Two years ago, shipping lawyer Julian Clark was asked by the Hill Dickinson board how he could help the 200-year-old law firm survive a rapidly changing shipping law scene.
The company has its roots in Liverpool and, having represented Titanic owner White Star Line, in 1912, is one of the most prestigious names in shipping law.
But, like another historic name in the sector, Ince & Co, it was viewed as old fashioned and not having acted quickly enough to modernise and adapt to a slump in traditional shipping instructions.
Clark told Hill Dickinson directors that they needed to grow fast to survive and, when the board said they would back him to help the firm do that, he decided to quit boutique outfit Campbell Johnston Clark (CJC), where he was a founding partner, and was appointed head of global shipping.
He has since been true to his word, hiring more than 20 lawyers around the world and expanding the range of work and volume of instructions that Hill Dickinson is handling.
“I can tell you I’ve never worked as hard on anything in my life," he says. "It was a big old ship, like a VLCC, heading in the wrong direction and to turn it around takes quite a lot of effort.”
Doubts over approach
Competitors have raised questions over his approach, suggesting that expansion in a shrinking market is not the most sensible way forward. Clark says his business plan is based on a longer-term view on how the law market is changing.
“I have a personal view that law is changing rapidly — not just shipping, but the whole practice," he says. "Certainly in the shipping markets in the future — and I’m thinking in 10 years' time — the only firms left in existence will be either small firms or big firms, and when I say big firms I mean bigger than us.”
As shrinking to become a small firm is not an option for Hill Dickinson, he points out that growth is the only way forward.
Expansion is also not just about the number of lawyers, he says. He has diversified the firm from the traditional casualty and freight, demurrage and defence (FD&D) work that is in decline to other growth areas such as transactional and commercial work.
Shipping also makes up around one-third of Hill Dickinson's work and Clark has had some success in finding synergies with the other two sectors: health and business services. Looking to the future, Clark is also trying to develop expertise in future growth areas such as artificial intelligence and blockchain.
He says Hill Dickinson is now seeing more work come through the door as a result.
“We’re two years into the plan and my own view is that we are already ahead of that plan," he says. "We are probably at year 3.5 of where I originally thought we would be.
“The reason I am saying that is I am seeing a dramatic increase in the level of instructions month by month. Recognition in the marketplace is also getting better, we have some new big-name shipowners contacting us.”
Attractive career move
On the recruitment front, Clark says when he started two years ago, potential hires would say, “Hill Dickinson? I’m not sure”.
“But the latest recruitments have come from Clydes, HFW and Norton Rose,” he adds.
Still, clearly there will have to be more growth if Hill Dickinson is to reach the mega-firm status that Clark believes is critical for survival.
Could a merger fast forward the firm to achieve its growth ambitions?
Clark admits that Hill Dickinson came close to tying the knot with Ince & Co in a move that would have created the world’s largest shipping practice, but the Hill Dickinson board eventually rejected the move.
But Clark says a merger is one possibility for the firm to achieve its growth ambitions.
“Never say never to a significant merger," he says. "But there is no one out there at the moment that we look at and think they would be an ideal partner.
“In shipping, there is no one I look at that is the same size or bigger than we are that is a natural merger partner. But I will always keep my ears and eyes open for it. On the smaller firms, there will always be a reduction in numbers and that is a good thing so there will be other practices we could acquire and pick up. So I’ll certainly be looking out for those opportunities.”
Julian Clark, 56, started his legal career intending to work in crime and family law when he was called to the bar in 1988. He took time out to work in a consultancy in Greece, where he says he “fell in love with shipping”.
“It gets in your blood,” he adds.
FD&D move
So, in 1991, when he moved back to the UK rather than return to the bar, he helped set up the freight, demurrage and defence (FD&D) department at the North P&I Club — or Newcastle Club as it was then known.
Ironically, it is such internal law services run by protection and indemnity clubs that now are taking work away from London law firms such as Hill Dickinson.
However, Clark, an accomplished keyboard player and singer, then took another break from law, this time turning to his alternative career as a musician.
Returning to shipping law in the 2000s, he joined Clifford Chance and then moved to one of the leading firms — HFW — for seven years. At HFW, he says he saw a demand for a smaller, boutique-type shipping practice and, along with Jonathan Campbell and Alistair Johnston, set up Campbell Johnston Clark (CJC) in 2010.
Differences on strategy
But his decision to join Hill Dickinson in 2017 came after he disagreed with his partners on the future strategy for CJC.
“I started to think CJC will have to change, because it’s in what I call the killing zone, a medium-size shipping law firm," he says. "If you wanted something that would live for years, for me, we had to do two things: either size down and go back into that niche market, or we needed to really gear up.”
It was the only disagreement we had in seven years. They were fine with the way it was, but my view was I’m really worried about this.”
