Toby Joel, an equity partner at Jacksons Law Fim, heads up the firm's litigation team. Toby is celebrating 35 years with the firm this year, having started at the age of 16 on a YTS [Youth Training] Scheme. Here, he shares his thoughts on the only workplace he has ever known!
What were your career ambitions growing up?
“I’ve never known anything different to working for Jacksons! I came straight from school on September 2 1989 and I’ve been here ever since! I had been enrolled to go to Acklam Sixth Form College and history was one subject I intended to study. My Mum was a secretary at Jacksons for the then senior partner Kevin Fletcher and she mentioned this ‘legal executive’ course they were offering. It was paid work with study on an evening. I went to the Teesside Chamber of Commerce which used to be on Exchange Square and enrolled onto the course. They gave me an interview straight away at Punch Robson. I didn’t get that but the next one was with Robin Bloom from Jacksons. They recruited me straight away and for the first 15 years, Robin was my supervising partner who trained me and looked after me. I started on a YTS earning £29 per week.
Tell us about your current role and what do you most enjoy?
My current role is working in litigation – the department where I have worked from the day I came in. What we like about our role is you don’t know what’s going to come in on any given day. You can plan your working day, but frequently, it will change, as it’s quite reactive work. You have got to act quite quickly on something that you haven’t foreseen at the start of the day. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you thinking. You also meet some nice people.
What is your proudest business achievement?
When I was made a partner in 2009 – that was pretty important to me.
How has your industry evolved in the last decade and what changes do you see in the next decade?
I’ve started at a time when everything you needed to know was in books and we had libraries in the office. Now, everything is online. You search for procedures, rules, laws and authorities through different search engines. That’s been a big change in the course of my career. In the last ten years, there has not been a massive amount of development in terms of what we do. It’s a small thing, but on the IT side, we used to use audio dictation tapes and now we use a digital system where you just talk into a microphone and it records what you say on the screen for the secretaries to pick up. Since I started, Jacksons was the leading law firm regionally for defendant insurance claims, we acted for all the major insurance companies. We separated the commercial and civil parts of the business in the early 2000s. I don’t really foresee any major changes with what we do in the future. There are always going to be disputes, and you’re always going to end up in court representing somebody on one side of the dispute. I really don’t think in the commercial work that we do that there will be much change.
What are you currently working on?
We are now subject to an appeal on a judicial review. The appeal hearing is in November at the Court of Appeal. The case involved poultry farmers and compensation due to them when their birds were culled due to avian influenza in 2021 and 2022. Thanks to our successful representation of seven poultry farmers in a judicial review, the High Court ruled they were entitled to higher compensation, which paved the way for other poultry farmers to come forward for more money. If we are successful in the appeal hearing, there will be a lot of farmers liable for increased compensation.
Tell us about the team you work with?
I have probably worked with more than 100 people over my 35 years here! There have been different secretaries, trainee solicitors who might only be with us for six months before moving to a different department and all the different permanent staff who have been and gone. The team now are all, unfortunately younger than me! But in all seriousness the current team is the best group of people I’ve worked with. The primary roles in the team are commercial litigators and then you also have people with different specialisms who are building on their expertise.
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
Stick at it! I started off on £29 per week and at one time I could have found a job earning more money – but I wouldn’t necessarily have had the same career prospects as I have had here. I have gone from the YTS lad to a joint owner of the business as an equity partner. As long as you’re doing something you’re enjoying and there is progression, you should keep putting the work in and showing enthusiasm – and you will reap the rewards.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
I see myself retiring! I will be 61 then and I expect I will still be here – I can’t imagine moving, but I will definitely be thinking about retiring. I will have been here 45 years!
Who would be your four ideal dinner guests, alive or dead?
Nick Faldo, Ricky Gervais, Brian Clough and Bob Mortimer
What do you do to unwind?
Play golf at Cleveland GC or walk my lab retriever, Piper on the North York Moors or at the coast.
What’s your favourite box set?
Line of Duty.
www.jacksons-law.com