Case Studies

A look at the role taken by one of our non-legal staff

Daryl Atkinson Daryl Atkinson - Business Development Manager/Deputy Director of Business Development and Marketing

I joined Nabarro from another law firm and am responsible for the business development activities of the Real Estate group. Part of my reason for moving was that in my old firm the role was very much about managing existing systems and processes, whereas Nabarro take a very forward looking view and have been very quick to adopt new ways of doing things, they are very happy for ideas to be suggested and taken forward.

The group is very large and requires a lot of management time to co-ordinate the very varied initiatives and activities. I also deputise for the Marketing Director which means I have a very busy workload. Being part of a larger team I can call upon my colleagues to assist where required, it's a very team orientated culture. The group are keen to listen to new ideas and are constantly challenging the staus quo- they certainly keep me on my toes!

The firm has always welcomed initiatives we have put forward and have been very supportive over training, this was developed through the appraisal system and I was lucky enough to be selected to attend a management course recently at Harvard Business School - it doesn't get better than that!

Riteeka Sawhney Riteeka Sawhney - IT Support and Operations Manager

I joined Nabarro, as the Support Services Manager, in May 2002 and at the time had no previous experience of working for a law firm. I was nervous about the expectations set by lawyers, and the service they would expect from an internal IT team but was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to make decisions, get financial backing and generally move projects forward.

I now have responsibility for the Support and Operations team in London and oversee the IT team in Sheffield. Internal development and training is widely encouraged at Nabarro and there have been a number of internal promotions within our department. There is an internal training team on-site covering IT and Soft Skills training and external courses are supported when required.

In addition to my IT remit, I organise a Support Liaison group. This represents a group of people from all the different support areas in the firm. On a quarterly basis we have an opportunity to discuss issues with the managing partner and HR director and make suggestions about the way in which the firm operates. This is a great way of being involved in ways in which the firm moves forward.