Trowers and Hamlins: Supporting clients through insolvency

When did you decide you wanted to specialise in restructuring, insolvency and debt recovery, and why? Like most insolvency professionals, I didn’t set out to specialise in insolvency and restructuring, it found me by accident. It was in the last rotation I did as a trainee solicitor that I started liking the range of work, because it encompasses transactional work such as distressed business sales, as well as a contentious element with the insolvency litigation. I really enjoyed that range and found in that last seat of my training contract that it just clicked, and so, I never looked back. What attracted you to the Trowers and Hamlins team in particular? Trowers and Hamlins is a leading firm in the UK. It’s got a fantastic reputation for both the quality of the work it undertakes and also its ethos and culture, particularly things like its commitment to diversity and sustainability. All those things really resonated with me. It's also really committed to growing its business across its national locations, and because it has a strong presence in Exeter, it was an obvious choice for me as most of my work and my career has been spent in the southwest. What was your experience in the legal sector prior to joining Trowers and Hamlins? I qualified as a solicitor in 2007. Since then, I've always specialised in restructuring and insolvency work. What will your responsibilities be in the new role within the Exeter team? Primarily, it's going to be supporting clients as they encounter financial distress. For example, this could be supporting insolvency office holders with their appointments such as liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy, but also advising existing clients, for example, if there's an insolvency in their supply chain. With a recession looming, insolvency can affect businesses in all sectors, so, I'll be working collaboratively with lawyers in the firm who have other specialisms. I also hope to get involved in some of the CSR activities of the firm. What do you hope to achieve in this new role? Teams in other offices have a really strong insolvency reputation, so I'm looking to match that for Exeter and also assist the further growth nationally. With the cost of living crisis and the predictions of recession, I think that advising businesses and individuals affected by insolvency will be a key part of the firm's wider commercial offering at this time, and I'm looking forward to getting involved in that and assisting the firm's clients. It’s a very challenging economic landscape that we're all facing and there could also be acquisitive clients who are looking for opportunities arising from distressed situations or the ripple effects of insolvency of a key customer, that sort of thing. I'll be working with the firm's insolvency practitioner clients, supporting their appointments, as well as doing a mix of transactional and advisory work and insolvency litigation. Has the commercial litigation team in Exeter handled any notable cases that you can tell us about? The commercial litigation team across the firm has a really vast range of specialisms, which is what makes it exciting to be a part of. It picks up regional, national and international work, and litigation has been a real focus of growth for the firm. What that means is that we can support clients across an array of contentious issues. We've got a number of lawyers ranked in band one of the legal 500, so it's exciting and well established, but also a growing team to be a part of. What does this litigation team offer that is unique to other firms? As I mentioned, the team is pretty diverse in terms of people, location and specialisms. It's ideally placed to be advising on the ever-growing spectrum of issues our clients can encounter. Litigation has been a key area of growth for the firm along with projects and construction, and corporate. It's an exciting time to become part of that growth trajectory. Are there any upcoming plans for the Exeter branch you can share with us? What does the future look like for the team? At this time, the firm's overall particular focus is on responsible business, assisting clients with their own obligations and strategies around making business more responsible, but also, embedding sustainability across the firm's locations and practice areas in the way that we do business. It's really timely, because as you probably know, ESG is becoming increasingly important in all sectors. The responsible business offering is building on previous projects that the firm has done, such as research into a wider assessment of value in real estate. The firm also set a carbon reduction target, as well as aiming for net zero by 2030. Every individual and every location has its part to play in that key strategy. In terms of access, I think there's been massive diversification in recent years for the services that are offered, and Trowers is able to provide the full spectrum of its legal services from the southwest. We've grown the corporate and commercial teams, we're recruiting, and that's all very exciting. I think we're providing a full, national offering in the southwest. It’s all very much available for clients who operate here.

Trowers and Hamlins: Supporting clients through insolvency

Insolvency partner at Trowers and Hamlins, Katie Farmer, delves into her appointment at the accountancy firm, her aspirations for the role, and the future of the litigation team

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