Congratulations to Ryan Fletcher

Congratulations to Ryan Fletcher who has recently qualified as a Solicitor.  Ryan completed his training contract with the Firm and has been retained in the corporate commercial team at the Firm’s Gadbrook Park office.

Having been with the Firm for over 2 years, Ryan was fully prepared for the ritual grilling we give to all new solicitors!

Congratulation on your qualification Ryan, and on acquiring your own office!

Thanks – It is quite a novelty at the moment but the door is remaining firmly open as I am so used to sitting in open plan now, I’m too concerned about what I’ll be missing out on if it is shut.

You have qualified in to the commercial department.  What types of matters will you be working on?

I specialise in corporate commercial matters, dealing generally share sales and acquisitions, but also with day to day commercial matters such as share issues, capital reorganisations and internal restructuring, financial agreements and corporate governance matters. I also deal with employment law matters, with a particular emphasis on acting on behalf of employers, which can include a wide variety of matters including the drafting of employment contracts, employee due diligence during wider share or asset purchases, TUPE issues and the engagement and termination of employees.

Has your typical working day changed since you qualified?

Not at all! A normal day would be spent dealing with emails, phone calls and client meetings, trawling through due diligence documents, drafting reports to clients, negotiating the terms of transactional documents either over the phone or via email and potentially a completion. After work I usually go for a run to wind down before heading home. I used to sometimes run home when I was based in the Bury office, much to the bewilderment of colleagues but I sadly cannot do that from our Gabrook office as a 20 mile run every day would probably take its toll!

Ultra running isn’t your thing then?!

I am a keen runner – I have completed three marathons in recent years and I regularly take part in 10k, half marathons and 20 mile runs in the North West, but I think ultra running may be a step too far!  I am keen to complete a triathlon this year – I took part in the Liverpool Triathlon in 2016 but I was not able to repeat it last year.

What made you want to be a lawyer?

I was very interested in politics and history from an early age and this lead me towards law as I neared the end of school. I cannot pinpoint an exact moment that I realised I wanted to be a lawyer; it was more of a gradual interest that built up over time. I began studying law whilst in college and because I enjoyed it and performed well in the subject this led me to study law at University and the rest, as they say, is history. Being a lawyer certainly appeals to my need to consider, dissect and understand everything, much to the annoyance of my family and friends I’m sure. It is also a career which allows for discussions and debate. I sincerely enjoy the challenges posed by a legal career and I am looking forward to gaining more knowledge and experience now that I have qualified.

And has the profession lived up to your expectations?

Most definitely.  My aim now is to build up my own client base and reputation over the next few years and gain greater experience of corporate transactions, as well as experience in other corporate, commercial and employment matters. In the medium to long term I hope to become a partner within the firm and to help to continue to grow the commercial side of Butcher & Barlow.

Commercial law is a seen as a very serious area of law but do you have any light hearted anecdotes from your career so far?

During a meeting last year I started to have a nosebleed without any warning and had to quickly leave the room whilst appearing casual and unconcerned to the other solicitor and clients who were in the meeting. I thought I had gotten away with it when I went back into the meeting until someone pointed out the huge blood stains all over my white shirt afterwards – I haven’t seen the clients since.

Oh dear!  A few quick fire questions for you now:

Who do you admire in the business world?

I think that Elon Musk the CEO of Tesla is an interesting businessman, having created a motor company now considered more valuable than Ford without having made a profit in 15 years of trading. I also really enjoy the business and economic analysis of Yanis Varoufakis the former Greek finance minister and economist, his books are certainly worth a read for anyone trying to understand the current political and economic world in which we all live.

If you could be someone else for the day, who would it be?

Lewis Hamilton on the Sunday of a grand prix – it’s the only way I would get a chance to drive around a race circuit at 220mph.

Tea or coffee and how do you take it?

Coffee, milk no sugar

You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

Red, because it was the first colour that popped into my head and if for no other reason because it is the colour of Liverpool FC.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

I would like to travel around South East Asia, I haven’t been before and it’s a culture I would like to experience. I don’t particularly enjoy just lying on a beach for two weeks so I would have to travel to a destination with things to see and do.

How would your friends describe you?

Probably the loud, opinionated and occasionally funny one as well as the person who organises things – I am the person in the WhatsApp group that gets everything organised.

Your fellow trainees must be missing you then now you have reached the dizzy heights of your own office then, or maybe not…!  We wish you the best of luck in the next stage of your career Ryan.  Thanks for chatting to us.

Ryan Fletcher