Tom Humphrey
Tom's interview
You can find out more about Tom 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 for networking that he has to offer.
Take us through your career journey so far.
I finished University and I still didn't really know what I wanted to do as a career. Just by chance, I managed to got a job as a Paralegal in a law firm in Leeds who were dealing with a big arbitration at the time. So that was a temp Paralegal job for six months and I just really enjoyed it and they offered me a full contract after that arbitration had finished, and following that I decided to do my GDL LPC for two years whilst working full time as a Paralegal. I think I finished my LPC in 2016 and I was then fortunate to be offered a training contract in that firm in Leeds. So I did two years training there and qualified in 2016, worked as a construction Solicitor for three years in Leeds, and then moved to Devonshires in April 2019 as a three year PQE construction Solicitor.
Please could you outline your area of expertise and what attracted you to it?
My main area of expertise is construction and l think I'm relatively unique in the team, as I split my time between non-contentious and contentious work. So I do a complete mixture. Some days I will be drafting building contracts, appointments, warranties, that sort of stuff, and then other days I might be dealing with arbitrations, adjudications, or dealing with litigation in the TCC. So it's a nice varied mixture of work split across two areas of construction law. The main thing that attracted me to construction was the varied clients that you have; we deal with employers, both RP's, consultants, contractors, subcontractors. So there's a large variation of clients.
What would you say to yourself as an NQ now that you’ve made Partner?
Probably "enjoy it". I think when you qualify as an NQ, you can put too much pressure on yourself. So that's the best time to enjoy it, ask lots of questions. It's a good time to learn from the team around you. So just enjoy it, not too much pressure.
What networking advice do you have for people?
Don't underestimate how important relationships are as a lawyer. It's important to keep in contact with old colleagues, old clients, and also don't underestimate how important it is just to enjoy who you're working with. I think most work is referred to individuals who you actually like working with. It's obviously important to make sure you do a great job, but ultimately, people will give work to people who they're happy working with and doing work with.
Make sure as an NQ, you go to as many events as possible and always follow up after those networking events. It's really important to follow up the following day, 15/20 minutes the next day, send a few emails and it makes all the difference. Another good tip for networking would be understanding what your client base or what your network generally wants. It's not necessarily making sure that they know what you need, but the more work you refer to other people, the more chance work's going to come back. So understanding what everyone else needs, making sure you refer work to them and then the rest should take care of itself.
What do you wish everyone knew about Devonshires that they don’t currently know?
Just that it's a great place to work. We have lots of fun. I've been here five years now, and long may it continue.
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