Interview: Stephen Gold

It’s difficult enough finding time to keep up with professional developments without being made to feel inadequate for not anticipating and reacting to technological advances as well.  So self-confessed and contented Luddites should perhaps be advised to read no further.

While it can be tempting to dismiss much of the information technology revolution as faddish, Stephen Gold and his partners have embraced these changes as an opportunity to reassess the very ethos of how a modern legal practice should be doing business.  At Golds Solicitors in Glasgow the development of information technology is at the heart of the practice, enabling them to deliver high volume work regardless of geographical location.

This has been most markedly demonstrated in the service offered to lender clients: “We’re almost two businesses now - higher-value work for corporate, commercial and institutional clients on the one hand and the IT led work on the other.  Originally we were asked by lenders to carry out volume litigation and at much the same time we were instructed by a major relocation company.  This work by its nature is required to be done in volume and at a high quality, while still maintaining a lowish price.  This was the original incentive to invest heavily in IT,” said Stephen Gold.

Having courted some local controversy in the past with an aggressive pricing policy which undercut the market in conveyancing, the 49-year-old has no qualms about transporting commercial business principles to legal practice.

“While big efficiency improvements have been achieved in technology, it is equally, if not more important, to look at the whole process by which we do things.  By looking at legal work as a business process we’ve forced ourselves to ask a number of questions, examining whether steps are always necessary, if matters can be addressed more efficiently and asking if we can communicate better with clients.  We think we’ve managed to do this successfully without compromising our professionalism - in fact we believe we’ve significantly increased it.”

Such an approach is, argues Stephen Gold, necessary to survive in the modern business climate:  “For example, lender clients are centralising their legal services.  Banks, building societies, national estate agents and others who traditionally instructed large numbers of solicitors throughout the country have reversed that strategy and elected instead to place their work with a very small number of firms whose IT and resources allow them to do work in high volume at a low unit cost.  In terms of cost, speed, control and access to management information there are very significant benefits for the client.

“A typical example is the remortgage market.  In the ‘old days’ banks and building societies were content to let the borrower’s solicitor act in almost every case.  Now it is common for major institutions to have a tiny number of suppliers and indeed we are sole suppliers to certain clients.”

The corollary of attracting this lucrative work is the “very demanding service agreements” and a strong level of banking and finance law expertise within the firm has been a prerequisite in securing these contracts.

However, as Stephen Gold woos big business by adopting their techniques, it would be misleading to portray him as having neglected the basic tenet of being a legal practitioner.  He admits to welcoming regular visitors from within the profession, keen to examine his firm’s technological set-up and stresses the importance of professional co-operation.

“Reaching this level of IT advancement takes a very large financial investment and for us it has taken 12 years of continuing development.  We have been lucky in that Jonathan Edwards, our managing partner and our corporate head Ellis Simpson are exceptionally gifted and creative in working with IT.  They have spearheaded our development.  We employ our own IT team in-house and so we haven’t had to go to outside computer consultants in order to develop our solutions.  We know what we want as lawyers and can write bespoke software which exactly matches our clients’ needs, rather than put up with off-the-shelf packages.

“I think most in the profession understand the need to develop greater IT resources, but unfortunately a great deal of what they can buy at the moment is either relatively primitive or developed by companies who, whatever their IT skills, do not really understand legal practice”.

The latest development in Golds’ pioneering use of technology is their development of what they believe is Scotland’s first true legal intranet.  Clients can be on-line to the firm, enjoying direct access to all the data for their transaction at all stages of the work and are empowered to observe exactly what stage their job is at from their own terminals.

At Golds, the intranet also serves as an education and training tool for both the staff and their opposite numbers in the clients they serve.  For Golds’ team of solicitors, direct client access is also a powerful quality control tool, serving as an incentive to produce a high calibre of work.

Stephen Gold rejects any suggestions that this merely adds to the existing pressures encountered by his solicitors or in any way breaches the inner sanctum of legal practice.

“We’re dead against ‘inner sanctums’.  We want an open relationship with clients, to show them what we’re doing and for them to look at our work at any time.  The intranet system is set up so that there’s no way our people can backdate, for example when they write letters.  The system won’t allow it.  We feel this is an integral aspect of where professional-client relationships are heading and it ensures we don’t sign-up to anything we can’t deliver.

“For our staff, they know that to make a mistake is acceptable and understandable, it’s only the covering-up that is frowned upon.  We have procedures in place to do what is required to rectify any mistakes, but being subject to client scrutiny at any moment is an incentive to get it right.  In fact, we have a constant stream of interest from young solicitors interested in working our way.

“Of course this approach is not appropriate for all clients, but in corporate, commercial and institutional work, clients are looking for an edge and are well-educated as to what they can demand.  That quality of communication and openness gives them an extra dimension.”

Their IT resources allow Golds’ team of solicitors to have greater control over their own work.  Largely foregoing the need to dictate letters, they employ only three secretaries in a firm of 80 people.

“Giving lawyers that amount of control is liberating.  They can set their own quality far more than by conventional means, freeing them of the need to check a secretary’s misspelling or misunderstanding or to work to their timetable.  It’s important that systems are the servants of people, not their masters.”

Yet Stephen Gold is keen to stress that the firm’s success is not just a question of IT - it has been a willingness to radically examine how legal work is conducted.  As an example, he cites the onerous task of checking for good title, suggesting it is highly arguable if every traditional step is necessary in every situation.  Thus after discussion with clients a strategic decision can be made as to whether a marginally higher risk can be offset against benefits of cost and efficiency.

“What we’re trying to do is take the mindlessness out of these processes.  To take a simple example, the chances of a Property Enquiry Certificate being relevant to a modern housing estate aren’t really worth considering for all practical purposes, so we can remove one step and about £80 of cost and make for a leaner and slimmer all-round process and deliver it technologically.”

This approach is just as relevant to higher-end work.  “For example, we have a very strong practice in housing association work, acting for institutions.  In this area, the work is highly technical and one is dealing in large sums.  Our success is based entirely on being able to offer clients a process and approach to documentation which they perceive gives them an edge in the marketplace.

“In private client work, such as house conveyancing, many believe there is room for streamlining, while others maintain a more traditional approach”.

For Stephen Gold’s firm, this might mean adopting much of the personality of call centres - an approach he believes can succeed in the legal environment.

“We have to recognise that some clients will always want a personal service, but many don’t want or need it and I suspect that, certainly among younger people, flexibility of service is paramount to their requirements.  They are accustomed to dealing down a phone and indeed prefer it.  They don’t think of a visit to their lawyer as a treat.  “Look at the success of firms with the word ‘direct’ in their title.  There is undoubtedly a demand from commercial and corporate clients for this one-off, high volume approach.  Of course some clients want a very personal service and will expect to speak only with a partner, but the key benefit of technology is that we can offer both.”

He distances himself from any suggestions that his approach could - if taken to its limit - lead to a radical overhaul of the very nature of legal practice.

“This approach fits in well with the modern competitive environment.  The profession has created an environment where we can compete pretty ferociously.  There is much more protectionism in Europe, but having voted as a profession for a regime allowing this approach, there is no reason not to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers.”

Nevertheless, he identifies the rigid partnership structure as an obstacle to further progress - and questions the wasteful use many firms make of vastly experienced partners.

“The partnership structure and professional rules in the main do not allow outside investors other than in very limited circumstances.  “For firms looking to make the kind of investment in technology we have, equity participation in joint ventures with key business partners would be a better option than conventional finance.  This is possible, but it’s not as straightforward as it should be.  The need to have sophisticated technology and develop new kinds of service will require more access to substantial capital and the profession needs to look creatively at how to do this without sacrificing the profession’s independence.  Obviously there are fears over regulation and professional discipline and perhaps we would have to limit the amount invested from outside or have them sign-up to our regulations”.

Stephen Gold is coy when asked about merger possibilities: “We’ve had some interesting conversations and approaches.  The vital thing is to work with people who have the same outlook.  We don’t need to merge, but opportunities to work with talented people are always of interest.

“As a separate matter, it’s certainly important for firms to examine the role people play, asking for example if a partner with 20 years’ experience and drawings to match is really being put to best use doing routine work at reducing rates of fee.”

These are the sort of issues many firms need to confront as they undergo a sea-change in philosophy as clients ask for a product rather than service, according to Stephen Gold.

“More transactions will occur where clients needn’t use a solicitor at all and this has big implications for the profession.  The profession can’t uphold the view that the law is frozen in aspic, we need to innovate and adapt to changing circumstances.  This is now well-recognised by everyone who matters”.

Stephen Gold pinpoints two major factors that have helped shape his progressive philosophy.  One is having worked as a management trainee at Marks and Spencer prior to entering legal training.

“Working for M&S teaches you to think about the customer, asking what they want and how to give them best value.  So while I do have an obligation to the profession and seek to behave honourably, we have to realise that innovation isn’t morally reprehensible.  Our clients are competing aggressively in their markets and they have to deal day in, day out, with the challenge of change.  We must help them to do that, or we don’t deserve to have them.

“Regretfully, we have to accept the fact that there will be losers and some firms may die.  But we shouldn’t pitch our service at the lowest common denominator because of that.”

More significant still in forming his outlook was a prolonged battle with cancer just before setting up his firm in 1982.

“There was a time I thought I wouldn’t make it and in those circumstances you take a good look at yourself.  Being so far out on your emotional limits and learning what they are makes you pretty resilient and in a challenging world I’ve had cause to be grateful for that.  The important thing is to be honest about the world as it is and to look it in the eye, with all its difficulties.  As important is to have a thorough appreciation of your own insignificance and fallibility.  A brush with mortality is a pretty good teacher.”

The bullish confidence and single-mindedness of Stephen Gold shouldn’t be mistaken for a complacent arrogance.  He firmly believes many firms will thrive and sees “a very good future in general terms” for the profession, even if it bears little resemblance to the status quo.  Indeed he has a broad-minded admiration for solicitors such as James Stewart, featured in January’s Journal working from home and offering a close-knit family business.

“In a diverse country there will always be a wide array of requirements.  People like James Stewart with particular areas of expertise offer special attractions for the type of clients he has clearly succeeded in bringing on board.  Indeed when I started Golds, my initial idea was a small family practice, dealing principally in conveyancing and legal aid.  We seem to have taken a wrong turning somewhere.”

Despite the success of his firm, having doubled in size in the last three years, Stephen Gold is adamant he will keep things firmly in perspective.

“Complacency here is at zero.  If you think you’ve made it, you haven’t and it’s vital to constantly look at yourself.  You can certainly rely on clients to constantly look at you.”

With a confident, forward-looking practice, located in plush, spacious offices, it could be easy to resent the prodigious success of Stephen Gold.  But as an example of enterprise and fortitude he’s probably more deserving of at least grudging admiration.