In this series, we introduce some of the people that make up Stephens Scown. We learn about their expertise, what drew them to join the legal profession and find out a little bit about who they are outside of work.
Here we introduce James Rickard, senior associate in the Corporate team and co-head of the Food and Drink sector.
Can you share with us a little bit about your role and a typical day?
I am a Senior Associate in the Corporate team, and my main area of work is buying and selling businesses. Every day is different and most of my role is project managing those business transactions, negotiating the main agreements and managing the rest of the project team, whether that be the juniors in our team or members of other legal teams assisting on the transaction. Other areas I cover are corporate reorganisations, shareholder agreements, and equity investment. At some point in the day, I might also meet up with a referrer for a catch up over coffee, or deal with any new enquiries that have come in.
I’m also co-head of the Food & Drink (F&D) team too, so I might spend time attending sector catch up meetings, attending an F&D event, or progressing any one of our F&D aims for the year.
Why did you specialise in (your area of) law?
Corporate was the final seat of my training contract, and it was an area of law that I really enjoyed. I liked dealing with business owners and learning about their business, and the excitement of working on big deals. I find liaising with business clients really interesting. They tend to be approaching the matter from a positive place, be it that they’re trying to buy a business to expand their portfolio or exiting one that they have spent years building up.
Whether buying or selling, there’s always a buzz that comes from completing a deal. I get the same buzz from completing a deal now as I did from my very first completion.
I like the fact that I get to work across different teams in the firm, and as part of my job, you get to meet different people outside of work (accountants, banks and the like), where you are building good local relationships.
What do you love most about your role?
Working with our team and clients on the big transactions. Seeing a deal through from start to finish can be stressful, but working on them and being involved in something where you’re part of a team all pulling together to get it over the line is a great feeling and very rewarding (and can sometimes even be fun!).
Getting to know accountants and brokers, meeting people from across the South West, building those networks, and helping people/clients in achieving their aim is also rewarding and beneficial for the work I do.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I am a big fan of the sea so anything sea related whether that’s surfing, or generally going to the beach with my family. I also enjoy playing tennis, and football and I help coach Truro U18s Colts rugby team.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be and why?
I think I’d want to be a teacher. I enjoy teaching, helping people learn, and passing on knowledge. Working with the trainees and juniors in the team, it’s rewarding to spend time watching them develop in their roles and playing my part in their growth.
What does it mean to work for Stephens Scown, what makes us different?
I think what makes us different is the culture. I’ve worked at a few different places, but here you work with people that genuinely care about each other and the firm, and it’s a real privilege to turn up every day and work with people across the team and firm more widely. I don’t think our culture is rivalled anywhere else.
I enjoy the work that I do, and it’s fantastic to work for a company that is well respected across the South West for its expertise, quality of work, and client care.
I’m also lucky to work with such a fantastic team and see the difference we make every day for our clients.