Philip Holden, Executive Chairman of Leeds-based law firm drydensfairfax solicitors has been featured in The Lawyer’s Hot 100.
The prestigious list is a celebration of extraordinary lawyers based in the UK who have completed groundbreaking work in the last year.
Holden, a licenced insolvency practitioner, former DLA Piper partner and ex Head of Financial Recovery of Lloyds of London acquired Drydens Lawyers in 2009, a former unit of Hammonds. He went on to purchase Fairfax Solicitors, a former unit of Eversheds in 2012 to create the UK’s largest independent specialist debt recovery law firm, acting for the country’s largest financial institutions, debt purchasers and central Government.
Holden has significant experience in dealing with the recovery of substantial sums from high net worth individuals. In his role as Head of Financial Recovery at Lloyd’s of London between August 1994 and December 2001 he was responsible for collecting debt due from 33,000 Lloyd’s Names totalling some £1.2 billion.
He says: ‘I am delighted to be listed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100. Since the financial crisis, law firms in our sector have been constantly squeezed in respect to meet ever increasing client requirements whilst retaining an outdated commission based remuneration structure. A large part of our business is now focused on customer management rather than debt recovery and as the top tier firm in our sector we are looking for change for the good of everyone concerned to ensure a sustainable and fair process going forward. It is great to have this recognised by the legal sector and in particular to be recommended in the highly respected Hot 100.”
Holden has spoken on a number of occasions regarding the way law firms are instructed – and remunerated- by financial clients in the debt recovery sector, particularly in the case of vulnerable customers. Speaking at industry events and through the sector’s press he has explained that receiving a commission where recovery of the debt is not the only priority benefits no parties, particularly the customer in the current environment where compliance regulations have increased considerably.
drydensfairfax has recently begun trialling a system whereby the firm will be paid a customer management fee, allowing them to work with customers, on behalf of the client, and recognise the individuality of each situation rather than applying an off the shelf solution.
Holden adds: “Customer situations differ considerably - this is especially so in the case of customers in vulnerable situations - and doing what is right by the customer while maintaining the client’s instructions and meeting increased compliance regulations is increasingly unsustainable under the current fee structure. The set up is outdated and no longer feasible and we are actively working to bring about a new model for the debt recovery sector.”