There is a paradox in the provision of contemporary legal services. At the same time as the modern market place requires more and more specialist legal services (mirroring the provision of virtually all commercial services in a maturing marketplace) legal service providers run the risk of not providing an overview for their clients. There is a real danger that clients can be passed to several different experts for differing transactions or parts of transactions, and both client and lawyer can lose sight of the big picture. In part, that situation has given rise to the growth of in house corporate counsel. Corporate counsel can provide the overview; selecting appropriate expert advice for intellectual property or employment matters, and coordinating a team of experts for a project.
At the same time as I have developed my areas of specialty, I have deliberately kept a wide variety of interests so that I have been able to maintain an overview of my clients' affairs. In effect, I am able to act as in house counsel for clients who choose not to go to the expense of setting up their own legal department. It was with this in mind that, when I completed my Masters degree in Commercial Law, I selected some topics in my areas of specialty, and others that enhanced my ability to give overriding advice on matters that often affect businesses.