Nigel Rowley

Spear’s Review

Nigel Rowley, a consultant at HCR Law, advises national and international clients on business transactions and a spectrum of dispute resolution matters, many with a multi-jurisdictional element.

‘I think the time has gone when you’re just describing yourself as a disputes lawyer or a litigation lawyer, because I think that buttonholes you too much into one particular corner,’ he says. With considerable experience of international business and an enviable black book of contacts, Rowley’s clients don’t always only want legal advice. ‘People tend to come to me more for strategy than anything else,’ he explains.  

‘A straightforward litigation or dispute resolution lawyer may just grab the subject matter and run with it, with the whole aim of succeeding, of winning. But that isn’t necessarily what the business needs or what the individual needs.’

Rowley believes that in the future there will only be two really successful types of law firms: those that have their own international offices and those that belong to strongly developed international networks. 

‘Lawyers still look too parochially,’ he says. ‘Businesses do not. Businesses have to look globally, both because of the worldwide political situation, and the straightforward factor of wanting to do more business. Markets are global. Businesses need their lawyers to be, too.’