Bringing it in-house
Ed Harding, co-founder of My In-House Lawyer, explains how SMEs can access expert legal advice to suit their budget.
Most businesses understand the value of an in-house counsel, though few smaller companies can afford the luxury of a dedicated lawyer. For SMEs, the only option until now has been to pay substantial fees for advice and not necessarily from a senior lawyer in a law firm. For Ed Harding and his wife Twiggy, a business lawyer, who had run their own businesses, the opportunity to fill the gap was obvious.
And not just for the SMEs. My InHouse Lawyer also fills a need for top flight lawyers looking for a change of direction. Their team comprises former lawyers for Sky, Mothercare, Pfizer, Mitsubishi, Barclays and more, many of whom have spent years at Magic Circle law firms before moving in-house. Their principals have expertise in employment, real estate, technology, media, M&A, IP and other areas. “We don’t consider ourselves to be a platform or agency,” says Ed. “We’re a team with different specialities so we can offer the right advice to each client for a fraction of the cost of a city law firm.”
For smaller companies, having a lawyer to hand who understands the challenges of growing their business is invaluable. By effectively becoming a member of the client team, they can offer strategic advice and proactively guide them through the navigational pitfalls of starting and running a business.
How did you come to found My InHouse Lawyer?
I’ve worked with private equity firms and I’ve been an investor director myself – it changes the dynamic. From a legal perspective, I’ve worked with many an in-house lawyer and I’ve also worked with law firms all over the world. My wife, on the other hand, was working in private practice when we co-founded the business. So we have first-hand experience of being in the same situation as many of our clients.
What are the joys in running your own business?
We’ve always wanted to build a business which, very simply, we enjoy running. We’re very selective about who we bring on board and we only want to have a small number of people that we really like. Equally, we don’t take on board every client – we want to work with the right kinds of clients. We set up My InHouse Lawyer about seven years ago providing a different kind of service to SMEs from more traditional law firms. We’ve been growing nicely every year and we prefer to control market growth according to our culture and our commitment to quality and our clients first.
What is the advantage of My InHouse Lawyer to clients?
Most SMEs use a decent law firm but they’re not really spending enough money to get the full attention of the A-Team or a B team. The majority of our clients are probably in the £5 -200 million turnover category and because our team has worked as in-house counsel in various sectors, we think about their business as a whole. Whereas a city lawyer has a particular focus and only works with other lawyers, without our broader view of the business necessarily. This means we’re strategic and operational. We’re available when we’re needed, and we respond quickly.
The skill sets of a general counsel are transferable across a range of different industries, whether it’s court work, commercial work, employment work, and we try to make sure our advice is commensurate with the budget and the level of risk. Effectively, we are partner level, seasoned advisers for the market equivalent rate of a junior lawyer in a typical law firm
What benefits does Sturgeon Ventures bring to the table?
Aside from other specialist legal partners, we have a fast-growing community of non-legal partners including funders, insurers, banks, accountants and other C-suite professionals, such as Sturgeon Ventures. I feel our clients benefit from our access to a regulatory compliance expert. They often ask what’s involved in setting up businesses and have questions about regulatory compliance or FCA perimeter issues around introducing and arranging.
Seonaid gives us slightly different advice plus a solution that’s somewhat unique.
How large is your network?
We have a great network given our team’s range of experience. So for example, if a client is looking to expand the US and is looking for a sizeable US investment, we work with US law firms that have ready-made investor networks. We also work with US accountancy companies in the same way. We also have plenty of clients in the US and Australia who are looking to expand here in the UK, as well as UK companies looking to move into the Middle East. We’re quite unique in the way we approach our work.
You were invited to submit an entry for the Sunday Times Best Places To Work awards. What was the reason?
We’re proud to be among the Top Ten High Flyers and it’s due to the strength of our team culture. We make it a priority, and everyone celebrates each other and our success. Each person has held position of high responsibility in their previous working life and knows what it takes to create a successful working environment. It’s a happy place and we have a genuinely brilliant and lovely team that cares about doing fantastic work for our clients.
Website: https://myinhouselawyer.uk/
For further information on any of our ARs or ventures, please email hello@sturgeonventures.com
