How the ILFM studies helped me become the first non-solicitor board member of a 200+ year-old law firm

Guest post from Peter Adams, Finance Director at GA Solicitors.

I am in my mid-fifties. I started my ILFM studies five years ago. I have just completed the Associate level exams, following on from obtaining the Diploma.  

I am now the Finance Director of a full-service law firm based in the West Country, UK. I joined the firm in 2015 as Financial Controller. Last year I received promotion to become the firm’s Finance Director, and I am the first non-solicitor to sit on their Management Board.

Not bad going, especially considering the firm is over 200 years old….

So - how did I end up here?

I call it my “career in reverse”. By that, I mean that I got my professional qualifications later in my career journey, rather than at the beginning - but getting those qualifications nonetheless made an enormous difference.

"I messed up my school exams but I’m now a Finance Director of a Full-Service Law Firm"

At 16, I messed up my O Levels (as GCSEs were then called) so rather than my original plan of A Levels, then University studies, I did a BTEC Diploma in Business and Finance. In the late 1980s this pathway was considered to be a decent route to getting a job, at a time when work was very hard to come by.   

My first full time job at the tender age of 19 was as a clerk at a local authority. Whilst working there, I also worked part-time behind the bar at my local pub. One of the regulars overheard me moaning about how boring my clerical job was and out-of-the-blue he suggested I apply for a role as his replacement when he retired. He worked in the Southampton outpost of a London headquartered law firm as a ‘costs draftsman’ - I had no idea what that was! He filled me in, I attended an interview (a very relaxed event compared to interviews with local authorities!) and landed the job.

Over the next 7 years, in addition to costs drafting, my role developed into doing a bit of office management, credit control, cashiering cover and so on. Then came a momentous change - the firm’s Southampton business was acquired by a Southwest regional law firm. 

From BTEC Diploma in Business & Finance to Law Firm Credit Control

The law firm needed a Credit Manager to replace someone retiring (spot a theme developing here?) and offered me the role, in their Plymouth office, where their finance functions were based.

I took it.

The legal firm continued to expand rapidly, becoming a larger regional player by taking over other firms, as well as growing organically. This growth kept the role of Credit Control challenging and interesting; the team I managed of course grew rapidly thereafter, and it is from that time that I developed a deep level of knowledge and experience in law firm financial management.

Law Firm Culture and Changes – “Merger of Equals”

The next seismic event came some 17 years after moving to Plymouth, when the firm entered into, what was described as, a “merger of equals”.

This merger, as often happens, proved extremely uncomfortable for the support staff. My team survived the eventual restructuring, but all the other finance functions were re-located, resulting in redundancies for the (excellent) Plymouth finance staff. This and other cultural changes following the merger meant I enjoyed working there less and less.

Not quite out of the blue this time, but almost – a former colleague, now a partner at a Plymouth law firm, got in touch to tell me that their Financial Controller was (yes, you guessed it) retiring! Would I be interested?

Financial Controller and ILFM Studies

I expressed my concern when I saw the job description as they wanted someone with extensive cashiering experience, as well as the ability to produce management accounts, set budgets and so on.

They were also seeking someone qualified to at least to ILFM Diploma level “ILFMDip” legal finance level.    

My concerns were passed to their managing partner, who after seeing my CV felt that I had enough experience in a senior finance role to be worth interviewing, despite my lack of direct, day-to-day cashiering experience and other knowledge gaps.

We met, got on well enough and both came to the conclusion that a long handover period, combined with ILFM study would give me a fighting chance of growing into the role.

ILFM Legal Finance Management and Compliance Officer (COFA)

Seven years on, I’ve got the Diploma (ILFMDip) and Associate (AILFM) levels under my belt.

I’m the firm’s COFA (Compliance Officer for Finance & Administration) and responsible for all financial aspects in the business. I have completed six full financial years and more recently I was voted on to the firm’s management board and promoted to Finance Director.

None of this would have been possible without my ILFM study, which crucially filled in my knowledge gaps. Despite having a full-time job, I managed to cram the studying in over weekends and was disciplined and motivated enough to achieve good grades, including a distinction and two merits. I was also delighted to win the Wilfred Owen Award twice, a huge accolade from the Institute of Legal Finance & Management, and one I am immensely proud of.

The ILFM tutors are all very experienced, professional and approachable and the coursework for each certificate is set out in 11 separate modules, which doesn’t feel too overwhelming.

The content of the courses was exactly what I required to become a fully-fledged law firm Finance Director and management board member. I fully recommend the Institute of Legal Finance & Management and its courses of study to anyone wishing to start, or develop a career in law firm financial management, and at the very least, legal cashiering!