{"id":173753,"date":"2021-12-11T08:32:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T08:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=173753"},"modified":"2023-09-13T15:44:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T15:44:54","slug":"why-litigation-is-a-game-of-chess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/why-litigation-is-a-game-of-chess\/","title":{"rendered":"Why litigation is a game of chess"},"content":{"rendered":"


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DWF senior associate Paul Maddock explains how his passion for board games helps in his day-to-day legal life<\/p>\n

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Image credit: Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The reason Paul Maddock, senior associate, DWF<\/a>, enjoys commercial litigation so much is that it\u2019s all about strategy and solving problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI like board games and strategy games from chess to Monopoly,\u201d he says. \u201cLitigation is a similar thing because you\u2019re trying to do the best you can with the hand you \u2014 or your client \u2014 have been dealt. On the first day, the client gives you the documents and the facts, you piece them together and give them a range of options and possible solutions and help them work out the best way to proceed. I love the start of the process, when the client presents you with the problem. I also like the fact it\u2019s quite unpredictable, with peaks and troughs in the work, for example, an urgent injunction can land on a Friday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maddock has been at DWF for 12 years, did his training there, including a secondment at Lloyds bank, qualified into commercial litigation and, shortly after, returned to Lloyds on secondment for a further six months. He set out on his training contract with an open mind about what he eventually specialised in and found he really liked commercial litigation.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s currently a trainee supervisor and is involved in the recruitment process for trainees, sitting on interview panels and meeting candidates at DWF\u2019s assessment centre.<\/p>\n

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DWF senior associate Paul Maddock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a day-to-day basis he deals with shareholder disputes, contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duties, professional negligence cases and trust and probate claims for high-net-worth individuals. These issues cover a wide variety of sectors from financial services to retail.<\/p>\n

\n The application deadline for DWF’s Summer Vacation Scheme 2022 is 14 January 2022<\/strong><\/a>\n <\/div>\n

The types of claims tend to run in trends. Currently, due to the Covid pandemic, DWF is seeing a lot of claims related to supply chain issues, force majeure, fraud and insolvency. The pandemic also moved work into the virtual sphere. As DWF is an international firm, Maddock is used to holding meetings virtually and has, due to social distancing restrictions, mainly appeared at court and attended mediation on a virtual basis since the start of the pandemic, although one of his cases in the past year went to full trial in person. As far as virtual court and mediation are concerned, he says there are advantages for both lawyer and client as the efficiencies reduce travel time and saves the client money.<\/p>\n

This month, however, he has both court and mediation scheduled in-person, so normal life is resuming. He will also be attending the Law Society of England and Wales LGBT+ Committee in person at the Law Society\u2019s Chancery Lane headquarters for the first time since the pandemic began. Maddock has been a committee member for three years, working to promote and oversee LGBT+ matters in the legal profession, for example, producing a best practice guide for firms, commissioning and analysing research, mentoring other professionals, signposting sources of support, and attending Pride events. There are 12-16 committee members who meet four to six times a year as well as splitting into groups for particular projects.<\/p>\n

The committee recently published its Pride in Law report, based on a survey conducted at the beginning of this year. \u201cIt made some interesting findings,\u201d says Maddock. \u201cFor example, you would think because of how society is and how it has changed that more junior members of the profession would find it easier to come out at work. There\u2019s a lot of emphasis on older role models for that reason. But that\u2019s not the case. Actually, a lot of junior professionals struggle to come out because they worry about it affecting them as they\u2019re at the start of their career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maddock also set up Out Front, DWF\u2019s own network group for LGBT+ people at the firm, some years ago. He says:<\/p>\n

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\u201cDWF has been very supportive of EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion] initiatives. From my experiences as a trainee on, I cannot sing its praises enough. One great event that our trainees organised a couple of weeks ago was a young professionals\u2019 panel on EDI, where they interviewed clients about their own initiatives, and had people speaking about their own experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So, what advice does he have for prospective candidates? \u201cGoing on a secondment really helped my commercial ability, it improved my understanding of clients\u2019 objectives and how their business works, so I would definitely recommend going on secondment,\u201d Maddock says.<\/p>\n

Other hints for applicants include: \u201cEnthusiasm is worth its weight in gold. It\u2019s important that a person is enthusiastic about the job and personable because they will be working long hours with their future colleagues. When applying, try to increase your commercial awareness by reading a publication that supports that, for example, I subscribed to The Economist<\/em>, which helped me keep up to date with events.<\/p>\n

He continues:<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn a less highbrow note, I watched Dragon\u2019s Den<\/em>, which gave me an insight into what businesses care about and how they think. Finally, find a firm that suits you and suits your temperament. It\u2019s a two-way street \u2014 it might not seem like that right now, but it is, so it\u2019s important to make a choice that suits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n The application deadline for DWF’s Summer Vacation Scheme 2022 is 14 January 2022<\/strong><\/a>\n <\/div>\n

Paul Maddock will be speaking at \u2018What corporate lawyers do \u2014 with Goodwin Procter, Squire Patton Boggs, DWF and BARBRI\u2019, a virtual student event taking place on Tuesday 26 October. You can apply to attend the event, which is free, now<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Follow @DWF_Graduate<\/a><\/p>\n

About Legal Cheek Careers posts<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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