SLN Spotlight: Naomi Pryde

This week’s SLN Spotlight falls on Naomi Pryde, a litigation and dispute resolution solicitor at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP in London. Naomi was recently elected to the Law Society of Scotland’s Council, where she will represent the constituency of England & Wales.

What has been your best experience as a lawyer?

To be honest, I can’t pinpoint one particular best experience. I have been very fortunate in my career so far and have been involved in some phenomenal litigation. Being involved in an appeal to the Supreme Court was a particular highlight. If I had to pick one specific moment, it would be a particular proof (civil trial) I did as a trainee. It was a very difficult case, and by no means had a clear-cut outcome. When we won, the Sheriff congratulated me on my work; it was only my second trial doing my own advocacy, so that feedback felt pretty extraordinary.

I’m very lucky in that I really enjoy my job and I’m still quite early in my career so I’m hoping that my best experience is yet to come!

What has been your worst experience as a lawyer?

I equally can’t identify one particular “worst” experience. Moving to London has been the most challenging time of my career so far. Deciding to take myself out of my comfort zone and to leave my family as well as the friends from the firm I effectively grew up in, to go and practise in a jurisdiction where I wasn’t qualified and I didn’t really know anyone was a big (and daunting!) decision. However it was definitely the right one. I am relishing the challenges that working in a different jurisdiction presents, and to seeing how the different precedents and practices impact my cases. I think everyone should take themselves out of their comfort zone at some point.

Why did you choose the law?

I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was eight years old. In addition to being a lawyer I also wanted to be a part-time actress, an author and own a stable of horses. I feel I’ve somewhat underachieved.

Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life?

It may sound trite, but the biggest influences in my life are my mum and my gran, who both brought me up. My mum is my biggest supporter and cheerleader and has never minded what I do so as long I’m happy. My gran taught me that no matter how bad anything is, it will pass and I need to get up and get back out there. I lost my gran recently and I miss her terribly.

Professionally, I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing mentors. Elaine Brailsford taught me how to be a woman in business. I’ve found that some women apologise for being women. They seem to try to adapt themselves and their approach to work to emulate those of their male counterparts, rather than embracing the benefits that being part of a more diverse workforce can bring to your organisation, clients and wider community. Elaine taught me that what matters is that you know your stuff – and that there’s no need to apologise for who you are or try to be someone else. Elaine also showed me that it’s possible to have both a family and a successful career.

I learned a lot from Drew Taylor and he is still a mentor of mine. Drew is an excellent lawyer, and a lovely person and I occasionally call him for advice.

My current boss and mentor in London, Tim Constable, has taught me that it’s ok to be ‘nice’. I usually hate the word nice as I feel it’s nondescript, so let me explain! When I first said I was moving to London to work a couple of people said to me: ‘Don’t do it! You’ll get eaten up! You’re too nice!’. Some people think that to be a litigator you need to be a Rottweiler. In fact I know some litigators who pride themselves on being so. Scotland is a small market and Drew taught me to always be fair to the other side as you never know when you’ll come up against them again. London is not quite as small a market as Edinburgh, but my principles have remained the same. Tim is an excellent litigator with a impressive success rate, whilst being a very fair and likeable man. He is recognised in the Chambers Directory as being “a very nice chap, sensible, with a strong technical ability and expertise”. Working with him has shown me that it’s ok to be nice!

What advice would you give to anyone considering a career in the law?

I qualified in 2009 with the firm I trained with, when the UK was knee-deep in the recession. Times were tough for NQs of my vintage, and whilst things have improved now, there remains a lot of competition for jobs what with the changing landscape of the Scottish market and the plethora of mergers and takeovers that have occurred recently.

I vividly recall the panic I felt when applying for jobs back then, and so I empathise with those who are facing redundancy or fearing for their jobs as a result of mergers in Scotland. The good news is from what I’ve read and experienced recently, the market is buoyant. I had always wanted to do litigation but I recall wondering if I should apply for jobs in other areas as I couldn’t afford to be out of work. If anyone is wondering the same thing, I’d say remain loyal to yourself. We are all going to be working for a long time, so it’s important to enjoy what we do. I think it was Confucius who said “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” and I believe that.

Another tip is keep your advice simple and commercial. When I was starting out I worried that I wasn’t as clever as my peers as their advice always seemed to include lots of legal precedents and complicated descriptions as to why they had arrived at their advice. By comparison, mine seemed simple: it gave advice as to how I thought they would win/save money, without a précis of the law. Years later I realised that that’s what clients want. Clients don’t care how clever you are or what happened in Donoghue v Stevenson, they want straight forward commercial advice in language they can understand.

What would you want to be if you weren’t a lawyer?

Honestly? I now can’t imagine doing anything else, but if push came to shove I suppose I’d have to investigate one of my other childhood ambitions!

How do you relax after work?

When time permits, I tend to spend time with friends – whether that be going for a drink or dinner, or even forcing ourselves to go for a run!

What is your favourite holiday destination and why?

I don’t have one particular favourite holiday destination. I like to experience new things and new places and so I don’t tend to go back to the same place. In saying that, I studied at law school in Portland in Oregon, USA for part of my third year and I absolutely loved it and I’ve been back there a few times. In fact you’ve inspired me to arrange a trip!