Ranjit Dhindsa

Head of Employment, Pensions, Immigration and Compliance,
Birmingham Office Leader, Member of Fieldfisher's Executive Committee

Governance is a bit
like health and safety.
It has to pervade everywhere.

There's demand for the right
kind of governance

Our Managing Partner Robert Shooter represents the Executive Committee, our Senior Partner David Wilkinson speaks for the partnership, and our recent Associate Engagement Project and firm-wide surveys have given colleagues formal channels to voice their views on how the firm is run.

Consistency
and fairness

As a law firm, we have different governance responsibilities –
from external influences such as our obligations under the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and our anti-money laundering and sanctions clearance procedures, to our internal policies on areas like pay and whistleblowing.

It's important to stress that, as lawyers, we are here to advise on the law consistently and fairly for all our clients, within the transparent governance parameters we set ourselves.

Our risk and conflicts committee helps us decide on the most complex mandates. We know from experience that organisations fall down when their values are too principles-based and don't mean anything in practice, so we take a practical approach to applying our values.

Clients and colleagues look for authenticity, and that is what we strive for. It is great that we also have so many passionate people who want to play a role in upholding our values.

When I have been recruiting for senior lawyers to join our team, the majority tell me that Fieldfisher seems like a place where people are important to the businesses, and that is why they want to work here.

This shows there is demand for the right kind of governance, the right kind of culture and the right kind of values.

It is important to have people with the right skill sets in key governance roles, and I am so pleased that we have invested in these skills and have a growing team of specialists to help us govern. We need to regularly ask ourselves who we are governing for and take on board how our various stakeholders feel about the decisions we take as a firm.