Chris Forsyth – Partner
I qualified at a small, specialist IP firm and thought big City law firms were all impersonal, rather pompous places. So when I came here, I was really surprised at how friendly and unpretentious it was. There’s a sort of institutionally informal culture which supports individuality, yet gets everyone pulling together.
By its very nature, IP crosses many different sectors. I’ve worked on patent cases that cover everything from beer kegs to toothbrushes to new technology used in sub-sea oil wells. Then there’s valuable IP in things like data encryption technology, which requires more of a mathematical mindset. I love the variety.
The credit crunch has affected our practice but not our approach to trainee recruitment. I’ve been involved with trainees for a number of years now and remain completely convinced of the importance of safeguarding the firm’s future by continuing to recruit the best people. While we can’t claim not to have been affected by the recession, the firm’s broad practice base and international reach have enabled us to weather it better than most – if there’s a downturn in one practice area or region, we can focus our resources elsewhere. Ken Baird, one of our finance partners, said it best: ‘Volatility is the mother of opportunity.’ Exciting times!
Flexibility underpins our whole approach to training: we help our new lawyers find the area of law that best suits them. We don’t do this just to be nice – it’s a business-driven thing. It means the firm ends up with highly motivated lawyers doing the work they’re best at.
Chris Forsyth
Partner
Joined: 2000
Education: History at York University
Department: IP/IT