By Business & Finance 
Peter Shanley SC is founder of Barristers Direct, a company he set up following the enactment of a key provision of the Legal Services Regulatory Act. Now, members of the public and businesses can directly engage an experienced barrister for legal advice without having to go through a solicitor first.
What was your first job?
I worked as a rickshaw tour guide in San Francisco when I was a student. I was useless at that. My first job in the legal world was while I was a student in Kings Inns and I worked as a legal researcher for a senior counsel.
What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?
My parents were both lawyers so overhearing war stories of cases as a child probably sparked my interest in a career at the Bar.
What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
On a professional level, being appointed by the government as a Senior Counsel is a significant achievement for any barrister. This “Patent of Precedence” is granted by the government in recognition of a barrister’s excellence in the legal profession and marks The Bar of Ireland as a centre of legal excellence.
Career-wise, would you do anything differently?
I would have benefitted from a few years of more structured employment before going into self-employment at the Bar. A barrister’s first few years at the Bar provide an excellent opportunity to work alongside senior colleagues and learn about the profession. It stands to reason that any additional professional experience will facilitate taking maximum advantage of those years.
In one sentence, how would you define success?
Success is knowing I fought smart, hard, and with integrity, to achieve the best possible result for my client.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Don’t worry about earnings or profits. Just focus on providing an excellent service to your clients. Everything else will follow.
How do you motivate yourself and your team?
At Barristers Direct we are providing clients with direct access to the best legal advice available. Our new service is revolutionary for the provision of legal services in Ireland. The whole team at Barristers Direct is excited to be part of this. Every day we are providing clients with expert legal advice from the very top barristers in the country across a range of subject areas, from employment law to breaches of contract, construction law to property disputes. The feedback we have received from clients (both businesses and individuals) has been overwhelmingly positive and this motivates us to continue to grow our service.
How do you handle adversity?
Despite many of the bland responses that sports interviewees often give, there is undoubted wisdom in their oft-cited focus on “process”, rather than obsessing about results. In the face of adversity, having confidence in your process – whether it be the systems in place in a business, or the tried and tested work-ethic of an individual professional – helps you to focus your energy on controllables, rather than on matters that are often outside of your control.
How do you relax?
A lot of my spare time is spent either coaching my children’s teams or standing on the side-lines watching them play. I love to see them improving and developing a teamwork ethic and I love that they don’t care what happened in court that day.
What is your favourite (non-business) book?
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien. The Monty Python of Irish literature.
What are your aspirations for the future of the business?
At Barristers Direct, our ambition is to become the first port of call for companies or individuals seeking legal advice in Ireland. We are building a trusted national brand. We have an ever-growing network of barristers who are the foremost experts in their areas of practice. We will continue to provide clients with unrivalled direct access to this expertise.
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