Interview: Euan Smith, senior office partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland’s Edinburgh office

Euan Smith is senior office partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland’s Edinburgh office, advising Scottish and international clients across the energy, financial services, and consumer sectors on all aspects of employment law.

His role and career to date have included employment tribunals, a scenario perhaps not that much like the film A Few Good Men, with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson angrily volleying barbs at each other across a courtroom. “It’s totally like that,” laughs Smith, who has been with the organisation since 2021, and speaking from its offices in Edinburgh’s Capital Square, its sole base in Scotland currently.

He says he took on his current role after seeking a new challenge following more than two decades with what became Pinsent Masons, which in 2012 took over McGrigors that he joined in the late 1990s. He had trained at Alex Morison & Co, and now says he opted to specialise in employment law after trading work stories with his flatmates, who were also setting out on legal careers, but at bigger firms.

“They came back and they told me about these deals that they'd been involved in, in debt financing and corporate [mergers and acquisitions]. Although it was initially quite glamorous, it just sounded really boring, because there was no human interest element to it at all – their stories in the pub on a Friday night were less interesting than mine. I decided to go with employment [law] because I enjoyed it. I stuck with [it] – and have been there ever since.”

'We want to grow – we see Scotland as a great focus,' says the employment law expert. Picture: Lisa Ferguson. BUSINESS INTERVIEW - EUAN SMITH, SENIOR OFFICE PARTNER, EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND

And he explains in more detail why the human interest angle is so crucial to him. “You do come across some people that are struggling, and you do, through the eyes of the employer, see challenging situations that they have to deal with in their organisations – it's quite satisfying to help them”.

He also defends Evershed’s role sitting on the employer side of the table, saying: “I think our job is generally about managing risk on behalf of clients. And that risk comes in a variety of different forms... it's quite multifaceted, and it keeps it interesting. But generally, I would say that our involvement... advising employers is helpful for employees, rather than detrimental to employees. Because generally, we're helping companies comply with the various obligations that they have, drawing those obligations to their attention, and then helping them comply with them.”

Smith in addition praises the variety of his role, with immigration among current key issues. He flags Scotland’s major skills shortage, saying “it's no secret” that businesses across a range of sectors have vacancy signs up. Eversheds earlier this year obtained data via the Freedom of Information Act showing that employers north of the Border were turning to workers from further afield, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and Smith says many companies now face the prospect of an onerous admin, compliance, and cost burden to obtain working visas for people from all around the world.

Another relatively new issue he handles is advising firms regarding the now-mainstream practice of remote working, which is subject to changing legislation. “It changes things up a bit, because you can now make two requests a year rather than one… But probably the most important way in which it changes things is it obliges the employer to consult with you about the rationale for [their response] – so I think that's quite a useful thing for employees, and employers, to be honest, because it creates a space for dialogue.”

Smith has been with Eversheds Sutherland since 2021, following more than two decades with what became Pinsent Masons. Picture: Lisa Ferguson. BUSINESS INTERVIEW - EUAN SMITH, SENIOR OFFICE PARTNER, EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND

Smith is one of global giant Eversheds Sutherland’s 3,000-plus lawyers across more than 30 countries, able to trace its roots back to 1914 in Birmingham in the UK when Edward Evershed and Francis Martin Tomkinson joined forces.

However, it wasn’t until 2017 that the law firm took on its present moniker after it combined with US-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, which had been co-founded in 1924 by William Sutherland, who had earlier served as a law clerk to US Supreme Court Justice Brandeis.

The deal was welcomed by Eversheds managing partner and CEO-elect Lee Ranson, who in July of this year, now as head of Eversheds Sutherland (International), hailed the group reporting “a pleasing set of results... despite volatility in many of our key markets". It in its 2022/23 financial year saw revenue increase 8 per cent to £730.9 million, and net profit jump nearly a fifth to £175.2m.

Smith says its Scottish operation, comprising 35 staff "and growing”, represents a “relatively small proportion” of its parent company, while it is also a relative minnow compared to some peers north of the Border that have been beefed up by major consolidation in the sector, which altogether contributes more than £1 billion to the economy in Scotland each year, according to a study by the Scottish Government.

And Eversheds now sits figuratively and literally alongside some Scottish legal contemporaries – with its Capital Square neighbours including Pinsent Masons (which saw latest annual revenues rise by 14 per cent to £605.9m and has announced plans to move 300 staff into a landmark Glasgow office development) as well as Brodies. Smith views the new Eversheds office, having relocated there in June, as “a big move forward for us in Scotland when most law firms are decreasing their footprint to account for hybrid working etc, we've actually increased [ours], which is counter intuitive. That's because we want to grow – we see Scotland as a great focus”.

He explains that Evershed’s energy arm is seeing much work from the boom in renewables, but he also cites financial services, and “industrials”, including consumer businesses, manufacturing, and retail, as busy. Furthermore, the business advised Capital & Regional on its recent purchase of The Gyle shopping centre in Edinburgh for £40m. “We're ambitious and we want to grow in Scotland,” Smith also states. “We're going in the right direction, and making some some big strides.”