Along the way, RPC has taken on an increasingly international focus, making strategic headway into Asia and beyond, building on its existing membership of international network TerraLex.
RPC has changed and grown over a short period of time; from a one-office firm based in London in 2011 to international expansion in both Hong Kong and Singapore during 2012. Additionally, some insurance and real estate work has been moved to a rapidly growing Bristol office, which also opened in early 2012.
The firm prides itself on being non-hierarchical, with an open culture and a collaborative working mindset, all set within the towering glass and steel offices in St Katharine Docks (‘transparent, like us’ to paraphrase the PR spin). Previously with something of a bias towards litigation, the firm has significantly grown its non-contentious offering with sizeable teams handling IP, IT, M&A, commercial contracts, competition and outsourcing mandates for an impressive roster of major and emerging brands.
What you don’t know:
RPC markets itself as modern, forward-thinking and personal: ‘All the brains you expect plus the hearts you don’t. Smarter law, a fresh perspective’ says the website. But there does seem to be some authenticity to the firm’s claims; RPC sanctions a fairly frank trainee-run Twitter feed and it is the first firm to offer merit-based pay (as opposed to a flat rate) for newly qualified lawyers. Additionally, the firm got rid of lockstep pay for partners over a decade ago with merit-based reward now operating for everyone.
Recent news:
- New panel appointments: RSA three-firm panel, appointed first time to corporate insurance panel for QBE, also AIG, Direct Line and Saga;
- Launched management consultancy business for the insurance sector with Towers Watson hire;
- Competition Team of the Year, 2014 Legal Business Awards;
- International arbitration is seen as a key growth sector for Asia, and the firm has been investing heavily in the Singapore office, where the department head is based. Involved in a number of significant disputes in the region, as well as regional disputes work;
- Recent catastrophe work regarding flood and earthquake losses internationally;
- Product liability – high profile PIP breast implants and ‘metal on metal’ hip replacement instructions with wide media coverage – 1,000 claimants against clinics and surgeons in the PIP case.
It also recently branched out beyond legal services to launch an insurance management consultancy business – RPC Consulting – advising insurers on things like strategy, capital management and operational efficiency.
Alongside significant internal growth and targeted lateral hiring, RPC has indulged in interesting areas such as defamation and privacy. The firm was heavily involved in the Leveson Inquiry [a public inquiry into the British press] and, post-inquiry, RPC was charged with the task of drawing up the new press regulations. Sexy, high-profile work for a firm which is moving forward on an upwards trajectory.
Managing partner Jonathan Watmough says:
Our client base has always been a diverse range of businesses. We focus on individuals who make things happen, who deliver services. We take a long-term view on our relationships with those individuals, by focusing on the real economy, as opposed to the financial economy. That’s a fundamental difference, because that’s a lifetime relationship. If you only service people who are still going to be there in 100 years’ time, then you have a very long-term mindset.
Broadly speaking, we are delivering a relatively bespoke service. It’s not necessarily ‘handmade’, but it’s different every time. You have to really understand who the general counsel is, what their needs are, what their hot buttons are – what upsets them, what pleases them, what makes them look good. This starts with our partners and other lawyers developing very close personal relationships with their clients. That means having dedicated teams and consistency of people who maintain close, regular contact with clients. You need a really open, honest relationship and a mechanism for provoking that open and honest feedback.
If RPC was a superhero what would it be and why?
‘If RPC was a superhero, it would be Danger Mouse, punching above our weight, working hard to solve the world’s mysteries and always doing so with a sense of humour.’
We are always listening and learning. Every day-to-day interaction involves some sort of change to the way we’re doing things. It’s constant improvement, constant evolution. It’s not ‘we’re going to move a mile’; it’s an inch and an inch and an inch… it’s a thousand inches.
Most GCs are running their own law firms. All the issues we face, they will face in a slightly different way. We have a huge amount of non-legal knowledge about running a business, about efficiency, to hand over to our clients.
We don’t want to become overseas lawyers, we’re not trying to plant flags on maps. That’s not the point. We are about English law. Hong Kong is the gateway to China, Singapore is basically the financial gateway to South East Asia. Those are hubs from which you can access those big growth markets.
UK partners: 70 | UK fee-earners: 270
We have built very carefully. That’s the way you really should operate, rather than just going to a new jurisdiction and expecting clients to follow you. You have to win the clients’ trust in these jurisdictions. The ‘build-an-empire’ model is a very 20th century-type approach, whereas the world right now is much more collaborative, it’s much more networked. That’s the 21st century model.
What law firms are really good at is the complicated design stuff. Law firms should become more like design and engineering consultancies. Apple is a design and engineering consultancy, but it quality controls every single piece that goes into its devices, even if it isn’t making them, because that is its brand. The clever law firms will become more like the Apples of this world.
Fundamentally, my job is about creating an environment where the best people can thrive. The big sell to those people is: come to the place where you will develop the most, where you will have the most client interaction, where we will turn you into a business person as well as a top class lawyer, where you are going to have fun – come to the place where you can be yourself. We pick up a lot of people from magic and silver circle firms who want to do the same quality of work but don’t want to do it in that culture.
We never fall out with clients, we never get kicked off panels, because our delivery is absolutely exceptional. You have to taste the difference. It’s a felt difference.
Number of partners
