all kinds of directions.

What has been your greatest achievement so far in life? Seeing my two sons settle in at university! I now have a very tidy and quiet house! I also have plenty of time to spend developing the business.

Please tell us a little bit about you? I love running and keeping fit. Growing up in beautiful North Wales made me love the outdoors; walking, cycling and running are all things I do to relax.