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“I hope to do for legal learning, what Jamie Oliver has done for School Dinners and Martin Lewis has done for understanding money!” - Hatti Suvari
Words by Dorothy Adu-Mfum
Highly commended for the Financial Times Industry Pioneer award, founder and CEO of boutique law firm Red Bar Law LLP and the Get Legally Speaking Podcast, Hatti Suvari is a woman to watch. With a bespoke business model, 100 percent success rate so far, and wins which include saving a family enterprise £6 million through Red Bar Law LLP’s unique service, Hatti is changing the game for how legal services are provided.
Hatti Suvari thrives on finding solutions and helping people. This led her to embark on the challenging journey of setting up a law firm without being a lawyer herself. Alongside her successes in business, Hatti runs a young family, an experience familiar with several hardworking women.
Hatti shares her challenges, successes and vision with us.
What was your biggest challenge building Red Bar Law and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge in setting up Red Bar Law was that I am not a lawyer, so I had to learn and have a thorough understanding of the law on running a law firm. The Solicitors Regulations Authority threw several lever arch files my way and said, ‘when you know that all in-side out, then get in touch with us and we will review your application further”. This led to many back and forth reviews, and finally a recorded interview with the SRA in front of a panel of three. My biggest challenge in then establishing and building Red Bar Law as the boutique law firm it is today was trying to get clients to understand the fixed-fee billing model and also educating our clients on how working with an experienced Barrister in the area of law relative to their work, is so imperative to the outcome of their dispute.
Overcoming these challenges required constant patience and understanding in doing whatever it takes to ensure that our clients fully understood their legal process, and the costs involved before they accept to instruct us for the work. This is an ongoing practice that we adopt - helping clients to understand what is involved in their dispute, and the options available to reach a solution or resolution, together with the risks involved with going to Court, has always been a valuable part of our process.
We have never lost a case in the history of our firm! And I am very proud and grateful for the trust that my clients place in my abilities.
With several commercial law firms in the UK, what sets Red Bar law apart from its competitors?
Red Bar Law was the 9th Alternative Business Structure Law firm to be established in the UK (there are now over 1,300 law firms operating as ABS law firms of a total of more than 10,000 law firms in England and Wales) [statistics quoted from NatWest Business Hub.com], and I established RBL to provide legal services to its clients differently from the start.
Having a barrister involved in a client’s matter from the very beginning has enabled us to work on strategy, commerciality as well as the best legal approach for the client, even if the client’s issue does not require any Court work. No other law firm operates in this way, in which it gives the client the unprecedented benefit of approaching their dispute in this way, together with utilising the barrister for highly experienced and specialist legal advice.
All our work is delivered to our clients at a fixed fee, allowing a client to decide whether or not they can ‘afford’ to proceed with their legal matter. Most clients are trapped in ‘billing by the minute’ pricing models, where solicitors are under pressure to hit yearly billing targets, which ultimately means that a client never knows what their legal work will cost, until the very end, and when it is too late to say, ‘no thank you’.
We are a boutique law firm, and we take on clientele who we can service promptly. We have on many occasions, had to refuse work, because we cannot simply dedicate the time and work required. I do not know of many law firms that refuse work!
What motivates you?
Getting the results for my clients motivates me. Achieving the results that we set out to achieve motivates me. Having clients refer me to their family and friends alike motivates me. I love work, and I love my job.
What does a typical day for you look like?
I work in a very structured way, where I diarise which clients work will get done on each given day. I leave room to make sure that I can deal with new work, and unexpected work in-between, and I strictly start early and finish early, in time to prepare great meals for my young family.
Why Dispute Resolution?
I thrive on finding solutions and helping people who are going through a tough time. I could never have imagined myself to be a legal professional filling out forms in a conveyancing department, so dispute resolution fits in with my natural wish to always help and be resourceful to my clients. I also absolutely love a courtroom. The history and nostalgia around being in court has always appealed to me, so bringing my clients into court to get the results we set out to get, is very gratifying.
You've been highly commended for the Financial Times Industry Pioneer award. Your unique service has saved a family enterprise £6 million. What skills do you have that has managed to as you apart?
I have always applied a common sense and strategic view to my thought process when analysing a client’s issue. Having been in business myself for almost 20 years, I have a good understanding of the challenges, hurdles and difficulties that can present itself to businesses and those tasked with running businesses.
Our approach has always stood out as organic and real. This combined with our dedication of time, in carrying out our homework for the client, always striving to understand the client’s changing needs in their requirement for legal assistance and being adaptable to deliver the highest level of legal service. That’s what sets us apart.
What issues do you think female leaders face that are unique to them?
From my personal experience, I can say that running a home and managing my young family has always been my biggest challenge, and therefore, I would say that any hardworking and dedicated woman in her profession could also face this issue.
What can leaders do to increase diversity within the legal industry?
To provide career opportunities that provide some flexibility in work, to enable women to have a family that they will have to care for, without sacrificing their career either half-way through, or even before they have begun their steps up the ladder. Providing more childcare support for women, particularly barrister’s who work very long hours, would be a great start! I know of many female barrister’s who have had to put their careers on hold to be able to have a family, because working in the legal sector can be all or nothing, in terms of the time that you have to be able to dedicate.
What has been your proudest moment so far?
Taking over the 100% ownership of Red Bar Law in December 2020, and the support that came with that from over 100 barristers that I have been working with for almost a decade.
You set up “Get Legally Speaking” in 2020. Tell us more about that. What is the vision behind it?
I set up Get Legally Speaking because I am truly passionate about people being able to get free and jargon-free legal knowledge. Having dealt with people calling RBL first-hand over the years, who have no legal knowledge what-so-ever and who just simply cannot afford to pay for any legal help, made me even more determined to establish a brand that is for the everyday person, regardless of their age, background or means.
My aspirations for Get Legally Speaking is to make it a household name, so that when anyone thinks of a matter that may involve the law, they think about listening to an easy to access Podcast episode, or they tune in to watch one of my TV shows that I hope to record! We are not taught the law in any place of our lives, and bringing basic legal education to schools is another one of my wishes.
I hope to do for legal learning, what Jamie Oliver has done for School Dinners and Martin Lewis has done for understanding money!