Eleven lawyers. Every matter is run by someone who has done it before, because there is nobody junior to hand it to.
Harlow & Finch was set up by two lawyers who had spent a decade at large international firms and were tired of the leverage model — the pitch given by a partner and the work done by someone two years qualified.
We stopped growing at eleven lawyers because that is the size at which the person you meet is still the person who does the work. It costs us revenue and we are comfortable with that.
Most commercial disputes are worth settling. A firm paid by the hour has an obvious incentive not to say that, which is exactly why we say it in the first meeting.
Every advice note opens with what we think you should do and why, in a paragraph. The analysis follows for the people who need it.
If your position is weak, you hear it in week one, not in month six when the costs have already been incurred.
No letters written to be seen writing letters. Hourly matters are billed in six-minute units and the narrative says what was actually done.
If your matter belongs elsewhere we introduce you and take nothing for it. Referral fees quietly distort who you get sent to.
Before the free consultation, not after. It occasionally costs us a client and it is the right way round.
