Background

• Over 35 years’ commercial and legal experience
• Employment, partnership, shareholder and contracts specialist
• Commercial Litigator at Allen & Overy
• Partner and Group Head of Employment in London at Mayer Brown
• Currently Principal of his own Consultancy Business

Qualification

Mediator accredited with ADR Chambers (2003)
Business Coach accredited with Meyler Campbell (2009)
Solicitor

Other

Married with grown-up children, Julian enjoys the arts, walking around with a camera, travelling to countries not previously visited and enjoying the company of others. He is also Chair of the Charity, Escaping Victimhood, and an Independent Governor of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama.

Julian’s approach

Julian’s career as an adviser involves him working with organisations and individuals, helping them to develop and find lasting solutions to differences of opinion. To do this, he explores the underlying reasons for these differences.

His experience enables him to see both sides of situations and bring a broad perspective. As a coach and mediator, he enjoys working with people where he can use that experience to make a real difference. He also acts a neutral facilitator to parties negotiating contracts between them to help them identify potential problem areas and find workable solutions.

Julian looks for what is important to people in their situation and focuses on the key details. He is curious about people and what makes them tick. He regards himself as a good listener who hears what they are really saying. Through this, he builds rapport to get the job done as effectively as possible. He finds that, if you encourage people to think out loud without being judged, a solution often presents itself. Pressing the pause button opens up a reflective space for clear thinking to emerge and he loves it when people have light bulb moments as a result.

He has been facilitating throughout his career. One of his strengths is his ability to find a pathway that others might not be seeing. He can then call upon a rare combination of legal expertise, coaching skills, mediation training and instinct to guide people along that pathway.

He believes in taking small, considered steps. If you look at the big picture too quickly, you can miss some of the detail. And if you move too fast, you can get your thinking wrong.

Examples of his experience

• Facilitating solutions to knotty problems in the workplace, in the boardroom and between partners and shareholders.

• Working with partners in law firms to develop working practices and to adjust to new roles.

• Coaching individuals in management and non-management roles, enabling them to focus what they are good at, developing new skills, changing the way they work and dealing with people and difficult situations.

• Giving strategic advice to senior management and non-executive directors.

• Working with the owners of businesses to plan and implement new ways of working and new contracts.

Examples of Feedback

• He “really knows what he is doing” and “does not take points unless they are warranted”.
Legal Directories

• “Julian’s combination of insight into the individual with judgement on business issues is very helpful.”
Founder, Board Advisory Partnership

• “Julian was able to read the situation well. I was impressed by his extensive experience and expertise, but most of all by his objective and practical advice”
Partner, International Law Firm

• “Julian helped me identify options that I would not otherwise have considered. As well as testing my assumptions, he brought valuable insights based on his own experience. His style is open, relaxed and encouraging, so it was easy to build up trust in him.”
In-house lawyer, International Fashion Company

• “Julian got me to the heart of what I was really thinking and helped me search for ways to move forward. Each session with him made me reflect and always gave me a clearer perspective. He was ‘on my side’, encouraging and enabling me to shine. I was always able to do something practical as a result of our conversations and the skills I have learnt from him.”
Head of Alumni Relations, Cambridge University