What’s your background?

Paul was appointed Managing Director of Legal Eye in 2016 after 28 years as a solicitor in the legal profession. During his time in practice Paul has been at Board level in a number of firms including roles as CEO and COLP for five years at a large Midlands law firm and most recently as Head of Lender Services and Residential at Shakespeare Martineau.

He is Managing Director of Conveyancing firm Amity Law and a qualified solicitor. He is also an Executive Board memember at Smoove plc.

He has over 35 years of legal experience including owning and running his own law firm and being a Partner in one of the UK’s top 75 law firms.

He specialises in property law and has extensive experience of conveyancing. He is a former winner of the Legal Professional of the Year award at the FirstPro awards and was shortlisted as a Business Leader – Conveyancing at the British Mortgage Awards.

He was also Director of an IT firm for five years supplying services to the legal industry. Earlier in his career Paul worked quasi in-house providing legal services to the UK operation of a world-wide leading automotive manufacturer including management of a European legal panel dealing with cross border negotiations.

Paul has wide experience in relation to management and strategic planning of law firms and businesses across industries including tendering and operational control of a bulk remortgaging facility to a top five Building Society for 20 years and providing legal services to lending institutions both direct and through panel.

His expertise within the legal profession has been recognised by several awards including Legal Professional of the Year at the FirstPro awards in 2014 and being shortlisted for Business Leader – Conveyancing at the British Mortgage Awards in 2016.

Relevant qualifications

Solicitor.

How would you describe your approach to working with clients?

I have always had a very practical approach toward client engagement. I am very commercial in the approach I take, from a firm perspective I have on many occasions been in the position of having to sign requests for budget on risk focused matters. I have to see the benefit in what we deliver for a firm and I would expect there to be a commercial advantage from using our services. It is important that we are able to have long term relationships with customers as this gives maximum benefit to the firm. As far as lenders are concerned our close relationship with firms gives us a USP that is not seen elsewhere in the market. We can form a relationship between parties and understand the requirements that assists both sides to see how transactions can be done faster more efficiently and safer. Unless all the parties in the chain work together it is impossible for advances to be made. The new ULS Digital Move platform is a key part of this development and links all of the parties together to enable the process to be safer and faster for all concerned.

If you hadn’t become a risk and compliance expert what would you have done instead?

As this is a second or possibly third career I have probably fulfilled many of my choices however given a fourth I would have been an architect or landscape gardener.