Matthew Garbutt
Matthew's interview
You can find out more about Matthew by watching his interview, or by reading the transcript below, in which he discusses his career journey so far, his area of expertise, and advice he has for individuals coming through the ranks at the moment who want to make Partner.
Take us through your career journey so far.
My career started when I joined Devonshires from Sheffield University. I went straight into doing a lot of litigation work in my training contract, I immediately felt that was the thing I really wanted to do and I was lucky enough to have quite a lot of opportunity to explore the area and then train and qualify into litigation.
Please could you outline your area of expertise and what attracted you to it?
My area of expertise is dispute resolution; that covers litigation, adjudication, arbitration, mediation. All essentially the same thing, trying to find a result that people can live with, avoiding litigation if possible. We do a lot of work in the PFI sector, which is where you've got some really difficult contractual disputes and that's fascinating. That's what really drew me into working in litigation, it was having what on the surface was an impenetrable dispute between two parties at loggerheads and really finding your way through to a good resolution for everybody.
What advice do you have for those individuals who are coming through the ranks at the moment and want to make Partner?
I've always said to people who I've worked with, Trainees and so forth, that actually the best thing you can do, particularly in a litigation seat like ours, is just to take every single opportunity. I remember taking, very early on, some big cases which came my way to work on and to really see through from start to finish and that's something that I know you don't get in other firms. It's really good right from an early stage, you get to see the whole process and I'd really say to anyone coming up through the ranks, say yes to as much as you can, try your hand at new things and just keep on learning.
What would you say to yourself as an NQ now that you’ve made Partner?
If I was speaking to myself as a newly qualified Solicitor, I would say there's two aspects to the job that I probably wasn't aware of at that time to the same level that than I am now. One is doing the work that obviously people retain a lawyer to do and doing it to a very high level, pleasing the clients in that way. But also looking at how you grow a business and how you grow the work and that's really what you're working towards when you become Partner. So having that sort of foresight from an early stage really helps you develop your business.
What networking advice do you have for people?
When it comes to networking my tip, the thing that I try and do, is really meet people on a social level as much as anything else. Talk to them about what interests them. Not everyone wants to go to a networking event and just talk about their next project, some people just want to talk about classic cars or what have you, or travel. I've found that my most productive contacts have been people I've got to know on a very personal level, that's not to say I spend weekends with them, it's just that you get to know somebody and they get to trust you and you get to trust them, then work tends to come.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
The one thing that surprises people when I tell them, is that I do an awful lot of DIY. Which seems to be something people don't tend to do these days but you will find me in B&Q most weekends. At the moment it's a kitchen revamp, it's something I enjoy doing when I'm not looking after my two little kids.
What do you wish everyone knew about Devonshires that they don’t currently know?
Something I wish other people knew about Devonshire is that it is a hugely friendly firm. Those people working in the firm are always very approachable and from a junior level that was very useful to learn from. There's no sort of hiding behind doors and Partners not sharing information with you. There is a whole approach to any case that we work on, and I think that that benefits the legal work that we do, but it also makes it a great place to work.
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