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I help partners improve peformance

Get ahead of the pack with the inside track

Jonathan Watmough, award-winning former law firm Managing Partner and principal consultant at HelpingLawyersThrive

Hello!

I'm Jonathan, the Partner Coach, here to help ambitious partners take things to the next level

I am passionate about helping people succeed in the business of law in a human, sustainable way

At 30 I became a City law firm M&A partner and at 38 I became the firm's award-winning Managing Partner for 10 years

I know exactly what it takes to change up through the various performance gears as a partner. I have been there and done it myself at a high level. I have written a critically acclaimed book about it. I have helped many dozens of partners do it. I can help you do it too

THIS IS FOR YOU

IF YOU are a law firm partner ambitious to improve performance

IF YOU want to cut through to the inside track of what really matters

IF YOU want to maximise your chances of success

IF YOU want to give yourself an advantage

IF YOU think it's for you, book your free discovery call with Jonathan

I HELP PARTNERS CHANGE GEAR

To become an established performer


Being made up is only the beginning - becoming established is something very different. It is easy for new partners to stall, struggle or even fall by the wayside. This is entirely avoidable. I support new partners to recognise and quickly adjust to the demands of a new and very different role, in particular to prioritise the behavioural and attitudinal adjustments required to make the transition to becoming both a business and a leader as quickly as possible.

To become an equity partner


Moving through internal partnership gateways can be extremely frustrating. It is often down to some combination of personal development, financial or political blockers. I help diagnose those blockers and devise strategies to build the personal and business case to navigate around them and enable your assent to continue.

To become a rainmaker


This is the transition that most partners struggle with the most, and understandably - going into business to take external market share from others isn't natural for very many. I will help you build the necessary personal commitment, environment and discipline to grow your business.  I will help you build your personal credibility. I will help you build and iterate the right competitive strategy. And I will help you develop the adaptability and perseverance required to build a score and stay in the game.

To become a leader


Building something bigger than yourself can only be achieved with and through a wide range of others. But leading lawyers is notoriously difficult.  I will help you transition from being in the business of law to being in the business of talent acquisition and management. I will help you to build your team philosophy through generating alignment, cohesion and trust amongst those you are leading. And I will help you to build the resilience and coping strategies to enable you to survive and thrive as an A-Player leader.

To move firms


Sometimes things just don't work as well as they did or could, and it's better for everyone that a new start is made elsewhere. Sometimes this is an individual decision, sometimes it's the firm's decision and sometimes it is mutual. But deciding how to go about the process, where to go and above all how to successfully transition your client following can be existential questions in your career. I have orchestrated several dozen lateral hires and I know all of the pitfalls and success factors. I can help you decide whether a move is really necessary or whether there is a way to get what you want by staying. I can help you assess what it is you need in a new firm. I can help you assess a shortlist of firms which might suit your needs. I can help prepare you to be able to sell yourself and then broker introductions to firms, where necessary through the right recruitment agents. I can help you negotiate the right deal. I can help you negotiate your exit from your current firm. I can help you transition your clients. I can help smooth integration into your new firm.

To move from partnership to something different


All partners stop being partners at some point. I stopped being a partner. It might be by choice to retire or do something different. It might be forced upon you. This can be a difficult transition - partnership is a important part of the personal and professional identity of most partners. I can help you navigate this adjustment smoothly. I can help you assess the myriad options you will have to continue your career in a different way - commercial, professional and voluntary. It will be different but also very refreshing, and it need not be difficult. Partnership will have been an important part of you but it will likely also have been all-consuming - there is an exciting new world to be explored, therefore, and I can help you do that.

HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

Everything we do will be bespoke to you


My coaching is always informal, individual and bespoke. We will work as a team, in conversation, one-to-one, to build a trusting relationship. I will be your cheerleader, advisor, supporter and critical friend to help you grow yourself and your business.
We will work out together who you are, where you are, what matters to you, what will make the difference in your push to take things to the next level and where I can add the most value.
 
There are some common themes in going through the gears as a partner, but there is no standard formula, so I do not sell structured coaching courses, programmes or materials. But if you want an overview of how the system works and what it takes just read my critically acclaimed book 'How To Thrive In A Commercial Law Firm'.
Whereas the purpose of my one-to-one coaching is to cut through to what really matters to you personally and to your particular situation.  To try to bring order to the chaos and competition that always surrounds progressing as a partner and find a way to align all of the planets for you.

The first simple step is for us to get to know each other


Just book a free, no-obligation, introductory Zoom call with me, and we can chat. This is entirely free-of-charge, will typically last 30-60 minutes and will give us the chance to get to know each other, decide whether we want to work together and, if so, agree terms and next steps.

Pricing


You might engage me personally or, by agreement, some or all of the cost might be met by your firm. Either way, our relationship is personal and what we discuss is entirely confidential.
Because everything we do will be bespoke to you, where you are and what you need, there is no standard pricing menu. And so I tend to price in the same way you will price for bespoke work with your own clients - fixed prices by reference to the amount of time I will likely spend. Coaching partners is what I have always enjoyed most and so I strive to keep it affordable in the context of what is at stake, the level of my experience and my ability to get to the heart of things quickly.
But let's chat and find a way to get going!

GOOD REASONS WHY I'M DIFFERENT & WHY IT MATTERS

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1. I have the expert inside track

I spent 18 years as a partner in an award-winning City law firm, the last 10 as Managing Partner. I know what it takes to make it as a partner. I have written a critically acclaimed book about it. I have been there and done it myself. I have helped hundreds of lawyers go there and do it and I can help you go there and do it.

2. I am independent & objective

I am on your side and I will tell you what you need to know.

3. I understand

I am one of you. I have done what you do. I have felt what you feel. I am there to provide friendly, non-judgmental, understanding support to help you achieve your ambitions.

ABOUT JONATHAN WATMOUGH

M&A lawyer, managing partner, coach, advisor, NED, author & speaker

I am passionate about helping people succeed in the business of law in a sustainable, human way.

I was born in the Yorkshire Dales but raised in the Sussex Downs. I have been a lifeguard, gardener, dishwasher, hotel porter, humper in a meat factory, pilot, fruit farmer, decorator, builder's mate and bartender. My parents both left school at 15 and I was the first in my family to go to university.

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I qualified as a Solicitor in The City of London at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain in 1993. Practising in M&A and equity capital markets, I became a partner at thirty, managing partner at thirty-eight and spent the next ten years helping to transform RPC from a London insurance firm into an international, multi-disciplinary professional services business.

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The firm delivered five consecutive years of double-digit top and bottom-line organic compound growth when the rest of the market stagnated following the Global Financial Crisis, won Law Firm of the Year three times, won the Managing Partners’ Forum’s strategic leadership award and was named five years running as Best Legal Employer. I was also twice-named within The Lawyer’s Hot 100 lawyers in the UK.

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After ten years as managing partner, I retired from the firm in 2016 to help lawyers and leaders of lawyers cut through to what matters and emulate the simple things successful people do differently in private practice. No theory, no platitudes, just practical common sense guidance on what matters most in the real world of the business of law, why and how to do it to get ahead. And in 2024 I encapsulated this in my book How To Thrive In A Commercial Law Firm.

I have also combined my entrepreneurial streak with my passion for understanding people and relationships and co-founded Quintillion, a technology group that develops cognitive and behavioural analytics. Quintillion’s flagship product, myTeamRadar, uses next-generation human factors visualisation to help reveal, diagnose and resolve hidden performance and wellbeing problems in teams.

"Under managing partner, Jonathan Watmough's leadership, RPC has become one of the most vibrant and best-run firms in the mid-market."

The Lawyer's HOT 100 lawyers in the UK logo

2014

"Cultural integrity and a move upmarket sees RPC named Firm of the Year."

Under Jonathan Watmough's leadership RPC won The Lawyer's Law Firm of the Year in 2014, The Lawyer logo

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR 2014

"Praised by judges for its strong financial results, being 'innovative' and for 'really looking after its staff', the firm impressed on a number of levels. But what particularly impressed the judges was not its financial performance but the steps RPC has taken to position its business for the future - and the efforts it is taking to keep its staff happy."

Under Jonathan Watmough's leadership RPC won Legal Week's Law Firm of the Year in 2015, Legal Week logo

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR 2015

"If you keep your people happy, then your clients will be happy too. Led by a Managing Partner who has no office and the same desk as everyone else who works in this open plan office, RPC achieved outstanding financial results in 2015, and has earned recognition as Best Legal Advisor by Legal Week for the last 5 years. Innovative initiatives to support employeees, a well-developed social-inclusion plan, and an unrelenting focus on understanding the needs of clients, have earned recognition as Best Legal Employer over the same five year period."

Under Jonathan Watmough's leadership RPC won the MPF's Strategic Leadership Award in 2016, Managing Partners Forum logo

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AWARD 2016

How To Thrive In A Commercial Law Firm is Jonathan Watmough's 2024 book about people, relationships & leadership in law firms - book cover

For those who want to know how lawyers, leaders and law firms can thrive in a changing world

Whether you're an aspiring associate or a managing partner, how good you are at people, relationships and leadership will determine your personal, professional and business success.

These are skills which are not taught at law school and which many firms preach but few practice.

Jonathan Watmough led an award-winning City law firm for ten years.

He lifts the lid on what makes lawyers and law firms tick.  Why people, relationships and leadership are fundamentally important for lawyers, lawyer careers, law firm success and life.  Why they matter more than ever in a changing world.  And how to master them.

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Are you ambitious to take things to the next level?

Do you want to access the inside track?

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