Stephen is known for his global perspective and local knowledge. During these uncertain times, he particularly enjoys helping leaders and teams address their most challenging issues.  

 

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Stephen practised at Freshfields as a corporate transactional lawyer for over 41 years on three different continents and was a partner for 33 years.  As a lawyer, he specialised in debt and equity securities offerings and M&A.  Virtually all of his work was cross-border, completing sophisticated transactions in more than 50 countries.  

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During his time at Freshfields he was based in London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, and held a variety of senior leadership and management positions. Stephen was also the leader for many years of Freshfields’ StrongerTogether initiative, its network of elite relationship firms around the world. 

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He is very active in the International Bar Association (IBA) having attended over 30 annual conferences and is the Vice Chair of their Law Firm Management Committee. It is this in-depth knowledge of firms of all shapes and sizes that enables him to assist on all aspects of law firm management including clients and markets, growth strategies (including alliances and mergers), partner evaluation and development, remuneration and lateral hiring.

He is currently assisting firms as they prepare for the post-Covid world, in particular as they review their business risk as well as their real estate and work-place strategy. 

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Stephen is co-author of several books and a regular speaker on law firm management and business development topics. His latest research on business development highlights what he sees as the dangerous mis-match between the expectations of partners and the increasingly senior BD professionals that firms are bringing on board.  His most recent publication is the Business Development Handbook for Lawyers, now in its second edition, which has quickly become the ‘bible’ for law firm business development.

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Find a link to his book HERE.