Spear’s Review

Advertising executive turned barrister turned PR consultant Stuart Leach has a distinctive approach to communications strategy. 

‘We combine three sets of skills,’ he tells Spear’s: ‘Information and intelligence, legal understanding and communications backgrounds.’

Leach founded Stuart Leach Associates, which focuses exclusively on communications around litigation and disputes, in 2022. The firm advises celebrities, UHNW individuals and families, governments, entrepreneurs and business owners involved in legal action or disputes. He says his team prides itself on its ability to ‘convert legal narratives into compelling stories’, applying communication strategies, including reputation protection, to the legal process.

Leach also emphasises the importance of discretion within the team: ‘One of the things that is very important to us is that we are not the story. We don’t talk about our clients.’

Adviser Profile

Stuart founded SLA in 2022, delivering communications campaigns around litigation and disputes. He says, ‘After the legal dispute is over, it’s the story that lives on, so we make sure we are telling the right story to the people who matter.’

The firm is rooted in Stuart’s advertising background and legal experience. A graduate of Oxford University, he had an 18-year career in advertising, working with brands such as Red Bull, Mastercard and Lloyds. His experience in understanding target audiences plays a large part in the approach of SLA.

‘Communications around disputes are not about publicity or PR; they’re about targeted and effective messaging that deliver against a clear objective. You can only do this really well if you understand core advertising principles.’

He followed this with almost 10 years as a barrister at Pump Court Chambers, where he appeared in a wide range of matters representing clients in the Court of Appeal, High Court, County Court and Crown Court, in both civil and criminal matters. This is critical to the work of SLA. As he says: ‘You don’t have to understand the law to advise on legal matters, but why would anyone with a dispute have an adviser who doesn’t? With barristers in our team, we are on top of the legal detail quickly. The law firms and clients we work with acknowledge this time and time again.’

This practical legal experience, allied with his advertising knowledge, is what gives SLA its distinctive and unique position, and brings a highly focused approach to protecting reputation through complex matters and disputes. Working for UHNW individuals, sovereign entities, private businesses and investment funds, Stuart has advised on matters involving fraud, asset recovery, restructuring, commercial disputes, extraditions, sanctions-related issues, public inquiries and judicial reviews, to mention a few.