COMPANY PROFILE

CORNWALL TRUSTEES DEVON TRUSTEES

differentDare to be

– the Stephens Scown way

Stephens Scown LLP is a law firm that dares to be different. The first large law firm in the UK to become employee owned, it has continued to grow in strength, attracting people who go the extra mile for their clients and colleagues. We discover more about this purposeful business as they forge their own path to an exciting future. Not all law firms, or all lawyers for that matter, are the same. An innovative and dynamic business, Stephens Scown has evolved from a traditional law practice founded in Cornwall in 1938, to a regional heavyweight

A ‘one firm’ with a reputation for doing things differently. Having taken ethos to support the plunge into the world of employee ownership in 2016, collaborative the Firm has achieved not only success for its employees, working but proved that like many businesses who have chosen the employee ownership path, that the transition has had a positive impact on the outcomes of its clients too.

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO CLIENT CARE

One of Stephens Scown’s key strategic goals is delivering above and beyond for its clients. This means that from initial enquiry, right through the client experience journey, the Firm has committed to achieving the client’s best possible outcomes, in turn building longer term relationships as a business’s or individual’s trusted advisor.

Receiving national recognition as Highly Commended for client service in last year’s Modern Law Awards, the Firm has not rested on its laurels, but pushed further to enhance the experience of clients.

VERITY SLATER (EMPLOYMENT PARTNER & BOARD MEMBER) CATHERINE MATHEWS (COMMERCIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION PARTNER & BOARD MEMBER)

Managing partner Richard Baker says: “We remain focused on our goal of becoming a Top 100 Law Firm, with a clear road map of how we are going to achieve this. Key to this is employing the right people in the right roles and over the last year we have made a number of strategic appointments. In 2021, we recruited Alex Mackie into a new Chief Operating Officer role to support the Firm in achieving its strategic goals, while Mark Shepherd joined us from the John Lewis Partnership as our People Development Director. We have now also expanded our client care team earlier this year, with Alistair Tudor joining as our new senior client manager, tasked with building up our new super responsive client services team. The centralised enquiries team he has built from scratch already has a bespoke enquiry system taking enquiries for the legal teams to triage client requirements and further improve our clients’ experience.” Alistair Tudor adds, “The changes we have implemented

with a new enquiries team means any new clients who do not yet have an existing relationship with us, receive a prompt response and we are then able to arrange an appointment with the most appropriate legal adviser whose expertise fits the client’s needs. Legal advisers then receive full details of the matter and are better prepared for the initial discussion and, with details of the matter already The Firm has given, the client gets more time receiving advice. The team is not rested on also reviewing the Firm’s already comprehensive client feedback its laurels, but system, ensuring clients’ needs are monitored over the course of pushed further a matter, not just at the end.”

PEOPLE POWERED

At the heart of making Stephens Scown stand out from the crowd are its people, brought together across the south west under a ‘one firm’ ethos to support collaborative working, and again improvements in client service. Offering the very best benefits of working in the south west, with spectacular coast and countryside on the doorstep, while harnessing the power of communication channels to open up remote working options, Stephens Scown is attracting both local talent and

MARK SHEPHERD (PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR)

those choosing to move, either in part or fully, away from the pressures of big city living elsewhere in the UK.

This has included welcoming new partners Jill Bruce (family), Joe Nicholls (employment), Aimee Barrable (commercial real estate) and most recently Charles Hodder (also commercial real estate) to the Firm, alongside senior associates Anna Garde-Evans (disputes resolution), Sarah Hindle (family), Julie Fuell (real estate – residential), and Loretta Commons (planning).

EVOLVING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

The unique culture of Stephens Scown as a great place to work, providing a genuine work-life balance for its employees, is one to admire and was recognised by the Firm’s inclusion in the Top 100 Best Companies to work for in the UK for seven consecutive years.

Catherine Mathews, commercial dispute resolution lawyer and employee experience board member at the Firm, has been working with people development director Mark Shepherd, HR Director Lucy Palmer and head of the brand engagement and customer experience team, Sam Paley, to enhance the experience of Stephen Scown employees.

AIMEE BARRABLE (COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PARTNER)

“There’s no denying that Covid has been a challenge to us all, both in people’s personal and professional lives. However, making sure we kept in touch with and supported our people throughout as a key priority, increasing our internal communications and implementing a number of initiatives to boost engagement, we have transformed the way we do business.

“We now have a hybrid working structure, created with the input from our people, with team anchor days and at least two days working from the office but the flexibility to combine this with days working from home.

“We are now in the process of re-establishing the important in-person connections colleagues have with each other, including restarting various social clubs, such as our Firm choir and fitness classes, utilising technology and creating an employee-led engagement programme.”

This dedication to looking after employee wellbeing has recently been recognised with a shortlisting in the national Family Law Awards, which celebrates law firms that support the mental and physical health of its staff, members or colleagues, and enables them to maintain a healthy balance between their work pressures and home life.

CHARLES HODDER (COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PARTNER) ANNA GARDE-EVANS (DISPUTE RESOLUTION, SENIOR ASSOCIATE)

BUSINESS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD

Never before has it been so important for businesses to consider their impact on people and our planet. Championed by employment lawyer and Stephens Scown board member, Verity Slater, the Firm established a comprehensive Giving Back programme in 2018, enabling and inspiring colleagues to carry out good works through charity fundraising, reducing their impact on the environment, undertaking a range of pro bono projects and taking part in group and individual volunteering opportunities, for which employees receive three additional days volunteer leave over and above their normal annual leave.

Slater says: “Keeping our Giving Back programme running through Covid was challenging but essential, and I am delighted to say that everyone managed to find new ways to support our communities, from delivering food parcels to vulnerable people unable to leave their homes to helping out at vaccination centres.”

So, what next for the Firm’s sustainability journey? While continuing the success of the Giving Back programme, the Firm started to look at how this could develop further. The answer, Verity decided, was to become certified as a B Corporation or B Corp – which means independently verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The Firm has been undergoing the rigorous certification process and is at the precipice of achieving its B Corp accreditation.

Slater says: “Achieving B Corp Certification will mark an important milestone in our transformational journey of measuring, managing and improving our impact as a business. It also marks the start of an exciting new chapter as we join a dynamic and supportive community of like-minded companies – in the UK and across the world – using business as a force for good.”

So, watch this space for the next exciting announcement to come from Stephens Scown in the not too distant future. In the meantime, if you have a legal matter that needs sorting, why not get in touch to see what solutions the Firm can offer.

www.stephens-scown.co.uk