A History of Seeing the Purpose
Those following our journey will have undoubtedly have noticed the phrase ‘See the Possibility’ across your feed recently. You may have even been…
Those following our journey will have undoubtedly have noticed the phrase ‘See the Possibility’ across your feed recently. You may have even been brought here by an egg. You may be wondering why Weightmans are making so much noise about See the Possibility and probably questioning what an egg, a lemon and a brick have to do with our professional services. See the Possibility embodies our purpose as a firm. It is why our people want to work here, why others want to join us and why our clients value us so much. More so, it has been at the heart of Weightmans for as long as I have been here, and probably well before that.
From our heritage as a firm founded in Liverpool to today, a national firm with ambitions to become a top 30 law firm, the ability to see what’s next has pushed us to constantly innovate to improve the services we provide to our clients. This heritage is personal to me and my journey through Weightmans as well. When I joined to develop a corporate practice, there was at that time no real recognition or presence for the firm in this area. Through the ability to See the Possibility in myself and the corporate practice, today it is a major component of our firm, with 30 partners handling billions of pounds worth of transactions and operating in the majority of our national offices.
Weightmans has long had a storied history and strength in the areas of claims and insurance. We had a vision and saw the possibility that we could become a firm more balanced between claims and Litigation Transactions and Advisory work (what we call “LTA”) while still maintaining and investing in our heritage of claims and insurance. The ability to See the Possibility in our firm and in our people allowed the growth of our commercial and private client practices to become of a size and stature to be a leading professional advisory business in its own right. That business today operates in all our seven key client segments. In 2009 we had 19 specialisms and 43 leaders recognised in legal directories for this area of our business. Today we have 104 specialisms and 273 leaders recognised across the country.
See the Possibility isn’t just our history; it is our present and future. Whether it is our apprenticeship scheme, Leadership Academy or Weightmans Institute for Future Innovation, our people are developing and empowering themselves to fulfill their potential, where the only inhibitors are an individual’s own ambition. Every day our people go above and beyond for our clients, seeing opportunities where others may see obstacles. Evolving with the needs of our clients and embracing our roles as not only legal professionals but strategic partners solving complex problems. See the Possibility informs our ability to embrace partnerships with national experts, turning those partnerships into opportunities for innovation.
So why an egg, a lemon or a brick? It is not easy to define a business’s purpose in a way which is distinctive when there are so many good professional services firms out there. I think however we have hard evidence in the past, present and I hope the future, that our purpose has been in our DNA for some time. Our ability to See the Possibility in everything we do has enabled Weightmans to grow, innovate and adapt for over 195 years. This is the purpose residing at the heart of our firm, and it will continue to compel us to see opportunities in everything, even an egg, a lemon and a brick. I hope in some way whether you are part of our journey, join us in the future or find your own path to success, you can see beyond the egg, lemon or brick.
At Weightmans, we believe thinking differently allows us to see the possibilities others don't. We see the possibility for envisioning a better future, for better relationships and in people, whoever they are. We see the possibility in everything.