Simon Bassett recently celebrated not just three decades in the profession, but three decades at the same firm; an outlier in the legal world where recruitment and retention is often a key topic of discussion at partners’ meetings.
He joins the latest Today’s Family Lawyer podcast to discuss, amongst other things, the long-term shifts transforming the private client landscape; from the pre-digital era to the post-COVID age of hyper-specialisation and artificial intelligence.
He has seen the firm, RWK Goodman, expand from £12 million to £80 million turnover during his tenure through successive strategic mergers.
The discussion explores the balance between the legacy and culture of a partnership structure with the massive capital investments required to keep pace with modern technology.
Reflecting on his career, Bassett recalls a slower, paper-heavy era when he qualified, dominated by landlines, tape dictaphones, and handwritten mail that took days to process. Now traditional high street firms have found themselves adopting agile, paperless working, all the while responding to changing societal demands.
To meet client expectations Bassett explains the firm’s 70+ staff family team is split into highly segregated divisions covering care, children, and complex financial remedies. He explains that general practitioners no longer have the cognitive bandwidth to keep pace, forcing a structural evolution from transactional law to strategic advice.
How do lawyers stay at the top of their game for so long? The law is inherently stressful says Bassett, but a conscientious lawyer shouldn’t sweat the small stuff or fear change, vital advice for professional longevity and positive mental health.
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