LAW FIRM CHIEF LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

At 38, Ian Coulter ranks as a mould breaker among the heads of the top law firms around Belfast.

In a profession well used to tradition and well-worn customs, it´s been something of an unwritten rule through the years that Senior or Managing Partners at the leading firms around town had to be 45+….and often quite a few years on the plus side!

“But times are changing, and my appointment is just more evidence of that,” says Coulter, who became Managing Partner at Tughans in Belfast a couple of months ago.

“We´ve got a surprisingly young team of partners here at Tughans. We don´t get hung up on dates of birth….and I think that augurs very well for the future.”

And that future, he is quick to admit, is hardly bound in certainty. “2009 will go down as one of the toughest years any of us have seen and 2010 isn´t likely to be significantly better. But that´s something we have to live with and something we have to adapt to.”

A Co. Antrim man, Coulter has plenty of that county´s straight-talking characteristics. His corporate clients over the years haven´t been fed too many lines, and it looks as though then large team of 65 or so lawyers and some 40 support staff will benefit from some down to earth management.

Tughans´ new Managing Partner came home to Northern Ireland 12 years ago from London,  where he cut his teeth working for the firm of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.

Back in Belfast, he set up Tughans´ new corporate law unit alongside John George Willis.

“There were two of us at the start so you could talk about humble beginnings, but I reckon we achieved some pretty good growth right through to becoming the largest corporate law department in Belfast.”

Today´s corporate unit at Tughans is 14-strong, including five partners. Other key business-facing units include a dedicated Banking team of 11 solicitors (including three partners), Real Estate (also 14-strong), Energy & Natural Resources (4) and Employment (5).

With Grahame Loughlin still in place at Senior Partner at Tughans, the firm took another step away from the norm by its decision to appoint Ian Coulter as Managing Partner. Most firms have one or the other in overall charge.

Coulter is quick to liken his role at the firm to that of a Managing Director in the private sector.

“And like a Managing Director´s role, it´s an all encompassing one, spanning the strategic direction, finances and day to day management of the business.

“The big challenge for me as a lawyer isn´t just getting to grips with issues like financial management. It´s also one of striking the right balance between management and my continuing role as a corporate lawyer.

“There is tendency to look after the legal work during the day, and cope with the wider management issues after hours…..and that makes for very long working days.”

Ian Coulter says that too many legal firms here or elsewhere don´t spend enough time on business plans and strategies.

“Especially in the current climate, strategies are absolutely vital,” he says. “A lot of people can´t look further than short term in the current situation, but that´s dangerous. My view is that we have to look as three-year plans.

“To that end, part of my time at the moment is being spent sitting down with my fellow partners and thrashing out three-year strategies for each part of this firm. We know where we are and we have to work out where we want to be….and then aim for it.

“And when I´m not in strategic mode, I have to find time to look at staff issues, at billing, at debts….and at all those good things,” he smiles.

While he´s very frank about the difficulties facing the legal marketplace, Coulter says that there are plenty of opportunities as well.

“The banking crisis has created new opportunities for our specialists in that field, and in real estate, we´re starting to see movement from different quarters.

“The way things are at the moment, it´s all about finding the good news amongst all the noise. Not easy, but it can be done!

“That´s another good reason why we think that strategy is so important as we go forward.”

Another saving grace in the current difficult conditions is the strength of Tughans´ litigation business.

“Our roots as a firm were in litigation and while we moved into corporate and other sectors, we never lost our commitment to litigation. And we´re glad of that at times of downturn. Litigation goes on, recession or no recession,” he says.

Tughans has also responded to the market by establishing a corporate re-structuring team offering advice – often within hours – to organizations with specific issues to address.

The legal marketplace here in Northern Ireland hasn´t got any less competitive.

“It´s more competitive now than six or seven years ago,” says Coulter. “Pricing is critical these days, and let´s just say that reality is the key! Firms like ours have also got to be able to move quickly and respond to the marketplace as it changes.”

And what about his own management style?

Ian Coulter isn´t sure that he has one…..! “Look, I´m still in learning mode. I´m balancing my role as a lawyer with my management role, and I´m doing a lot of listening.

“Mind you, I´ve learnt more in the last six months than I have in any other period of my career that I can think of.!”

“But I think it´s important not to make decisions too quickly, and in a law firm, it´s also important to try to reflect the views of a lot of key people.

Not surprisingly, he has his own view of where Tughans should be in three years´time.

“It´s quite simple. We want to be one of the pre-eminent law firms in Belfast, and we want to be the leaders in our key sectors.

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