COO of Schillings

Reputation Defense

“2007 was a great year for Schillings. But by 2008, everything had changed. Before, there were a small number of players, everything was in print, and issues rarely expanded outside the borders of the U.K. Today, the market is diluted with many new entrants, everything moves very quickly and nothing stays within borders.

We could have stayed a traditional law firm, but opportunities for growth were limited. We could have diversified into other legal sectors, but we did not see a future with that either because the market is saturated. In the end, the best option we saw was to stick with our core competency, but to add nonlegal or what we call ‘extralegal’ services. So, knowing that the new rules would soon come into effect, we bought a cybersecurity business, and as soon as we could, we combined it with our legal practice into one entity.

As a result, Schillings is now the only business in the world to complement a privacy and defamation legal offering with risk consulting and cybersecurity. …

We look at the leading global accounting, management consultancy and auditing firms and think ‘legal services are inevitably going to form part of their growth strategy, and the indications are that some are already making this a reality by applying for ABS licenses themselves.’ For that reason it is essential that we continue to innovate, to find better ways to serve our clients’ changing needs and to differentiate ourselves in the market. Because if we don’t, someone else will.”