Fountain Court's Paul Martenstyn is not one for standing still. In fact he believes the key to success for any business in an increasingly competitive market is to get comfortable with constant change and enjoy the opportunities for creative thinking and innovation it brings.
I met
Paul for the first time on stage at the Halsbury Legal Awards, as I handed him
and his team the Award for Business Development. A barrister’s clerk of
some 17 years standing (and now Fountain
Court's Deputy Senior Clerk) I'd heard some impressive stories about his
forward-thinking attitude to legal marketing and how he successfully blends traditional
clerking with modern day marketing. I was keen to know more, so I asked
for a conversation in a less formal setting (ie off stage!)
"Something
I think we've really got right in our marketing at Fountain Court is that we
see business development very much as a team activity, with barristers, clerks
and other staff all working together. It's not seen as just a job for one
or two people who have "business development" in their job titles
somewhere. And we work together towards a Common Goal, (still an anathema
in some sets), which is described in our three-year strategic marketing
plan" [which Paul himself was asked by his Head of Chambers to create at the end of 2013 which
coincided with the start of his reign].
As well
as being a team player, Paul has done a lot
to develop his own personal knowledge of marketing. Encouraged in 2006 by his
then Chief Executive Ann Buxton, when they were both at Hardwicke Chambers (given
his penchant for doing things differently, I was not surprised to learn he had
chalked up six years as first junior clerk at this most innovative of sets
early on in his career) Paul embarked on a Chartered Institute of Marketing
course focused on professional services marketing. In
2007 he was the first barrister’s clerk to be awarded the CIM qualification. Now
that's dedication! Evenings and weekends taken up with study, balancing
that with the day job (and not exactly a 9 to 5 job at that) and a new baby at
home. Phew! But he says it has most definitely been worth it. "It
was fascinating learning about SWOT analyses, SMART objectives, looking at the
business of chambers, seeing what it wants to become and then working out how
to get there. He then brought those skills to
Fountain Court when he joined the magic circle set in December 2008, and
was Alex Taylor’s first senior clerking recruit. Fountain Court conducted a client
Perceptions survey in 2010,
which formed the basis of a new direction, clients and contacts giving us a new
perspective on ourselves and what our future could be. A direct result of
this is the development of our international strategy for example, and the
clarity we brought to the planning: first the secondment of two junior barristers into a magic circle law firm’s Singapore office, then
the hire of Kanaga Dharmananda SC from King & Wood Mallesons in May this year, and more recently" [just two
weeks ago to be precise, on 24 September] "the launch of chambers' Singapore office, ahead of the opening of the International Commercial Court in Singapore in 2015.
"The
marketing training has completely changed my perspective across everything I do
in my role. The smaller things as well as the seismic. For example, we
are much more strategic now in our CRM programme we choose to do with solicitors and the seminars
we lay on, etc. We know how to identify and target firms we want to do
business with, ie those that are penetrating the market in an interesting way
themselves, and who can take our practice in the direction we want to go in, ie
that aligns with our strategic plan.
"A particular benefit of my studies, I
would say, has been in helping me understand so much better what our clients
need and want", he says. Really? This last point surprises
me. I would have thought that nothing could improve on the classic
clerk's role of lots of face-to-face contact and listening in to clients to
understand what's important to them. I've blogged before about how much
clerks have to offer a business because they are right at the coal face,
hearing first hand from clients and developing an instinctive sense over time
about why clients choose to buy a particular legal service, or don't. So
what could you possibly learn from a marketing course that could add to this? His
answer is interesting: "Certainly there's no substitute for the
face-to-face, but for me personally, what the study of marketing has added to the conversations I
have with people is a much clearer understanding of the business context surrounding
our chats, so their business development imperatives, and their strategies, and
how our work fits in to this."
So
having got this far, and especially after winning the Halsbury Business
Development Award (and a top prize at the Chambers and Partners UK Bar Awards, as Banking Set of the Year, just one week later), does Paul feel he can at
least tread water for a bit?
"I’m
actually close to completing a two-year leadership & management
course"' he tells me. I told you this man never stands still! "It's
specifically designed for barristers clerks, created
in conjunction with the Institute of Barristers Clerks (IBC) and the very visionary Fiona Stuart- Wilson (Director of UMD) and run by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). It
takes two years to complete and you are
awarded a Level 5 Diploma with the option of a year’s further study at
Edinburgh to achieve a BA Management degree. I have two assignments left to do, one on performance management, looking at how to follow
through from the Bar Standards Board's formal guidance on the subject; and one
on Innovation. This latter one is a form of marketing, as it encourages
us to analyse the market chambers is in, how it fits into it and where the
opportunities are for it to grow. I'll be developing a strategic plan to
give back to Chambers once the course is complete."
I
suggest to Paul that this leadership and management perspective must be a
useful follow-on to the CIM course, adding the new dimension of how to bring
everyone in the business along with you, once you've worked out the best
strategic opportunity and direction for the business. "Encouraging
followership" is a particularly challenging aspect of leadership in a
legal business, for all sorts of reasons readers of this blog will be very
familiar with. He agrees. "That's why this course is so
valuable... and why being bespoke for barristers clerks makes all the
difference. More and more clerks are signing up for it and I really think
this course will transform the Bar's ability to adapt to change. This course has been designed specifically for current or
aspiring senior clerks and so far there are over 25 fellow clerks on the course
with me"
I ask
Paul if he thinks all clerks starting out today, or coming through the ranks,
should think about this level of marketing & management training? "Absolutely
I do. Not just for their own benefit (although I do think more and more
chambers will expect to see some sort of marketing qualification in clerks
moving forward) but for the good of the sets they work with ... and for the Bar
as a whole. Equally as important is
I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked
with some naturally gifted and hugely successful senior clerks in my career,
and none better than the current number one in my opinion, Alex Taylor. Working
as his number two, and so closely alongside him over the past six
years has been invaluable, and as a mentor I could
not ask for anyone better. That level of experience coupled with the
training is I believe a winning formula".
Things
are looking up for the Bar.
***
One of the latest threats to free speech in the UK is focussing its attention on ...of all places... the art world. Did you see the story at the end of last month about the Barbican cancelling a world renowned production after it was stormed by protestors claiming the installation was offensive? And did you hear the impassioned comments this weekend of Arts Council Chair Peter Bazalgette and playwright Richard Bean as they spoke out publicly against this attack on artistic freedom?
The issue is far from straightforward however. Exhibit B used live black African actors bound, gagged or shackled, "to force the audience to engage with stories of exploitation". To add to the tension, the artist Brett Bailey is white South African. Personally I wouldn't choose to go to an exhibition where I would have to walk around a room and face live black African models in shackles. The feeling would be just too strange. But should they be banned? Can it ever be right to stand in the way of freedom of artistic expression on these sorts of controversial subjects? I'm not so sure...
***
And there's artistic censorship of another kind at this year's Turner Prize, which has just opened at Tate Britain. One exhibit (James Richard's film collage Rosebud) has been given an X-rating for its graphic depiction of body parts and officials have apparently resorted to sandpapering out bits unsuitable for general public consumption.Others shortlisted artists feature craft & design (Ciara Phillips), spoken word (Tris Vonna-Michell) and more film (Duncan Campbell). There is not a traditional painter or sculptor in sight. And all finalists this year are less well known than in some other years, the judges wanting to "look to the future". Well, I'm all for that.
Turner Prize winners will be announced in December. But I'm going to get to the exhibition as soon as I can!
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