Mathew Forde is a Partner and dispute resolution lawyer with Lewis Silkin, the Legal IP & Technology firm.
What was your first job?
My first paid job, as a teenager, was a farm hand, pulling ragwort from hay fields, which, tedious as it may sound, was a surprisingly satisfying task. In time I progressed to driving tractors, turning hay and spiking bales, which was probably more fun. My first career-focussed job, after leaving university, was as a graduate trainee in one of the auction houses in London. I had ambitions in those days to pursue a career in the art world, but after a soporific year of cataloguing paintings, I made the U-turning career decision to enrol at law school.
What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?
The initial pull for me was the intellectual challenge of law. Once immersed, I soon realised that dispute resolution was what I enjoyed the most and the thornier and more technical the dispute issue the more interesting I found it, and which was largely why I ended up specialising in intellectual property law.
What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
It’s probably hard to top helping to raise a family, but in terms of business achievements, then it has to be building the commercial, IP and media law firm, Forde Campbell, which I initially founded in 2006 in Northern Ireland and which eventually grew, over a 15 year period, into a specialist commercial boutique practice in Belfast and which we then merged, successfully, with Lewis Silkin (NI) LLP in 2022.
Career-wise, would you do anything differently?
Only in my dreams. I tend not to dwell too much on career ‘what ifs’, as the roads we choose to take in life are the only roads we ever get to walk. While some choices turn out to be good ones and others less so, ultimately, it’s what we learn and take from each of those journeys that really counts. As a former client of mine used to repeat, as his guiding mantra: “we’re elated by our successes and educated by our failures”, which has always struck me as a rather sensible philosophy. It’s fair to say that we often learn far more from what doesn’t work out than from what does. But back to my dreams of an alternate universe: in those, I tend to flit, variously, between a career as an architect, farmer, politician, forester and mountain climber/explorer.
In one sentence, how would you define success?
Being satisfied that you genuinely gave it your best shot.
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given?
Mind the gap.
How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
I generally take the view that the key to any happy and motivating workplace is to create a real and positive sense of community in which one can foster a culture of trust, respect and collaboration. This very much goes to the core of the Lewis Silkin workplace ethos and the type of community we seek to build in all of our offices. Legal workplaces can sometimes be serious places, but they should also be places of fun and laughter, and where people can be generous with their time and contribute to the collective collegiality. Regular feedback to staff and recognising effort is essential to sustaining the motivational ‘zing’. I’m also a great believer in being able to celebrate milestones, whether big or small.
How do you handle adversity?
I have a small checklist: – has the Earth stopped spinning? – am I falling to the ground? – has anyone died? – does anyone need hospitalisation? If the answer is ‘no’ to all of those, then things are probably not quite as bad as they may seem.
How do you relax?
Usually, either a long walk in the countryside, preferably with a steep hill and view involved, or playing the piano or tackling the garden. That generally does it for me.
What is your favourite (non-business) book?
“Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest” – by Wade Davis. This has to be one of the more remarkable stories of human endeavour, involving an extraordinary generation of people.
What are your aspirations for the future of the business?
Primarily to build out the success of the Lewis Silkin offering in GB within the island of Ireland, so we are able to offer the same rich menu of legal support. It’s been really exciting to witness our growth in clients and recruitment over the last two years here, and we want to see more of that. It was ultimately in response to evolving client demand that Lewis Silkin first decided to establish a presence in Ireland in 2018, with the launch of its Dublin office and then, in 2021, its Belfast office. The speed of that growth is, perhaps, a testament to the fact that Lewis Silkin is a refreshingly different and unstuffy law practice, with an extraordinary depth of expertise, which explains its standout appeal to so many of our clients and why people like working in the firm. All of which makes the associated tasks of supporting that growth so much easier.
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