Harvey Aberdein is a founder partner and now consultant with Aberdein Considine
All being well, June 2018 will see me complete 40 years in the legal profession and so I have decided it is high time to retire.
This will therefore be my last column.
I have enjoyed being part of a very successful Press and Journal business supplement and in particular the correspondence this has stimulated with many readers over the years … more on this later.
You might forgive me therefore if I look back rather than forward in this article since, as the saying goes, “his future is all behind him now”.
The changes in my profession and in the world of business over the last 40 years have been nothing short of staggering.
I had experience of the legal profession from the outside before joining it and my impression, rightly or wrongly, was that many lawyers seemed to feel it was a privilege for the client to be in their presence rather than the other way round, which is how I have always believed it should be.
I remember the shock and horror of a senior practitioner in those early days when a client asked for a quote for legal fees. The response was that if the client couldn’t trust the lawyer to charge a reasonable fee, how could they trust him with their legal problem?
Not a view likely to be encountered today.
Our own august Law Society was also positively antediluvian. Aberdein Considine’s first brush with authority did, I believe, create a record which stands to this day.
Within our first week in business we received a complaint from them because we had committed the heinous crime of including our telephone number in our one permitted newspaper intimation (in this very paper) of our commencement in business.
The explanation of their angst was that this could be seen as encouraging potential clients to give us their business and could therefore be seen as touting!
To be fair, the Law Society has made great efforts to modernise and to make itself more relevant to its members and the public in general. The ending of self-regulation was a long overdue and significant step in the right direction.
One of the most marked changes in the law is in the demographics of the profession. From being one which was male dominated all those years ago, the pendulum has swung and it is females entering the profession who are now in the majority.
However, as with nearly all other businesses, it is the advent of the digital age which has had the most profound effect on the practice of the law.
Our first experience of the tectonic changes to come were the revolutionary golf ball typewriter and the fax machine which, we were assured, represented the future and which I suppose they did, for a few years anyway.
My recollection is that, although as young, newly qualified lawyers we were worked hard, there was far more time to consider, reflect and get it right than is the working environment in today’s immediate world. Both clients and practitioners expect instant responses and resolutions and, of course, neither is always possible.
I also have a concern that today’s lawyers find it virtually impossible to escape their workload thanks principally to the ubiquitous mobile phone, which can, effectively, become a mobile office.
During my stint as managing partner I did try, unsuccessfully, to introduce a ban on our solicitors accessing emails during their holidays. I did and do believe that our hardworking guys and girls deserve a complete break to get their heads together after the prolonged stresses of what is a very demanding job. Needless to say, those same hardworking guys and girls voted against the proposition.
I think it may also be true that generally all businesses demand more from their workforces than they did four decades ago. There is more accountability and I think this has led to higher standards and expectations across the board.
Over the years of this column, the topic which stimulated most debate was the thorny question I raised regarding the north-east’s contribution to world cuisine. I refer, of course, to our very own rowie – or should that be buttery?
Clearly a highly sensitive chord was struck and there followed much amusing correspondence. I was delighted to learn recently that the inaugural World Buttery Championship is to take place at The North East College this summer. I was however not at all happy with the title of the championship, being of ‘the rowie’ persuasion myself. The organisers should also be aware that other geographical variations for our favourite delicacy include “rollie”, “Aberdeen roll” or simply “roll”.
Final word on the topic went to a Mr K Patterson, of Peterculter, who emailed: “I dinna ken if it’s buttery or rowie, but they are affa fine.”
And finally. Did I learn any truisms in 40 years of business which others may find useful? Well, possibly only two.
Firstly “change or die”. Dramatically put but, and this is particularly true in this electronic age, businesses must constantly evolve to meet the challenges of changing technology and market demands or their future will inevitably be bleak.
Secondly, do I wish I had spent more time in the office? Despite the deep gratitude I have for the fantastic support over the years of clients and colleagues, the answer must be a resounding no.
So to my “fellow cairters” out there, do find time to reflect on your work/life balance and try to get it right. This is not a rehearsal.
