Interview with Sarah Goulbourne

Interview with 

Sarah Goulbourne

Charity Mafuba talks to Sarah Goulbourne, co-founder of gunnercooke, about her legal career, specifically her role in founding what has now become a successful International Law Firm.

Charity: Sarah, can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Sarah: I’m a co-founder of gunnercooke and a business coach. I also work closely with the gunnercooke foundation as a Hub Leader, where I coach CEO’s of ambitious charities to grow and develop their organisations. Last year I co-authored the second edition of Business Development for Women Lawyers. 

I enjoy mentoring lawyers throughout their careers, helping them to identify opportunities to develop their practices. At gunnercooke they join the firm to set up and scale up a successful practice, in a way that suits them. To do this we help them develop their entrepreneurial skills through coaching, training and events. It’s an area I’m passionate about and gunnercooke has become a fantastic platform to help lawyers achieve their full potential. 

I always wanted gunnercooke to be a business with purpose. As a law firm leader, I believe it’s important to lead the way and I’m keen to promote and encourage our charitable work. It makes me immensely proud to think how our people are helping those less fortunate in society.

Charity: Prior to co-founding gunnercooke, you were Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Stanley Leisure plc. What did that role entail? And 

Sarah: Yes, being a General Counsel meant I was a buyer of legal services. As a client, I understood what I wanted and needed from law firms that supplied legal services to the company I worked for. I managed the legal spend and so it was very important to build a relationship with the law firms that I used, so that we could have open and honest conversations around pricing and billing.

Charity: Would you say that role prepared you for your co-founding journey? 

Sarah: My experience was one of the things that drove me to wanting to change the way legal services were delivered. I could see all the things I didn’t want and wanted to find a new way to provide a service clients do want.  

Charity: In 2010, yourself and Darryl Cooke launched gunnercooke. 

What made you decide to set up a new law firm as opposed to, perhaps working as a Partner in an already established law firm? 

Sarah: Having completed an MBA, I knew I wanted to run my own business. I felt the MBA gave me the tools and the confidence to start such a venture. It was an exciting, challenging and sometimes frustrating time. I was convinced of the need for a business like ours which could disrupt the sector and create a more modern and flexible business model.

Charity: How would you describe the co-founding process and your experience of it?

Sarah: When we founded gunnercooke in 2010, we wanted to create something better for lawyers and for clients. We challenged the market by creating a firm where our lawyers are entrepreneurs, with the freedom to practise on their own terms. It is the place for ambitious individuals and teams to design, set-up and scale-up the business they’ve always wanted, with the support of IT, compliance, finance, partners services, business development and a marketing team within gcTrust.  We focussed on flexibility and escaping the restrictions of traditional firms.

At the time, there weren’t any other firms out there like ours. We wanted do things differently. Now, there are many fee share models in the market, with many recognising its benefits, but I’m proud to say we are one of the leading fee shares globally, with offices across the UK, Europe and the US. We stand ourselves apart by offering coaching and development that helps lawyers to become entrepreneurs. 

Over time we have attracted many ambitious, entrepreneurial lawyers who have successfully developed large practices with their own teams. Our messaging has evolved to demonstrate that joining our firm doesn’t mean working in silos.  We have a fantastic culture that encourages networking and cross-referrals; many lawyers find our firm more collaborative than a traditional firm. They simply get to choose who they work with and create bespoke teams best suited to each client.

The quality of the lawyers joining us is incredible: 57% of the lawyers have worked in a Top 50 law firm, and 21% are ranked in legal directories.  We also have experts in some of the most exciting emerging areas of the law, working on high-profile and interesting cases. We have one of the largest dedicated crypto legal and advisory teams in the world, we recently won UK Impact Case of the Year at the Managing IP Awards, and we have specialists in areas such as Equestrian law, Competition, Charity, Employment and Real Estate. 

Charity: What are you most proud of?

Sarah: I am incredibly proud of the way we have changed the industry for the better. Our people are happier since they joined our firm and are doing good for themselves, their families, their communities and their clients. We’ve supported projects such as LandAid’s SleepOut and WrapUp London, and our bookshop House of Books & Friends is an award-winning Community Interest Company with the purpose of tackling loneliness in the community.

I’m particularly proud to have created a firm where women can thrive. I hear countless tales from female lawyers who felt pushed out at their previous firms or felt unsupported in their ambition to have a family alongside a successful career. gunnercooke removes these barriers and allows lawyers to run their practice in a way that suits them. Hearing about their success gives me satisfaction that we have achieved what we set out to do. One of our female lawyers recently took home an award for a high-profile case she worked on a few weeks before she began her maternity leave. On her return to work, she said “this would have been impossible if not for the gunnercooke model.”  

Charity: gunnercooke was one of the first fee-share firms in the UK and one of the largest. 

Can you please tell us more about what this entails and why it makes good business sense?

Sarah: The lawyers who join us are looking to take their career to the next level. They are ambitious, commercial and entrepreneurial and want the freedom to set up a practice that fits their goals, passions and way of working, whilst supported by an established international firm. We encourage lawyers to design their lives by setting up and scaling up the practice they’ve always wanted. We support them on their journey to becoming entrepreneurs. Even though they run their own practice, Partners have the opportunity to collaborate with a global community of top-tier experts in just about every corporate and commercial discipline. £15m of fees are referred internally each year. Over 90% of our partners earn more than they did previously, with many doubling or tripling their previous salary because they are keeping the majority of what they bill. It’s a fairer model. 

All lawyers complete a business plan when they join us, as well as other assessments around cultural fit, happiness and personality. This helps us to understand the objectives for their practice and support them in meeting their goals. Supporting the Partners is gcTrust, an inhouse team servicing our lawyers with marketing, business development and networking opportunities including events and webinars, content creation and pitches and proposals. We provide branded assets, materials and training to help them in this area. Partners are supported as business professionals and coaching is an incredibly important part of their development. We connect lawyers with business coaches to support them with their goals. We also have a Business Development Office and provide regular training sessions to help them grow their practice.

Having this support team takes the burden of admin and stress associated with running your own firm, so that our lawyers can focus on what they do and enjoy best: the law. One of the most common revelations I hear from our lawyers after they have joined our firm is that they have missed practising law and revel in the chance to get back to providing quality bespoke service to clients. 

Charity: What does the gunnercooke foundation’s inspire* project do? 

Sarah: When Darryl and I started gunnercooke we were both very clear that our business should be a force for good. The inspire* programme launched as part of the gunnercooke foundation in 2012 to support grassroots charities and has been so important to the business. The project has worked with over 160 charities in the UK. It is one of a kind network, where lawyers as a peer group help charities through hubs. These hubs allow charities to meet with other charity leaders, and build comradery, while having access to advice, toolkits and resources. It can be lonely leading an organisation, at the meetups charities can meet with other leaders, form friendships and build a supportive network. 

Charity: What advice would you give to female lawyers considering the co-founding journey?

Sarah: My advice would be to have confidence in your vision, trust in your ability to lead, and study further for business qualifications, like an MBA, when needed. Being a business founder and building a firm from the ground up requires resilience, adaptability, and an unwavering belief in your ideas. 

Take the time to link into networks of supportive colleagues and mentors, who can provide outside guidance and perspective. Explore the market and identify business models that are representative of your goals. Moreover, have a strong sense of what you want your company to represent; it is our culture, values, commitment to society and  collective personalities that makes gunnercooke unique. 

Don't hide from the challenges ahead, in reality co-founding a firm is not just about legal expertise, but about developing a strong leadership identity, astute commercial awareness, and embracing strategic thinking. As a business owner, you need to make bold decisions, take calculated risks, and advocate for the kind of firm you truly want to create. Importantly, don’t underestimate the power of collaboration and trust because finding the right partner or team can make all the difference in turning that small business idea into a valuable global brand. 

What does the future hold for gunnercooke? 

Sarah: This year marks 15 years of gunnercooke and sees more expansion for the firm. From mine and Darryl’s very first start-up conversation in Costa Coffee in 2010, the company has now reached a turnover £82m in 2024 – up 21% YOY (Year-over-Year), with continued growth expected this year. We recently announced the launch of gunnercookeSport, a specialist full-service sports boutique for clubs and players, and launched a new office in Chicago, our second in the US after New York. 

Our first 15 years were founded on establishing ourselves as a leading fee share; now we’ve got there, our sights are firmly set on being the number one global fee share firm for entrepreneurs. ■

Sarah Goulbourne

Co-founder and Partner 

gunnercooke LLP

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-goulbourne/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/gunnercooke-llp/

Interviewed by 

Charity Mafuba

Commissioning Editor and Director,

Solicitor (England and Wales) 

New York Attorney