In his own words: Sam Froud

In the latest in our series of interviews with CILEX members, we spoke to Birketts’ Sam Froud about his early career, being made partner and the importance of supportive mentors

Growing up, I never considered becoming a lawyer. I went to a very average state school and going into the legal profession, accountancy or medicine was never suggested to any of us. I wrongly believed that such careers were out of reach, expensive to get into and probably only the domain of people from a private school background.

After finishing my A-Levels, I went to Leeds University to study French and business studies. I quite quickly decided it wasn’t for me, so I left after my first term and went home to Ipswich to look for a job.

I was interested in property, so took a role working in property administration at Suffolk Life, a pensions company focused on high net-worth clients. My team was responsible for acquiring and managing commercial property investments within the pension funds. My role was to make sure that the commercial properties held in pension funds were properly insured.

This was back in 2004 and my boss at the time, Peter Weir, was a solicitor who had previously worked at Birketts, the top-50 firm where I now work. He was an important influence on me. A quick thinker, a great problem solver and an excellent mentor, he never got frustrated when I made mistakes or asked questions. In the six years I worked for him, I learnt a great deal, progressing to the point where I headed up a team working on property insurance and development.

Eventually I joined the property acquisitions and disposals team, becoming head around 2010.

Growing expertise

By that point, I had developed considerable expertise in pensions and pensions regulation. We had solicitors working for us who were chosen by the underlying pension beneficiary and I would check the contracts, transfers, leases, deeds of covenant and other documentation they had drawn up. It was great exposure and, over those years, I learned a great deal about commercial property and in particular the niche area of property ownership within self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs).

One of my former colleagues who was a solicitor, Oliver Crichton, had moved to Birketts and started up a specialist SIPP and small self-administered schemes (SSAS) team. It was growing and he knew I had a lot of knowledge in this area so invited me to join him as a paralegal – a great opportunity for me.

I hadn’t previously considered becoming a lawyer but my new boss suggested I get qualified. Without a degree, CILEX was my best option. There weren’t many CILEX members at Birketts at that time but one of the lawyers had gone down the CILEX route, starting out in the post room and working his way up to qualification. He was able to help me, explaining how it all worked and encouraging me. Speaking to him gave me the confidence I needed to go for it.

It took me five years to qualify. It was hard work, studying while working full-time with a young family. I became a Chartered Legal Executive in 2018 and was subsequently promoted to associate, and then senior associate. Last year I was made the firm’s first-ever CILEX partner.

A supportive culture

Since I started at Birketts over 10 years ago, our specialist SIPPs team has grown significantly and we now have 22 staff. Up until recently, I had pretty much a full caseload but I have now cut that down to focus more of my time on management, including training and coaching our more junior staff. I still do a lot of client work – as a leader I think it’s important to contribute to billable work, especially when it is more complex.

“I want everyone to feel comfortable, for us to have a very open culture where no one is afraid to raise a problem or own up to a mistake” 

Recruiting the right people can be a challenge. You need to ensure they fit in with the culture of the team as well as having the skills they need for the role. We train a lot of people on the job and have SQE and CILEX students. I want us to continue to grow – we’ve recently had three new people start and expect further new joiners later this year.

For me, having a happy, inclusive team that is performing well is one of the most important aspects of the job. It’s not just about supporting them on client work, it’s also about being conscious of issues they might have in their lives outside of work. I want everyone to feel comfortable, for us to have a very open culture where no one is afraid to raise a problem or own up to a mistake.

Now I am a partner I have had to start thinking beyond my team to the firm as a whole and its strategic direction. It’s great to have a voice in the partnership and for that to be a CILEX voice.

Connecting with CILEX members

No one has ever treated me differently because of the way that I qualified and it rarely comes up. I’d like to see that becoming more common across the whole profession as I know that not all CILEX members have the same positive experience as me.

Birketts has over 70 CILEX members – about 10% of our fee-earners. Another CILEX lawyer, Juliet Harvey, was also recently made a partner in the family team.

The firm has set up a CILEX network that I am involved with. Our firm has over 1,000 people across six offices, so some of our CILEX members might be the only one in their department. We want a space for the firm’s CILEX members to connect and discuss issues unique to CILEX – perhaps questions on studying or gaining practice rights for example – as well as getting to know other members across the business.

I would recommend the CILEX route – if you are willing to put in the effort required, have a supportive firm and the desire to qualify, it’s a great option. More and more of us are joining our firms’ partnerships and making it to leadership positions. Most of us would not be there if it wasn’t for CILEX, and for that I am very grateful.