John Hayes, Principal, Constantine Law.

In addition to keeping you updated about all the great things that are going on at The Clubhouse, we thought we would turn the tables and put the focus on all the exciting things our fantastic members are achieving!

For our May ‘Member in the Spotlight’ feature we spoke to John Hayes, Principal, Constantine Law.

1. Tell us about your company.

We are a fast-growing employment law and business immigration law firm. We meet our clients in The Clubhouse. We run an agile and highly lean business model which means that we have stripped out most of the fixed costs of doing traditional law, allowing us to significantly reduce our rates to clients (by, on average, 40% per fee earner). We use cloud-computing and external service providers (IT, marketing, CRM, accounting) to deliver a highly responsive service to clients. Our target market are mid-market corporate and fast-growing start-ups. We are a law firm for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. We are particularly knowledgeable in certain sectors (recruitment, FS, technology and construction) and we deliver a lot of training materials to clients. Employment status is currently a big issue in UK employment law. I do a lot of High Court injunctive relief work enforcing restrictive covenants.

2. What has been your biggest success so far?

We have grown the business really well. It started with just me and we have now hired our fifth senior lawyer and our second business immigration lawyer. We are winning new client work every week because our lean business model is really resonating with our target markets. We have achieved Streamlining the law some fantastic results for clients in both contentious and non-contentious cases.

3. What project are you most excited about right now?

Delivering a series of sector specific “lunch and learns” for corporate clients: including Protecting Your Clients – a session on restrictive covenants; Recruiting The Best Team – a session for high-growth start-ups; Senior Manager Regime training for financial services businesses. It is an immersive strategy because we really want to meet the key decision makers and understand their businesses.

4. How has being a member of The Clubhouse contributed to the success of your business?

I am evangelical about The Clubhouse. We use it as part of our marketing pitch to businesses. It enables us to strip out the cost of carrying an expensive lease and meet our clients in a very smart meeting place (also highly confidential when we take a private room). I tend to go to 50 Grosvenor Hill and I love the fact that I am surrounded by business people, not lawyers!

5. Where can members find you?

John.Hayes@constantinelaw.co.uk, or at The Clubhouse, 50 Grosvenor Hill

Quick Fire Round:

Favourite place to go in London?

The Emirates Stadium. Provided the home side is winning.

Who inspires you and why? Barack Obama. Came from nowhere to inspire a generation. And the beauty of his oratory stands in very stark contrast to what we have now.

Best bit of advice you’ve been given?

Everyone is their own worst counsel. Always seek advice and ideas from others. We only learn by being challenged.

If you were on a desert island, what would you bring?

Sun cream. May as well enjoy the experience.

Which super power would you like to have?

To reverse Brexit.

What is the worst business ‘faux-pas’ you’ve committed?

I once emailed a draft letter of dismissal for a senior exec to the person concerned rather than to his employer, my client. The senior exec and I have since become great friends