Spotlight | Charles Gothard

When Charles Gothard was invited back to Macfarlanes eight years after leaving for Speechly Bircham, he considered it a dramatic approach. The last time the medium-size London firm had made a lateral private client partner hire was ?20 years ago.

He was relatively happy at Speechlys so the attraction of somewhere else had to be high. But having spent ten years at Macfarlanes, where he'd qualified, and stayed in touch with its staff, it was there or nowhere else. He still took some convincing, though. What sealed the deal?

"You mean what pushed me over the edge?" he laughs. "I think it was a combination of realising that it is a very special thing to become a private client partner here and that really is something one ought to be taking seriously."

Aware of the proposed merger talks between Speechlys and Withers at that time, which have since been abandoned, Gothard made an unrelated, objective decision based on a very extensive due diligence exercise. He knew the firm "warts and all" and wanted to know how it had changed over the years.

Early years

Gothard originally set his sights on Macfarlanes before graduating from University College London in 1994. ?He had selected a career path at a young age. His father, whom he sadly lost aged seven, was a chartered accountant with lots of private clients and would regale his son with work stories.

"What I really liked and found interesting was having the relationship with the individual and the family, and feeling that I'm helping them, that they are appreciative of what I am doing and that I'm making a difference for them."

He still values his formative law years at Macfarlanes. "I was always taught here that the best way to make clients happy, win more work and get them to recommend you is very simple: you just provide the best possible service." It was a principle he accepted quickly, and recalls an early salutary lesson.

When asked to help the then head of private client with a self-assured Greek shipping magnate, a nervous Gothard received a call about the bill. But the client said he was happy to pay the high fee - in exchange for continued six-star service. It was an experience that underscored the theory he had learned. And he's never forgotten it.

Career ladder

• 1994: Graduated from University College London with a degree in law with French law
• 1995: Joined Macfarlanes as a trainee solicitor
• 1997: Qualified as a solicitor at Macfarlanes in the private client team
• 2005: Joined Speechly Bircham as a partner
• 2008: Promoted to head of international private clients at Speechly Bircham
• 2010: Co-authored The World Trust Survey (Oxford University Press)
• 2013: Rejoined Macfarlanes as a partner in private client

Service and trusted advice remain a priority and key driver for success. The true role of the trusted adviser is hard to define, though, he says. Many international clients have a right-hand person considered to have this responsibility, for example. "What I think it should mean is the person who is effectively the gatekeeper and the person who is coordinating the advice, so the client can contact them and say 'these are the things I want to be done'," he says.

"Part of my role is to act as the conduit. There may be many different lawyers working on a matter but the client values a single point of contact, who filters the most important bits of information. For many the only communications they want to receive are periodic emails from me with no more than three or four bullet points. They rely on me almost to step into their shoes to oversee what all these other people are doing."

This is how the medium-size firm can come into its own, he says; somewhere small enough where he knows all the partners and the different specialisms can work together easily. Such a "combination of services" benefits clients.

Full circle

Gothard returned to the fold on 1 May, having only left Speechlys the day before. It was like 'coming home', he says, especially when greeted by a welcome message and a photo of him as a student on his new office door. He admits feeling emotional. Gothard was back in his comfort zone, with the firm that instilled his "conservative" quality. "I knew very well what I was letting myself in for," he says. "It was a known quantity."

Ultimately, the clincher for his move was the firm's recent "exciting" developments. Earlier this year, senior partner Charles Martin set out Macfarlanes' continuing evolution towards a balanced practice between transactions, advisory and disputes/investigations. "Again that's quite a step," says Gothard. "The private client practice has grown substantially since I left in 2005 and I wanted to be part of its growth and development." The collaboration between in-house private client and corporate offers an "unrivalled force", he claims.

Macfarlanes' international focus was also a mutual pull for Gothard and the firm. Private client partner Edward Reed said: "From an international perspective, Charles brings a wealth of experience and expertise that complement our practice incredibly well. When you couple this with the fact that he also trained here, so understands the firm's approach, it's a great fit. We are already feeling the positive benefits of his rejoining."

At Speechlys, Gothard split his time between London and Zurich. He has transferred most of his international clients and brought with him a global perspective. "When developing that practice one thing that I've always tried to do and said to everybody is to look to where there's economic growth," he says.

Trend spotting What recurring themes have you noticed internationally over the last few years? “Wealth protection: not in the sense of clients trying to hide their assets, but, rather, trying to protect the wealth they’ve created from external threats, which could be local instability in their home country prompting concern that their assets might be devalued or seized in the event of regime change; or worries about attack from within the family, for example if a successful businessman has children from different relationships, it’s not unusual for one or more children to claim they’ve been treated unfairly. “Economic difficulties have heightened such concerns and prompted many to establish wealth protection structures or to review existing structures, which have become unsophisticated by modern standards. These ‘classic’ reasons for establishing trusts have led us to help numerous families around the world, many of whom have no UK connection, with this type of planning. “Philanthropy: I have felt privileged to help a number of billionaire families establish philanthropic structures to which they have directed a large proportion of their wealth, usually in a very low key way to avoid publicity. Their vision and generosity is inspiring. Again, I think the economic difficulties may have been an additional catalyst. “Mobility: some wealthy families want to base themselves in countries where they can live tax-efficiently. And, having done so, some of them will have little hesitation in moving if the government makes the local tax regime significantly harsher. We have seen this with many French residents moving to the UK and increasing concerns are being expressed by some Swiss residents following the abolition of ‘forfait’ tax agreements in some cantons and the possible introduction of inheritance tax.”

 

Jennifer Palmer-Violet is acting editor of Private Client Adviser

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