I'm Jeremy Raj, and I’m the national head of residential property.
My job is largely to do with helping people to buy, sell and invest in residential property. I manage a team full of highly motivated, intelligent lawyers who all help with that process.
I've been here for about four and a half years now. I’d reached a point in my career where I was looking for a new and exciting challenge. Irwin Mitchell certainly brings that, but it also brings a community of like-minded people. We’re all striving for the same thing, in the way we deal with both our clients and our colleagues. That’s the human touch that matters to me.
Putting People First
Law firms are nothing other than collections of people. You can have a good reputation, great marketing and branding, but at heart, it comes down to the people. Across the board, the people need to be right and if you get that right, then you're going to deliver for your clients. We have great colleagues here.
You may be surprised to hear that there are plenty of lawyers out there that like to forget about their clients. Some see the law as an academic exercise or clients as cash cows to help them raise fees.
From my point of view, that's always the wrong way to go about things. If you care about your clients and look after them, they will certainly look after you. Over a pretty long career in the law, I've always found that to be the best approach.
The expert hand, human touch ethos is something that really attracted me when I first got a job here. It's really important that lawyers remember that, while they’ll be judged on their expertise as lawyers, it's essential that they offer more than that.
They also need to communicate in a supportive, empathetic way, because otherwise clients won't warm to them. You simply can’t put a price on the value of good client relationships and I think we understand that here as it’s embedded in our culture.
Looking After Our Colleagues
One of the things I'm most proud of is our commitment to diversity and inclusion. A lot of organisations pay lip service to it, but we see it in action every day here. I come from a really mixed background, so diversity is really important to me. I think it brings a whole different dimension to our community and it's something that we encourage strongly.
Irwin Mitchell talks a lot about wellbeing and providing support to colleagues. I recently had some significant health issues, and was encouraged to take as much time away from the business as I needed. My partners really went out of their way to share out my responsibilities and keep things running as smoothly as possible and the team did a brilliant job ensuring that our clients were well looked after. I will always be hugely grateful for that.
Having your colleagues and your organisation support you during difficult times makes a real difference. I have always tried to bring that same approach to those in the team who may be having troubles of their own, and I think that inspires loyalty and makes for a great place to work.
It's been great watching the influence of our flexible by choice approach grow by the day. It's allowed people to live their lives in a much more harmonious and natural way. It also gives us another way to learn about our colleagues’ lives outside of work, enriching our relationships with them.
Our Team’s Values
I think at heart, what makes someone a good leader is caring about the people in your team, and inspiring them by your own actions. That's what I hope to do.
I'm so proud of the way that my team pulled through the shutdown of the residential property market and lockdown during the pandemic. The team came together to help each other out and they remained professional and hardworking throughout.
If you’re thinking about a career at Irwin Mitchell, I'd say come and join us. We're already a diverse bunch who enjoy our work, love looking after their clients and get a lot out of life. So why not come and be a part of that?
Read Jeremy's professional profile
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