Jackaman Smith & Mulley is one of East Anglia’s longest established legal firms and has been providing a wide range of personal and business clients with legal services over many years. The Firm is best known within the region for its high quality private client work. However, as Sheline Clark found, the Firm has several other “strings to its bow” and is steadily building its business sector work with the same ethos of professionalism and reliability it is already well known for in its private client work.

Jackaman Smith & Mulley has been strengthening its Commercial Team headed by Commercial Partner Stephen Firmin. The decision to focus on this area of the Firm’s practice has been both to continue building upon the range of commercial services already available to existing clients and to appeal further to businesses within the region (and in particular small and medium businesses). This is reflected in some key appointments which have added strength and depth; with Paul Stevens joining to head the Firm’s commercial litigation work bringing with him many years experience as a litigation partner with Prettys, and the appointment of specialist employment law solicitor Liz Whitehead.

“We have always sought to provide a proactive and high quality service to our private clients, and private client work is and will remain a core element of our practice,” said Stephen “What we are doing is building a commercial team to offer the same high standards of advice and service to local businesses.” The Firm is alive to the need to constantly review and develop its services and specialisms to respond to the needs of existing business clients and those businesses it hopes to attract in the future. Stephen added, “We need to have the right skills available and this why we are investing in quality fee earners.”

This year Jackaman Smith & Mulley celebrates 50 years at the spectacular Oak House in Northgate Street, Ipswich, a magnificent landmark building complete with its Tudor beams and gravitas. However, longevity has not bred complacency, and the Firm has been expanding over this period and developing the practice to re-enforce its strong regional presence. It has opened a second Ipswich Office in Tower Street and also has branch offices at Felixstowe and in Diss.

“The branches are our gateway to the market within Suffolk and South Norfolk” said Commercial Litigation Partner Paul Stevens, “They enable us to provide a local service and clients can be seen by us at their local office. By the same token we have also invested considerably in information technology to balance the gateway service offered by the branch structure with access to comprehensive support services available from the Firm as a whole. In this way we can meet the range of services which are needed without detracting from the local service clients may require”.

The quality of the Firm’s advice can be seen in the levels of repeat business it enjoys. “Referrals and repeat business account for a substantial volume of our work and we are very proud of that”, said Practice Director Alan Page. The Firm remains very focused on keeping in mind the needs of its existing clients. “That won’t change” added Alan, “What we want to do is to use our reputation and experience to continue developing into the commercial market. That includes encouraging private clients to consider bringing their business needs to us as well.”

“Now we think it is time to re-emphasis what we have to offer and send a clear message that we are a firm of choice for commercial work, particularly for small and medium sized businesses” added Stephen. This emphasis is reflected by the Firm’s involvement with the Ipswich and Suffolk Small Business Association of which Stephen is a past Chairman. Jackaman Smith & Mulley is one of the main sponsors of the forthcoming Trade Fair on 3rd May at the new Trinity Park Conference and Events Centre, and is also providing one of the talks in the seminar programme beforehand. “We are delighted to continue supporting ISSBA in this way” added Stephen “and to be directly involved in one of the most important events in the local small business calendar”.

Liz Whitehead will be addressing delegates at the ISSBA Trade Fair Seminar Programme on May 3 at the Trinity Park Conference and Events Centre and Jackaman Smith & Mulley will also be exhibiting at the Trade Fair that evening.

Commercial Unit

Stephen Firmin, Commercial Partner
Specialising in commercial property, corporate and commercial transactions for a wide range of business from smaller start-up businesses to larger corporate organisations.

Paul Stevens, Commercial Litigation Partner
Heads the commercial litigation department, handling a wide range of commercial disputes including property, contractual, construction, professional negligence and partnership litigation.

Norman Berry, Commercial Consultant
Specialises in commercial property and related development project work

Liz Whitehead, Solicitor
Employment law specialist covering contract and policy advise for businesses and also Employment Tribunal representation and advice in dismissal and discrimination cases

Heidi Berry, Solicitor
Specialises in commercial property and contractual disputes, also covers employment law litigation.