Managing Director Steven Bernstein, Chief Operating Office Johnny Nichols and Head of Business Development and Marketing Daryl Atkinson feature in the latest edition of PM Forum Magazine talking about what makes the culture at Lawrence Stephens so special, and how this is powering our growth.
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House Shouts
There will be very few law firms where the CEO knows the names of all 190 staff, and even fewer where those people are, like school, assigned a ‘house’. Alongside phenomenal growth, this is why Lawrence Stephens has been repeatedly tagged as the firm to watch.
Matt Baldwin speaks to Managing Director Steven Bernstein, Chief Operating Officer Johnny Nichols, and Head of Business Development and Marketing Daryl Atkinson.
Lawrence Stephens like to do things differently. It is a relative newcomer to the London legal market, founded in 1997, and, like many other firms, named after its founding directors.
But unlike its peers, the firm is strictly first names only. The ‘Lawrence’ is Lawrence Kelly and the ‘Stephens’ are Steven Bernstein and Stephen Messias. All are still involved in the firm.
It is a hint towards its difference.
The firm is a limited company, with directors instead of partners, focused on entrepreneurial owner-managed businesses, SMEs and financial institutions, particularly challenger banks.
“We know what we are good at, and we concentrate on that,” explains Managing Director Steven Bernstein. The firm does, however, provide the full service of legal advice for those clients and will, as it grows “stay in its lanes, acting for bigger clients”.
It is an approach that is clearly working, seeing revenue increase by 30% a year over the last five years, and its headcount growing from 50 to 190 people. It was named by The Lawyer as a ‘firm to watch’ in its December 2024 podcast.
It is, however, its culture that truly marks the firm out as different.
Bernstein spends 30 minutes every day walking the floors and talking to his colleagues. Remarkably, he knows them all by name. “I see it as part of my job description to walk the office, chat with people and ask them how they are doing, if everything’s OK. “I have to work at it, particularly with 40 new members of staff this quarter alone, but it is the easiest 30 minutes of my day.”
The firm’s Farringdon office is open plan with no allocated desks. It means staff quickly get to know each other.
“It creates a real buzz,” says Johnny Nichols, the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, “with conversations and discussions naturally occurring all the time. It means those who have recently joined us get to meet others and build relationships quickly. “Importantly,” he adds, “it fosters the kind of environment where everyone is nice, enjoying each other’s company, happy to collaborate and celebrate each other’s wins.”
And then there are the firm’s ‘houses’, named after locations of previous offices – Baker (Baker Street), Portland (Great Portland Street), Wigmore (Wigmore Street) and Morley (Morley House on Holborn Viaduct).
“The idea came from our trainees,” explains Bernstein, “with first-year trainees appointed ‘head of house’. Everyone in the firm is a member of one of the four houses. There are competitions throughout the year for ‘house points’ that at the end of each year are turned into charitable donations.”
Every summer, there is the firm’s sports day and BBQ where house members, joined by partners and families, compete for house glory. Other events include the ‘Bake-Off’ challenge and the annual house quiz.
“It empowers younger people, breaking down the hierarchy in the firm,” says Bernstein. “It means that as we grow, staff get to know each other much easier. Importantly, it’s fun, and we want everyone to enjoy what they do and where they work.”
Lawrence Stephens 3.0
Entrepreneurial businesses are never static. Just as its clients grow and change, so too is Lawrence Stephens. “We are currently Lawrence Stephens 2.0,” says Bernstein, “and quickly heading towards Lawrence Stephens 3.0”.
Part of that journey has been the investment in a strong business services team, supporting and guiding the legal teams.
Nichols joined the firm as its Chief Operating Officer in September 2022 having held senior roles in Allen & Overy and Bird & Bird. Daryl Atkinson joined in June 2024 as its Head of Business Development and Marketing. He leads a team of five.
“There are two aspects to the role,” explains Atkinson. “There is the execution piece, making things happen efficiently and effectively and without reinventing the wheel, and the advisory piece, trying to encourage the right kind of behaviours and activity that deliver results. “I strongly believe that to make waves, a firm of this size needs to be really clear about its future. We can’t be in every market – it is just not possible. It’s about bringing focus to the firm. We know what we are good at and what we should concentrate on. We are also clear on what we not going to do.”
Atkinson and his team have made an immediate impact.
“We are a people business,” explains Bernstein, “and that means the relationships we have with our clients are important. They like what we do and keep coming back to the firm. Daryl and his team are helping us to better leverage those relationships and to understand where we should focus our energy.
“We are now better known in the areas we work than ever before. The reputation change has been enormous, and the foundations are now in place for the firm to grow into Lawrence Stephens 3.0.”
Lawrence Stephens 3.0 will look and feel very similar to the firm today. Its culture will be jealously guarded and nurtured.
“We don’t want to lose our humanity,” says Nichols. “Our HR team is helping us to articulate what our culture means to people individually so we can find ways to hold on to that and sustain it as we grow.”
That growth might see the addition of new teams – it recently took a banking and real estate finance team from the collapsed Memery Crystal – and the addition of new expertise, but only if it fits the firm’s tight client profile.
“We can imagine ourselves with an office a little further north… a kind of hub for clients in Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds,” adds Bernstein. “But there is no intention of having an office in every town or a large international footprint.”
There is an energy inside Lawrence Stephens, a sense of urgency and mission that is shared by its 190 people. It is a little less like a law firm and more like its entrepreneurial clients. And that should leave the more traditional mid-tier firms looking nervously over their shoulders.