An interview The Burnside Partnership winner of National Solicitor Firm of the Year

In the run up the British Wills and Probate awards we were thrilled to get some time with Della Burnside from The Burnside partnership, last year’s winner of Solicitor Firm of the Year National.

As a winner at last year’s British Wills and Probate Awards we were very keen to have a chat to find out how it all came about, how it felt and to find out a little more about the Burnside Partnership.

An introduction to Della and the Burnside partnership

The Burnside Partnership were the national solicitor firm of the year award winners at the British Wills and Probate Awards last year.

The Burnside Partnership are a niche private client law firm established six years ago by Della’s twin sister who also focus on tax and services for high-net-worth individuals.

“We have a enormous experience of working in lots of different law firms but I think really the motivation for setting up our firm was to focus solely on on serving private clients”

What motivated you to enter the British Wills and Probate Awards?

“The awards have a great reputation so that that was clearly a factor in deciding that we we should apply.

It’s always nice to have an opportunity to define achievements so we you can then you know really focus on that and I think that’s good for everyone”

How did it feel to be nominated for the awards?

“we were absolutely delighted and especially given how prestigious the awards are and uh the impressive competition as well in our category”

How did it feel to win?

Winning an award is is great because it’s a real opportunity to celebrate success in the firm uh with everyone, with all our staff. We were absolutely thrilled and it’s a prestigious award as well so we were delighted.

The benefits of being a winner of a business award?

Clearly winning any award, but especially this award, demonstrates to clients that we are experts in what we do. So there’s that industry recognition of that.

I also think it’s really motivating for the team when their hard work results in the firm winning an award because it is down to everyone in the firm when we when we win awards.

And when we’re looking to recruit to have this recognition of our expertise and our place in the market is really helpful

Does passion play a part in providing great service?

Happy staff deliver a great service. We asked Della if she felt passion for the job also helps?

“ My background is as a commercial lawyer and so it’s been really nice, as I’ve taken over the running of the firm, to see how this area of law it’s very much about helping the individual and we do this in a number of ways.

For example where you’re helping someone with their personal affairs, writing their will or helping with tax planning. We often find that clients find that quite a stressful and daunting experience or prospect. We are able to help with that to the extent that once it’s done clients are really relieved and it’s lovely to see that.

We also enjoy helping our clients plan for future generations of their family for example during the probate process, helping them in circumstances where it can often be quite daunting or where they are feeling vulnerable, at the time, having to follow this process.

So I love that that part of our job and I think to be a really good private client lawyer and to advise clients in the best way you have to really get to know your clients and I, and I know everyone at the firm really takes time to understand our clients, understand what their motivations are, their frustrations and really what they want to achieve.

And so it’s all about that personal connection and understanding that makes our job particularly enjoyable”

Where does your passion come from for your work?

“I love dealing with people and that means staff and clients alike. I really enjoy building a business and seeing it flourish, having happy people in the firm and us all enjoying and really working as a team. So that’s something that really motivates me”

How do you help build careers in the legal industry?

Routes into a legal career can appear traditional. We know that The Burnside Partnership are at the forefront of providing more modern and diverse approach to career development in the legal sector.

“Right from day one when the firm was set up we decided that we really wanted to support opening up the profession to as many people as possible and so we invested in an apprenticeship program right from the start to offer these further opportunities and we’ve been really successful in our apprenticeship program.

I like to say we won several awards for it but most importantly we’ve seen some of our staff, in fact all of our staff who’ve undertaken an apprenticeship, really flourish. They’re so bright and they have an amazing career ahead of them and we’re really happy to continue to support them into qualification as a solicitor”

Tips for building a law firm?

What is the secret to building a successful and award-winning law firm?

There are several aspects …

having great people, we really try hard to find the right people for our firm with the right attitude
client service is another really important factor in success and sadly it is often overlooked and it’s so important
having really solid finances is absolutely crucial because you can do all of the other things right but at the end of the day you’ve got to operate a profitable firm and that gives you the ability to grow
another really important factor is to try and ensure that everyone enjoys what they do. Staff do a better job when they’re enjoying their work and ultimately happy staff create happy clients

The British Wills and Probate Awards

The British Wills and Probate Awards celebrate and showcase the hard work, innovation and excellence of so many within the Wills and Probate Industry, across many different disciplines and categories. At a tough time for the economy, it will again be great to have some fun, see new faces and celebrate the entrepreneurialism, innovation and hard work of so many people in so many organisations.

We very much look forward to celebrating together with you, to seeing you win awards, your videos and smiling faces!

We are headline sponsors!

Executor Solutions are delighted to be the headline sponsor of The British Wills and Probate Awards, something we consider to be the Oscars of the Probate industry!

The past 12 months has shown there are some incredibly talented, hardworking and resilient individuals in this industry and we are looking forward to shining the spotlight on the great and good and celebrating their achievements.

Michael Edwards, Client Services Director, Executor Solutions

The judging panel

Hear from one of this year’s newest Judges, our own Barry Mattock.

Headline sponsor

It was our privilege last year to not only sponsor the Champagne reception element of the awards ceremony but to also sponsor the ‘Probate Provider of the year Large Firms’ category, an area of the legal sector we are particularly involved in, alongside Court of Protection, and to celebrate Kings Court Trust winning the 2020 category.

We are thrilled to continue our involvement in the British Wills and Probate Awards as this year’s Headline Sponsor. Our sponsorship reflects our respect for so many in the industry, the expertise and support they provide to clients and families during difficult circumstances and the innovation that companies bring to the industry as a whole.