Legal firm ups its headcount by more than 50% in a year and establishes new paralegal team
(R) Director & Family Lawyer Emma King
Dynamic and rapidly-expanding legal firm Complete Clarity Solicitors and Simplicity Legal has revealed another dramatic growth spurt, increasing its total headcount by 54.5% in a single year and establishing a crack team of paralegals.
The Glasgow-headquartered firm, which has established its own unique corporate culture and which has established a reputation for staff development and retention, has upped staff numbers from 22 in September 2022 to 34 last month.
The increase has been driven by, among other things, the creation of a paralegal division whose roles typically involve preparing legal documents, interviewing clients and witnesses, giving clients legal information, going to court and handling a caseload of clients.
The specialist team now includes Emma-Marie Baird, Emma Hamilton and Amanda Monteith, who support fee-earners across a range of responsibilities. The firm is still actively recruiting and is seeking professionals in litigation, dispute resolution and family law.
Billy Smith, Director of Complete Clarity Solicitors and Simplicity Legal, said: “This has been a period of unprecedented growth for the firm, fuelled by our collective drive to create the best working environment for all our staff to enable them to be the best version of themselves.”
We have been fortunate enough to attract the talents of our two new Emmas and Amanda, all of whom have considerable experience in the profession and whose activities will help to considerably streamline the operation.
Our numbers show that by driving towards the best working environment this only causes our staff to deliver exceptional service levels and ultimately total client satisfaction.”
Amanda Monteith, who has a Specialist Paralegal qualification in Family Law, said: “I have worked almost exclusively in the legal sector since I was 16. I was delighted to be offered the position of paralegal. I was immediately struck by Billy’s enthusiasm – it is infectious.”
Emma-Marie Baird has specialised on property in her career so far. She said: “I had always been interested in Law and undertook Legal Studies with the Open University. The positive and supportive environment at Complete Clarity and Simplicity was a major factor in my decision to join.”
Emma Hamilton works solely on cases surrounding family law, guardianships and private housing cases. She said: “Clarity is a very modern and forward-thinking firm. It is invested in both staff and clients and it really shows. It offers a great work/life balance, which was a huge pull for me.”
Founded in 2010, Complete Clarity also owns Simplicity Legal which it established in 2015 with the aim of filling a gap in the market for fixed fee family law work, and merged with in 2017. It posted turnover of £1.5 million in May this year, up from £1.1 million last time.
It typically hires diploma students and brings them on to be legal assistants, then trainees before fully qualifying as solicitors. It has some lateral hires, but most practising staff have come through the firm’s bespoke recruitment process.
