The eprivateclient 50 Most Influential is the definitive rankings of the key players in the UK and offshore private client practitioner sector.
To showcase the achievements of those listed this year and to get to know them a bit better, eprivateclient has begun publishing a series of Q&As with our 2021 50 Most Influentials.
This week we spoke with Richard Jordan of law firm Gateley. Richard provides tax and legal advice to high net worth individuals, their families, trustees and family offices. He provides full estate and succession planning advice for clients that are tax resident in the UK, often with tax as a major factor, and frequently in connection with liquidation events. Prior to working at Gateley, Richard was a partner at Irwin Mitchell, Thomas Eggar and Lawrence Graham.
What have been your proudest personal/team achievements this year?
To have helped the team navigate through a strange and unsettling time, emerging stronger, closer, more tolerant and more profitable.
What advice would you give your younger self?
To obtain a degree in human psychology not law, then convert.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Observing the rapid development of the next generation of talent within the team.
What challenges do you see your firm/clients facing in 2021?
The clients Gateley act for are, generally speaking, highly successful individuals and businesses. This category of client will, in my opinion correctly, be lent on to make a larger fiscal contribution to meet the C-19 expenditure. The extent and manner of this additional contribution may prove to be challenging.
What does being named a 50 Most Influential mean to you?
It is a privilege. I am genuinely flattered to be named alongside so many capable and experienced professionals.
What is the favourite part of your job?
This is tricky. I do enjoy nurturing talent, but nothing beats an encounter with a novel technical issue. We have had two or three occasions this year where we have advised in highly complex areas that none of our peers have, to our knowledge (and that of the best QCs) knowingly done so before us. That is a great feeling.
What made you choose to focus on private client work?
A very talented first mentor, Andrew Facer, at Ward Hadaway in Newcastle. His fixation on the technical aspects was infectious.
What book/luxury item would you want with you on a desert island?
To Kill a Mocking Bird/A chess set.
If you were not in (and it is not) your current role, what would be your dream job?
To be the Navigational Pilot for the Solent and Southampton Water.
What’s your favourite hobbies/passions/interests outside of work?
Cycling and sailing. Never happier.
What one piece of advice has benefited you the most in your career?
“Do not be distracted by a personal billing target, it restricts your growth and also leads to inefficient delivery. Focus instead on efficiency, growing the team revenue and increasing profitability” - Stephen Richards (head of PI at Thomas Eggar). He was an engineer and had me realise early on that a large part of the law is process.
