Stephen McNicol - Managing partner

Expert profile 

Stephen is managing partner and also leads the Banking and Business Restructuring team.

He trained with Muckle LLP and moved to London when 2 years qualified to join Lovells, where he worked in one of the City's leading business restructuring and insolvency teams for nearly 4 years.  Stephen returned to the North East to become a partner and lead our banking practice in September 2000.  He was appointed managing partner in August 2004.

'It is an exciting time for everyone at Muckle LLP at the moment.  We have a superb team of people who all recognise the huge opportunity that we have to create a very different business model and capitalise on the lack of differentiation in the legal services sector.  My main responsibility is to plan the continued development of our business.  The partners have an ambitious plan for future growth and our people have the talent and enthusiasm to help us deliver against our strategy.  We are focused on creating one of the best regional law firms with outstanding strengths in our five key service areas:

• Property
• Commercial
• Corporate
• Employment
• Dispute resolution

How do we do that?  By distinguishing ourselves through our commitment to and unsurpassed delivery of client service excellence.'

Stephen's specialisms:

• Acquisition finance
• Raising finance
• Business restructuring
• Corporate insolvency

In the hot seat ...

How do you see the firm developing over the next few years?
There are some fantastic models in the USA which demonstrate the way in which a business can clearly differentiate itself through service excellence.  I spent a week in New York speaking to and learning from businesses as diverse as Jet Blue Airlines, Colgate Palmolive and The Ritz Carlton.  The opportunities and ideas that we came back with are already acting as catalysts for change in our business and we have a five year plan that will see us capitalise on the tendency for law firms to operate in a very similar way.  We already stand out from the crowd; we are different; we have excellent people and clients love our enthusiasm - the next five years will see us capitalise on those strengths and build a firm that is truly distinctive.

How would you describe the people at Muckle LLP?
They are great!  We ask a lot of them; not just as lawyers and client support team members but also as business men and women.  We expect them to understand the commercial world that our clients operate in and to apply their legal and client management skills as business advisers.  We also expect them to understand the way we run our business and to contribute as much as they can.  We have a great blend of talent, technical ability, personality and character and a real enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve.

Why did you choose to work at Muckle LLP?
After my degree I took a year out to decide whether I wanted to go to the bar or become a solicitor.  My contemporaries had worked in Newcastle for 12 months and urged me to look at Muckle LLP.  They told me it was different.  It wasn't as big as other law firms but was competing very successfully in its chosen areas of specialism; it had a hunger and desire to succeed and that made it stand out.  They thought I'd enjoy the challenge - I did - and still do!

Describe how you live your life in 3 words.
One hundred percent

What do you most enjoy about living in the North East?
Everything!  It is the best kept secret in the UK.

Who or what makes you laugh?
My youngest brother Jim, my little girl Freya and Matt Lucas.

Which 4 famous people dead or alive would you like to take to dinner?
Bill Shankley, John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Henry VIII.  I would also ask Matt Lucas and Julius Caesar to turn up an hour late on the assumption that JFK and Marilyn may not stay for the entire evening!

Direct line: 0191 211 7904
Email Stephen