In this episode, I’m very pleased to welcome Jo Farmer and Richard Miskella, Joint Managing Partners of law firm Lewis Silkin, which works with high performance businesses to protect and enhance their most important assets – their ideas and their people - enabling them to create endless possibilities for future success. They call it Ideas. People. Possibilities.
Jo and Rich describe how the firm developed a fiercely different culture that allows them to deliver distinctively high-quality work for clients. They also discuss the underlying logic of the strategic choices they’ve made.
Jo is a Joint Managing Partner of Lewis Silkin and is currently ranked as a leading individual in Chambers 2023. She has over 20 years’ experience advising clients on a wide range of commercial contracts and non-contentious commercial and IP issues, including media buying contracts, sponsorship, client agency contracts. Jo’s clients include brand owners, content creators, communications agencies, and media platforms. Jo regularly speaks on commercial and IP contracts, including as one of the expert speakers at the Cambridge IP law summer school. Jo leads the firm’s efforts in innovating client service delivery, which has this year included launching LS Assist, the firms’ low cost, fixed fee offering for business-as-usual commercial work.
Richard is the other Joint Managing Partner of Lewis Silkin and advises a range of multinational and UK employers on all aspects of employment law and has a particular focus on high value litigation including in the County and High Court as well as the Employment Tribunals. He regularly litigates disputes arising out of team moves, enforcement of restrictive covenants, bonus disputes and discrimination cases. Richard also advises on restructurings, redundancies, whistleblowing, and executive terminations. Richard is a CEDR accredited mediator and represents parties as well as mediating disputes. Richard regularly writes articles for the press and comments on employment law issues in addition to presenting at client training events. He acts for a wide range of clients, including a number of media and financial services organisations and also acts for high-net-worth individuals, mostly within the financial services sector. Richard won Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Business awards 2019 for leading the high-profile investigation for The Old Vic into the allegations of sexual harassment and the set-up of 'The Guardians Programme'.
A leading UK law firm with offices in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford and Hong Kong, Lewis Silkin is recognised by clients and industry alike as being distinct for its strong, unique culture, market-leading practice areas and for providing pragmatic solutions to complex, multi-jurisdictional business challenges.
Lewis Silkin’s focus on people — both theirs and their clients’— and on creativity, technology, science, and innovation – ideas – means they are uniquely positioned to help businesses thrive in an ever-changing world. They are leaders in supporting their clients with their strategic and operational HR and legal issues across the world of work, helping them succeed through the optimisation of their talent. In parallel, they are at the forefront in helping turn ideas into reality, supporting creativity, innovation, transformation, and growth, by strategically partnering with their clients to help them solve their most complex legal and commercial challenges.
Jo Farmer
Richard Miskella