Number of lawyers in team: 59
Legal directory rankings: 20
Q&A with employment lawyer Emma Clark, who joined in 2018 from Abbis Cadres
What is your favourite thing about working at Keystone?
I think the exciting thing about Keystone is the total autonomy you have over your client relationships and obviously the fact that you are financially remunerated for every piece of work that you do.
Do you get a lot of referrals? How does this work?
During the period of my restrictive covenants, Keystone were really helpful at introducing me to other lawyers across the firm whose clients needed employment and partnership advice. It was also a huge benefit to my clients that Keystone had other areas of law which turn out to be very supportive for a particular matter, and that meant I did not always need to refer it outside of the firm and we could do it in-house.
If you refer work to another Keystone lawyer, you earn 15% of the fees billed for that work. The lawyer who does the work earns 60% of the fees.
What characteristics do you think you need to become a Keystone lawyer?
I would say there isn’t a Keystone type as everyone is quite different but the unifying factors would be the responsiveness, the seniority, that they are generally really quite fun people and they are very knowledgeable.
How would you describe the level of marketing and business development support?
I wasn’t expecting some of the opportunities provided at Keystone. Firstly, the support from the Marketing team, both in terms of helping me put together pitches for some great organisations, and secondly them putting me forward for directories, which is something that hasn’t happened before.
What advice would you offer someone looking at joining Keystone?
If you’re looking at joining Keystone, I’d give two pieces of advice. First of all, speak to a Keystone lawyer; we’re all fairly evangelical about the firm, whether we’ve been here for a year or ten years, and I think it would be really helpful to understand what it’s like to be a consultant here. And secondly, make sure you back yourself. If you’re a partner or a senior associate at a law firm, you’re already expected to bring in work, so why not move to Keystone where you’ll be financially remunerated for that work. It’s worked for me!
To watch a video interview with Emma Clark, please click on the play button.