Post room to boardroom – the story behind our new Head of Corporate’s career path

As you can imagine, given his previous role, Stephen’s experience is stellar, and as he says, “There is not much I have not seen or done! Having spent over 30 years working as a corporate lawyer for many different businesses – big and small, national and international. I am passionate about what I do and doing it well. This means getting the deal done, keeping it simple, and putting people first.”

Stephen goes out of his way to spend time with clients to understand what makes them ‘tick’ and what they want to achieve and why, to find solutions and to help them keep moving forwards and succeed. Stephen’s mantra is ‘together we can grow’. His approach is to work closely with clients, always focused on achieving clients’ goals – whether a corporate sale or acquisition, new joint venture or resolving a potential shareholder dispute.

So, for Stephen, the key to success is understanding the issues, the law and clients’ objectives. “I know this sounds obvious, but when I’m working with lawyers on the other side of transactions, you really can see that it’s not always the case. Make sure your lawyer, whoever you choose to work with, takes time to understand what you want to achieve. With my team, it comes as standard.”

Over the years, Stephen has lived and worked in the Middle East and developed an international practice that has led to extensive travel and opportunities to learn about many different cultures and business styles, from East to West.

But Stephen began his career in the post room of a large international law firm in the early 1980s and then progressed through his legal education (as a legal executive and then solicitor) whilst ‘learning on the job’. Early experiences of company secretarial services soon developed into commercial contract drafting and then numerous joint ventures and M&A transactions, often involving multiple jurisdictions and spanning many different business sectors. It’s a story that brings Stephen’s drive and determination to life.

If you’d like to talk to Stephen about a project, he’d be delighted to talk things through with you. Here’s how to get in touch.

T: +44 (0)20 3691 2064

E: sljarvis@greenwoods.co.uk

And you can read more about his skills and expertise here.

We are always on the lookout for new talent to join us. If you’d like to build your career in a law firm far from identikit, check out our join us pages and get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.